Huskies Off To Purdue For NCAA Championships
May 23, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
2008 NCAA DIV. I MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
Wednesday, May 28 - Saturday, May 31
Host - Purdue University · West Lafayette, Ind.
Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex - Kampen Course · Par 72 - 7,431 Yards
Live Scoring - Golfstat.com
Huskies On To Purdue For NCAA Championships:
By virtue of its fourth
place finish at last week's NCAA West Regional, the Washington men's golf
team will head to West Lafayette, Ind., for the 2008 NCAA Championships
hosted by Purdue, May 28-31. The Huskies are making their ninth NCAA
Championship appearance in the last 10 years and 20th overall. The
tournament will be held on the par-72, 7,431-yard Kampen Course at the
Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex. Washington is the No. 22 seed and will
play its first two rounds on May 28 and May 29 paired with No. 23 St.
Mary's and No. 24 Arizona State. The Huskies will open play on Wednesday
from the first tee at 7:47 a.m. ET and continue with second round action
on Thursday from the 10th tee at 12:59 p.m. ET.
The Format:
The 2008 NCAA Championship features 30 teams and the
nation's top six individuals not on those teams. All 156 players will
compete on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, while Saturday's final round
is cut to the top 15 teams and top six individuals not on an advancing
team. The tournament features 18 holes of play starting at 7 a.m. ET on
Wednesday-Friday and at 8 a.m. ET on Saturday. Participants will play in
threesomes during the competition. Teams participating in the NCAA
Championships shall consist of a maximum of five players (with four
scores counting each day toward the team total). Split tees (#1 and #10)
will be used during each round. Team and individual ties shall be broken
in accordance with NCAA rules.
Results and Live Scoring:
Live scoring for the NCAA Championship will be
available at golfstat.com.
The Field:
The 30-team field is as follows in order of seed: No. 1
Southern California, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Wake Forest, No. 4 Oklahoma
State, No. 5 Clemson, No. 6 Florida, No. 7 UCLA, No. 8 UAB, No. 9
Alabama, No. 10 Stanford, No. 11 Auburn, No. 12 Charlotte, No. 13 Texas
A&M, No. 14 East Tennessee State, No. 15 Indiana, No. 16 Oregon, No. 17
Augusta State, No. 18 UC Irvine, No. 19 Illinois, No. 20 Louisville, No.
21 Mississippi State, No. 22 Washington, No. 23 St. Mary's, No. 24
Arizona State, No. 25 Kent State, No. 26 Penn State, No. 27 San Diego
State, No. 28 Texas, No. 29 Middle Tennessee State and No. 30 Virginia.
The individuals are James Sacheck (TCU), Eric Shriver (Pepperdine), Joel
Sjoholm (Georgia State), Derek Tolan (Colorado), Jurrian Van Der Vaart
(Virginia Tech) and Dan Woltman (Wisconsin).
Husky Lineup:
The Huskies' lineup will feature senior Zach Bixler
(Richland, Wash.), sophomore Nick Taylor (Abbotsford, B.C.), sophomore
Darren Wallace (Langley, B.C.), John Wise (Bellevue, Wash.) and freshman
Tze Huang Choo (Singapore, Singapore).
UW At The NCAA Championships:
Washington is making its ninth NCAA
Championship appearance in the last 10 years and is back in the mix after
missing last year's national tournament for the first time since 1998.
Including this year, the Huskies have played in the NCAA Championships
20 times overall. Washington's top team finish was a third-place standing
in 2005. In all, the Huskies have four top-10 NCAA finishes also placing
fourth in 1999, sixth in 2004 and ninth in 2006. Washington has had one
player win NCAA medalist honors with James Lepp doing so in 2005. Lepp
rallied from a six-shot deficit with a course-record 7-under 63 on the
final day to force a play-off with Pepperdine's Michael Putnam. Lepp then
saved par on the third playoff hole, sinking a three-foot putt to win
medalist honors. Troy Kelly was the NCAA runner-up in 1999, while Brock
Mackenzie notched a fifth-place finish in 2003. Lepp owns the other
Top-10 individual finish, placing eighth in 2006.
NCAA Championship Experience:
Senior Zach Bixler is the only Husky with
any previous NCAA Championship experience...Bixler was a freshman on the
2005 squad that notched a school-record third-place finish...he finished
54th overall that year (18-over 298)...he also competed at NCAA's as a
sophomore in 2006, placing 20th at even-par 288.
Huskies Finish Fourth At NCAA West Regional:
Bolstered by the play of
sophomore Nick Taylor whose runner-up individual regional finish set a UW
school record, the Washington men's golf team earned a spot in the NCAA
Championships with their fourth-place team finish at the NCAA West
Regional that wrapped up at Gold Mountain Golf Club, May 17. The Huskies
shot their best round of the tournament on the final day to secure their
ninth trip to NCAA's in the last 10 years. With the help of Taylor and
senior Zach Bixler, UW shot a final-round score of 1-over 289 and
finished with a 54-hole total of 10-over 874. "The course was playing so
tough and the guys just stepped up like I couldn't imagine," UW head
coach Matt Thurmond said. "We had our best round of the tournament on the
final day when we really needed it. Our senior leader Zach was four-under
early and I think it really calmed everyone down. Nick said he didn't hit
many good shots today but he still found a way to go one-under par, and
everyone else just really hung in there. It was awesome." Top-seeded USC
won their first ever regional crown by two shots over surprise runner-up
Oregon. USC was the only team to finish under par at 2-under 862 after an
even-par 288 in the final round. The Ducks, led by individual medalist
Joey Benedetti, finished at even-par 864. UW's Taylor tied for runner-up
individual honors with USC's Rory Hie and Saint Mary's Michael McRae at
5-under 211. Taylor, who started the day in third place, carded a 1-under
71 with the Huskies' chances to extend their season on the line. Taylor's
second-place finish broke the previous best regional finish set by Bixler
who finished third in 2006. Bixler also came through for his teammates
playing in his last ever regional tournament, shooting a 1-under 71 to
finish tied for 25th (4-over 220). All five Huskies shot 3-over 75 or
lower. Junior John Wise improved upon both of his opening round scores by
five strokes on the final day, carding a 1-over 73. He finished at
13-over 229 (tied for 79th). Freshman Tze Huang Choo tied for 30th at
5-over 221 and sophomore Darren Wallace tied for 46th (8-over 224).
Huskies Finish Seventh At Pac-10 Championships:
Washington shot a
final-round score of 10-over 365 to finish seventh at the Pac-10 Men's
Golf Championships which wrapped up at the Meadow Club, April 30. The
Huskies ended the four-round tournament at 39-over 1459, finishing ahead
of the three other Northwest schools in Oregon State (41-over 1461),
Oregon (42-over 1462) and Washington State (82-over 1502). Sophomore
Darren Wallace led the Huskies with a final-round score of 1-under 70 to
finish in a tie for 13th on the individual leaderboard (3-over 287).
Freshman Tze Huang Choo, who shared the lead after two rounds and was two
strokes behind the leader after three rounds, fell all the way back into
a tie for 18th after carding a 7-over 78. Choo was 5-over 289 overall.
Senior Zach Bixler saved his best for last, turning in an even-par 71 but
finished tied for 27th with another fellow Husky Nick Taylor. Taylor shot
a 2-over 73 in the final round. Both UW players were 9-over 293.
Rounding out the UW lineup, junior John Wise tied for 40th (13-over 297)
and freshman Kevin Spooner was 60th (18-over 231). Both the team and
individual Pac-10 titles were decided in a play-off. USC and Arizona
State shared the team lead after 72 holes (15-over 1435), but it was ASU
that prevailed by two shots in the team play-off on the 18th hole.
Arizona's Creighton Honeck and UCLA's Kevin Chappell were also knotted at
the top at the end of regulation (3-under 281), with Honeck winning the
play-off on the 10th hole by one shot.
Head Coach Matt Thurmond:
Husky head coach Matt Thurmond is in his
seventh year at the helm of the Washington men's golf program. During
Thurmond's tenure, Washington garnered its first NCAA individual champion
(James Lepp, 2005), and its second Pac-10 individual champion (Erik
Olson, 2005), as well as setting school records for NCAA Regional (first)
and NCAA Championship finishes (third). Under Thurmond's tutelage, the
Huskies also won their first Pac-10 title since 1988 in 2005. Rounding
out Thurmond's staff are assistant coach Garrett Clegg and volunteer
assistant coach Scott Alexander, both in their first year.
Dawg Bites:
The Huskies' fourth-place finish at last week's NCAA West
Regional was its best since back-to-back runner-up finishes to open the
fall season...the Huskies opened the year finishing second at their own
Husky Invitational (Oct. 1-2) and at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational
(Oct. 8-9)...UW has not had an individual win medalist honors this year
but senior Zach Bixler (Husky Invitational) and sophomore Nick Taylor
(NCAA West Regional) have notched runner-up finishes...UW's 54-hole score
of 10-over 874 at last week's regional marks the third best effort of the
season - versus par and for gross score total.
Bixler Shoots 60:
Washington senior Zach Bixler etched his name in the
record books back in the fall when he became the sixth player in
collegiate history to shoot 60. Bixler's effort not only matched an NCAA
record but matched a Husky school record as well. Former four-time
All-American Brock Mackenzie also shot 60 in 2003. Bixler carded an
11-under 60 during the second round of the Alister Mackenzie Invitational
hosted by Cal at the Meadow Club on Oct. 8, 2007. His record-matching
performance included sinking an eagle and nine birdies. Bixler was named
the Pac-10 Co-Golfer of the Month (October/November) for his efforts.
Strong Start:
The Huskies got off to a strong start in 2007-08,
finishing as the runner-up at their first two tournaments of the fall. UW
was the runner-up at its own Husky Invitational (Oct. 1-2) before going
on to finish second at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational (Oct. 8-9)
hosted by Cal at the Meadow Club. Bixler was the Huskies' top individual
in three of the first four tournaments. He matched a career-best finish
with his own runner-up standing at the Husky Invitational.
Standout Senior:
Zach Bixler is the Huskies' only senior on a young
roster that also features one junior, two sophomores and two freshmen.
Bixler has been Washington's top finisher at five tournaments this
season. Bixler is second on the squad with a 73.49 stroke average,
carding three rounds in the 60's and seven rounds under par during his
final campaign.
Top Dawg Taylor:
Sophomore Nick Taylor has emerged as one of the top
players on the Husky squad this season. Taylor, who won the 2007 Canadian
Men's Amateur title this past summer, leads UW with a 72.87 stroke
average and has placed as Washington's top finisher at six tournaments -
including the first three tournaments of the spring season. His
season-high finish came at last week's NCAA West Regional when he tied
for second at 5-under 211. His career-low 54-hole score of 9-under 201
was set at the UH-Hilo Invitational back in February. Taylor has fired
seven rounds in the 60's and 14 rounds under par.
