WINDERMERE, FL – Cal (279-290-309 – 878, +14) had a successful fall season end on a difficult note Tuesday when the Golden Bears lost a nine-stroke lead at the start of the final round and finished third at the prestigious Tavistock Collegiate Invitational co-hosted by Texas Tech and UCF.
Top-ranked Illinois (286-292-287 – 865, +1) was the only club in red numbers Tuesday at the challenging par-72, 7544-yard Isleworth Golf & Country Club and would up the team champion while Arizona State (285-294-290 – 869, +5) used the play of individual medalist Jon Rahm (71-70-69 – 210, -6) and runner up Max Rottluff (68-70-74 – 212, -4) to also move past the Bears into second place.
Cal had led a field that is annually one of the best fields in college golf after each of the first two rounds but saw its lead disappear quickly Tuesday by managing only one birdie on the first six holes compared to seven bogeys, two double bogeys and three triple bogeys, with its four scoring players a combined eight-over par through four holes.
“We were absolutely fabulous the first two days and did so little wrong then today the game changed and we just couldn't get anything going,” head coach Steve Desimone said. “We couldn't have played much better than we did yesterday, and we couldn't have played much worse than we did today. The putters dried up, we didn't hit the ball very well and it was just a tough day. But let's keep proper perspective. We finished third in one of the top tournaments of the year.”
Collin Morikawa (67-70-79 – 216, +7) was the individual leader after both the first and second rounds and able to hang near the top with a two-over par 38 on the front nine before bogeys on five of his final seven holes en route to a seven-over par 79 dropped him into a tie for seventh finish. After making a combined 13 birdies in his first two rounds he had none Tuesday to offset his seven bogeys on five par-four holes (4, 12, 14, 16, 18) as well as the par-five third and par-three 11th.
KK Limbhasut (73-72-72 – 217, +8) moved up four spots into a tied for ninth-place finish and to within one shot of Morikawa with his second straight even-par round, narrowly missing leading the Bears in each of the four fall events he participated in. Limbhasut had three birdies Tuesday on one par-five hole (7) and a pair of par-fours (8, 16), while his three bogeys all came on par-fours (1, 14, 18).
“It doesn't get much better than finishing in the top 10 in this field,” Desimone said about Cal's top two finishers. “It is an indication that both Collin and KK are continuing to play really good golf.”
Shotaro Ban (69-74-79 – 222, +6) had been tied for fourth after the first round and still started the final 18 holes in sixth place but dropped to a tied for 23rd finish after his seven-over par round Tuesday. Ban also had no birdies in the third round after combining for 11 in the first two. His troubles began early with a triple bogey on the par-three second while he also had bogeys on the fourth, ninth, 10th and 14th holes, all par-fours.
Sebastian Crampton (73-74-79 – 226, +10) had two of the team's only three birdies other than Limbhasut on Tuesday but also tumbled on the leaderboard from a tie for 19th into a tie for 44th with a seven-over par round that matched the struggles of Morikawa and Ban. Crampton was even on the front nine with birdies on the par-three second and par-five seventh sandwiching back-to-back bogeys on the par-five third and par-four fourth. He started the back nine with back-to-back bogeys on the par-five 10th and par-three 11th, added another on the par-four 14th and then gave up four shots with a triple-bogey nine on the par-five 17th.
Walker Huddy (70-81-80 – 231, +15) was tied for sixth after an opening-round two-under par but finished tied for 59th after his second consecutive round in the 80's on Tuesday. Huddy was eight-over par through the first six holes after a triple bogey on the par-four first, a double on the par-three second, a bogey on the par-four fourth and another double on the par-four sixth. He did manage to play his final 12 holes in even par with a birdie on the 13th and a bogey on the 17th, both par-fives.
Cal finished the fall with two team victories, one second-place effort and two third-place showings.
The Bears return to action January 29-30 at the Arizona Intercollegiate to begin the 2016 spring portion of their schedule.
“We were very disappointed today but overall we had a tremendous fall and that's the key point in all of this,” Desimone said. “I'm very proud of what we've done this fall. We've certainly put ourselves in a good position for the spring.”
TAVISTOCK COLLEGIATE INVITATIONAL (CO-HOSTED BY TEXAS TECH AND UCF)
WINDERMERE, FL
ISLEWORTH GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB (PAR 72, 7544 YARDS)
FINAL TEAM LEADERBOARD (after 3 of 3 days/3 of 3 rounds/54 of 54 holes)
1. Illinois (286-292-287 – 865, +1)
2. Arizona State (285-294-290 – 869, +5)
3. Cal (279-290-309 – 878, +14)
4. Vanderbilt (290-294-297 – 881, +17)
T5. Florida (303-289-290 – 882, +18)
T5. North Carolina (287-301-294 – 882, +18)
T7. North Florida (290-293-300 – 883, +19)
T7. Texas Tech (293-296-294 – 883, +19)
9. South Carolina (284-310-293 – 887, +23)
10. Augusta (298-296-295 – 889, +25)
11. UNLV (298-306-291 – 895, +31)
12. New Mexico (307-304-296 – 907, +43)
13. Ohio State (296-304-310 – 910, +46)
14. UCF (304-309-299 – 912, +48)
15. Washington State (307-312-297 – 916, +52)
FINAL PLAYER LEADERBOARD – INDIVIDUAL MEDALIST (after 3 of 3 days/3 of 3 rounds/54 of 54 holes)
1. Jon Rahm – Arizona State (71-70-69 – 210, -6)
FINAL PLAYER LEADERBOARD – CAL INDIVIDUALS (after 3 of 3 days/3 of 3 rounds/54 of 54 holes)
T7. Collin Morikawa (67-70-79 – 216, E)
T9. KK Limbhasut (73-72-72 – 217, +1)
T23. Shotaro Ban (69-74-79 – 222, +6)
T44. Sebastian Crampton (73-74-79 – 226, +10)
T59. Walker Huddy (70-81-80 – 231, +15)
