LIHUE, KAUA'I – KK Limbhasut (71-66-73 – 210, -6) birdied three of his final six holes to end up with a share of individual medalist honors at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate that concluded Friday with the third and final round action at the par-72, 6,991-yard Wailua Golf Course. Cal (288-279-282 – 849, -15) finished second to Texas (276-284-284 – 844, -20) in the final team standings and came up just short of extending its record string of victories at the event hosted by Hawai'i to six straight years.
“We've been very comfortable with the golf courses at this tournament,” Desimone said. “It's disappointing that we couldn't make it six in a row but Texas is a great team and clearly a national championship contender. We were right there with them and outplayed them quite a bit over the last two rounds.”
The individual medalist honor was the second of Limbhasut's collegiate career and the first by a Cal player in 2015-16. There was no playoff between the four players – Limbhasut, Beau Hossler (67-75-68 – 210, -6) and Gavin Hall (69-71-70 – 210, -6) of Texas, and Hawaii's Skye Inakoshi (72-69-69 – 210, -6) – that tied for first place.
Limbhasut started Friday's final round with a three-stroke advantage on the field but quickly fell out of the top spot when he made four consecutive front-nine bogeys on the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh holes, with the first three par-fours and the seventh a par-three. He returned to the top with his three back-nine birdies on the par-five 13th, par-four 15th and par-three 17th.
“It has been an incredible week,” Limbhasut said. “I had a rough stretch of four holes today but overall I played really well. I can't ask for a better way to start the spring season.”
“KK played solid golf all three rounds,” Desimone added. “He was four-over par after six rounds today, but it's a real testament to his character and determination that he was able to fight and get himself back into a share of the title.”
The Bears also fought back from a 12-stroke deficit after the first round and a seven-stroke disadvantage heading into the final 18 holes but eventually caught the Longhorns at 14-under par midway through the back nine Friday before Texas pulled away for the victory.
Defending champion Shotaro Ban (72-68-73 – 213, -3) finished sixth for his best showing of the season. He started Friday's action on the second hole tied for second three strokes behind Limbhasut but had an early double bogey on the par-three third. He would get back to even with birdies on the par-four fifth and 15th holes before a bogey on the par-four 18th gave him his final one-over par score for the round.
Colin Morikawa (70-73-71 – 214, -2) moved up four spots Friday into a tie for seventh place finish to give the Bears three top-10 finishers for the first time this season. Morikawa also started on the second hole and had three birdies (5, 10, 1) and two bogeys (4, 12)
Sebastian Crampton (75-72-68 – 215, -1) tied for the second-best round of the day with a four-under par effort to shoot up 20 places Friday into a tie for 12th while Cameron Shaw (75-80-70 – 225, +9) jumped up 26 places Friday to finish tied for 53rd.
Cal returns to action February 28 – March 1 at the Querencia Cabo Collegiate hosted by Arkansas at the Querencia Golf Club in Los Cabos, Mexico. Cal is playing in the prestigious event for the first time in school history and will be participating in a collegiate event out of the country for the first time since September of 2000 when the Bears played at the Topy Cub in Fukushima, Japan.
NOTES
● Crampton had his four-under par round Friday despite a pair of par-three bogeys (3, 7) and another on a par-four (16). He played the course's four par-fives in a combined five-under par with an eagle on 10 and birdies on the other three (9, 13, 1). He also had birdies on the par-four sixth and 15th holes.
● Cal has finished third or better in each of its seven tournaments in 2015-16.
QUOTES
● “We had contributions today from our fourth and fifth players in the lineup Sebastian Crampton and Cameron Shaw. That's what a good team does – make contributions up and down the lineup. That's what you have to have out of the guys at the bottom of the lineup. It wouldn't surprise me if they move up at some point. To have four guys finish in the top 12 tells you just how good the entire lineup played.” – Steve Desimone
● “I am proud of how the guys fought today. We gave ourselves a chance to pull off a win this week but we were too far behind after the first round.” – KK Limbhasut
● “I played very poorly today but the rest of the team stepped up and gave our team a chance to win. Hopefully next time we can get the job done.” – Shotaro Ban
● “Today was another grind out on the course. Nothing in my game really stood out this week, but I was able to hang in and make some birdies throughout the round. As for the team, I thought it was a very solid week but unfortunately the 12 shots back in the first round was a little too much for us to catch. But other than that, we played great as a team, and I'm very happy for KK to share individual medalist honors this week.” – Collin Morikawa
● “Obviously it hurts to come in second but we hurt ourselves after our first round. We fought hard to cover the deficit but came up a bit short. I was disappointed with my play the first two rounds, but I'm glad I was able to come back and help the team make a run for the title.” – Sebastian Crampton
JOHN A. BURNS INTERCOLLEGIATE (HOSTED BY HAWAI'I)
LIHUE, HI
WAILUA GOLF COURSE (PAR 72, 6991 YARDS)
FINAL TEAM LEADERBOARD (after 3 of 3 days/3 of 3 rounds/54 of 54 holes)
1. Texas (276-284-284 – 844, -20)
2. Cal (288-279-282 – 849, -15)
3. Texas A&M (292-285-286 – 863, -1)
4. Washington (296-287-284 – 867, +3)
5. Virginia (296-289-283 – 868, +4)
6. UNLV (296-285-289 – 870, +6)
7. New Mexico (294-295-283 – 872, +8)
8. Arizona (290-293-294 – 877, +13)
9. Kennesaw State (293-292-294 – 879, +15)
10. Washington State (290-291-299 – 880, +16)
11. Hawai'i (291-294-296 – 881, +17)
12. UTEP (301-293-292 – 886, +22)
13. BYU (303-290-295 – 888, +24)
14. Fresno State (299-301-291 – 891, +27)
15. Utah (311-306-290 – 907, +43)
16. Hawai'i 'B' (305-309-306 – 920, +56)
17. Northern Colorado (303-311-314 – 928, +64)
*FINAL PLAYER LEADERBOARD – INDIVIDUAL MEDALISTS (after 3 of 3 days/3 of 3 rounds/54 of 54 holes)
T1. Beau Hossler – Texas (67-75-68 – 210, -6)
T1. Gavin Hall – Texas (69-71-70 – 210, -6)
T1. KK Limbhasut – Cal (71-66-73 – 210, -6)
T1. Skye Inakoshi – Hawai'i (72-69-69 – 210, -6)
*No playoff was held
FINAL PLAYER LEADERBOARD – CAL INDIVIDUALS (after 3 of 3 days/3 of 3 rounds/54 of 54 holes)
T1. KK Limbhasut (71-66-73 – 210, -6)
6. Shotaro Ban (72-68-73 – 213, -3)
T7. Collin Morikawa (70-73-71 – 214, -2)
T12. Sebastian Crampton (75-72-68 – 215, -1)
T53. Cameron Shaw (75-80-70 – 225, +9)
