Cal Career StatsGENERAL: Possesses a solid all-around game from tee to green ... a solid ball striker who hits the ball straight and has a short game that has continued to improve ... great tempo and solid golf swing ... understands the game of golf, manages his game well and plays within himself ... has really committed himself to the game ... an extremely sharp player ... a tremendous competitor.
CAL CAREER: A two-time second-team All-Pac-10 selection (2008, '10) and key member of the Cal men's golf program from 2007-11 who is credited along with Eric Mina as being the first building blocks of a foundation that returned Cal into a consistently elite team on the national level ... played in two NCAA Championships, three Pac-10 Championships and four NCAA Regionals ... a two-time All-America Scholar and second-team Pac-10 All-Academic selection in each of his final two seasons ... posted a career-low round of 63 at Alister MacKenzie Invitational in 2009-10 ... won two individual medalist honors at John A. Burns Intercollegiate as a 2007-08 freshman and Alister MacKenzie Invitational as a 2009-10 junior ... finished his career with 50 events played, 151 rounds, 10,983 strokes and a stroke average of 72.7 ... had nine top-10 career finishes.
2010-11 (AS A SENIOR): An All-West Region choice and a second-team All-Pac-10 selection ... bestowed with three team honors, earning Team MVP recognition as well as the Ben Furth Award for academic and athletic excellence, while sharing the Coaches Award given for a combination of quality play and leadership with the team's three other seniors and fellow co-captains - Evan Derian, Eric Mina and John Murphy ... led the team with a 72.1 stroke average, playing in 12 of 14 events, including each of the last eight ... totaled 2,666 strokes over 37 rounds ... posted the best finishes of his career at both NCAA Regional and Pac-10 Championship levels, tying for 14th at NCAA Arizona Regional (72-69-70 - 211, -2) after having previously tied for 11th at Pac-10 Championship (69-70-78-67 - 284, +4), and was Cal's second finisher at both events ... second on club with five top-10 finishes ... Cal's top finisher three times (U.S. Collegiate Championship, Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters, ASU Thunderbird Invitational) ... had strong efforts in Cal's back-to-back team wins at The Prestige at PGA WEST and Alister MacKenize Invitational as the second Cal finisher overall at both events ... fourth at Alister MacKenzie Invitational (67-66-66 - 199, -14) and later equaled that showing by taking fourth at prestigious Southern Highlands Collegiate Invitational (70-68-76 - 214, -2) as the Bears finished third overall ... sixth at The Prestige at PGA WEST (71-71-72 - 214, -2) ... posted his lowest round of the season and two shy of his career best when he shot a six-under par 65 that was also tied for the lowest of the tournament and included his first career hole-in-one during the final round of ASU Thunderbird Invitational, as he moved up 28 spots during the final round to finish tied for ninth (71-76-65 - 212, -1) ... tied for 17th at U.S. Collegiate Championship (72-73-73 - 218, +2) ... tied for 41st at USC Collegiate Invitational (71-77-72 - 220, +7) ... tied for 57th at regular-season finale Western Intercollegiate (76-72-77 - 225, +15) ... tied for 68th at the season-opening Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational (76-78-74 - 228, +18) ... tied for 102nd at NCAA Championship (75-80-76 - 231, +15).
2009-10 (AS A JUNIOR): Competed in 12 of 14 events with a 72.5 stroke average (35 rounds, 2538 strokes) that was the third-lowest on the team ... won Alister MacKenzie Invitational hosted by Cal (68-64 - 132, -10) for his second career collegiate victory ... finished second at Spartan Classic (73-63-69 - 205, -12), shooting the best round of his collegiate career, tying for the second-lowest round in Cal history and breaking The Kingsley Club course record with a 63 in the second round of the event ... top finish of the spring came when he tied for ninth at John A. Burns Invitational (65-71-74 - 210, -6) ... other two top-20 finishes came when he tied for 14th at Golfweek Conference Challenge (72-72-73 - 217, +1) and tied for 19th at Fresno Lexus Classic (72-70-75 - 217, +4) ... played in both NCAA postseason events, posting his best NCAA Regional finish ever when he tied for 28th at NCAA San Diego Regional (75-72-77 - +8) and then tied for 95th at his first NCAA Championship ... named an All-America Scholar and was second-team Pac-10 All-Academic.
2008-09 (AS A SOPHOMORE): Competed in all 13 events (40 rounds, 2,953 strokes) with a 73.8 stroke average ... best finish was a tie for 15th at USC Collegiate Invitational (73-71-71 - 215, +2) ... tied for 16th at San Francisco Intercollegiate (72-70-76 - 218, +5) ... shot a season-low 68 in third round and tied for 16th at Wolverine Intercollegiate (75-70-68 - 213, E) ... tied for 19th at Arizona Intercollegiate (74-71-72 - 217, +4) ... tied for 20th at Western Intercollegiate (73-77-73 - 223, +13) ... tied for 25th at National Invitational Tournament (70-77-72 - 219, +3) ... tied for 31st at Pac-10 Championship (77-75-69-75 - 296, +8) ... honorable mention Pac-10 All-Academic.
2007-08 (AS A FRESHMAN): Second-team All-Pac-10 selection ... competed in all 13 events and 39 rounds with 2,826 strokes for a team-low 72.5 stroke average ... won John A. Burns Intercollegiate (67-67-67 - 201, -15) ... tied for eighth at Husky Invitational (72-74 - 146, +2) ... tied for 10th at Western Intercollegiate (73-70-78 - 221, +11) ... tied for 13th at U.S. Intercollegiate (72-70-71 - 213, E) ... tied for 18th at Southwestern Intercollegiate (81-72-72 - 225, +12) ... tied 19th at Falcon Invitational (70-76-72 - 218, +2).
AMATEUR:
2010 - Third at Silicon Valley Amateur (67-74 - 141) ... sixth at Spirit of America Classic (72-71-70-72 - 285) ... 16th at California State Fair Championship (71-70-68 - 209) and Trans-Miss Championship (72-71-70 - 213) ... 24th at Pacific Coast Championship (71-73-75-73 - 292).
2009 - Second at Salinas Valley Amateur (68-71 - 139) ... eighth at Christmas Classic (69-72 - 141) ... tied for 16th at California State Fair Championship (73-69-69 - 211) ... advanced to Round of 32 in match play at PNGA Amateur Championship (74-71 - 145).
2008 - Ranked among the top-100 amateurs in the world according to Scratch Players rankings ... co-medalist at U.S. Amateur Qualifying at Fort Washington Golf Club in Fresno (70-69 - 139) and advanced to U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst #2 in Pinehurst, North Carolina ... advanced to U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying ... runner up at Pacific Northwest Golf Association Men's Amateur Championship by winning five matches ... runner up at California State Fair Championship (68-67-71 - 206) ... runner up at Kern County Championship (68-68 - 136) ... 13th at Christmas Classic (72-72 - 144) ... 18th at Southwestern Amateur (73-78-73-73 - 297) ... tied for 27th at Sahalee Players Championship (72-74-79 - 225) ... tied for 29th at Pacific Coast Amateur (67-71-73-72 - 283) ... made the cut at Western Amateur and finished 44th (70-71-73-75 - 289).
2007 - First alternate at U.S. Amateur Qualifying (72-73 - 145) ... third at IJGT at the SCGA Course (75-69 - 144) ... fourth at AJGA Tomato Bank Northern California Classic (68-73-68 - 209) ... fourth at Kern County Amateur (65-73 - 138) ... tied for 16th at Palo Alto City Championship (69-75 - 144) ... tied for 27th at California State Fair Championship (70-68-77 - 215).
2006 - Won IJGT at Rancho Bernardo (69-68 - 137) ... third at California State Boys Junior Amateur (76-72-66 - 214) ... fifth at IJGT at PGA of Southern California (73-73 - 146) ... ninth at California State Fair Championship (67-70-73 - 210).
HIGH SCHOOL: School-record career 69.55 scoring average ... two-time Area Player of the Year (2004, '07) and four-time first-team All-Area selection, Southwest Yosemite League selection and team MVP (2004-07) ... put up his top numbers as a junior when he led his team to its first South Regional competition, posting the lowest scoring average in his area at 68.30 and the lowest score in every SWYL match he participated in ... earned the Mayor's Trophy Award in 2007 and was on the Principal's list for students with a 4.0 GPA or above each year from 2004-07.
OTHER: Full name is Stephen John Hale ... received his bachelor's degree from Cal in interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis on political leadership in July of 2011 ... father, John, was an outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers ... parents are John and Lori Hale ... has one younger brother, Kevin ... born March 26, 1989, in Bakersfield, Calif.
GETTING TO KNOW STEPHEN:
The reason I love golf is ... it's a very individual sport
My favorite pre-match ritual is ... listening to my iPod as I hit golf balls
My greatest athletic moment is ... making the U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst
The biggest thrill in my life to date is ... signing my National Letter of Intent to Cal
The favorite golf course I have played is ... Los Angeles Country Club North Course
The reason I chose Cal is ... I fell in love with it on my first visit
Since coming to Cal, I have learned ... to be more open-minded to other people's ideas
My favorite YouTube video is ... The Ultimate Golf Lesson
My favorite golf movie is ... The Greatest Game Ever Played
I would like to be remembered at Cal for ... being a good Bear
LAST UPDATED: May 11, 2012
