The Stanford men’s golf team placed eighth at the Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship in Marana, Ariz. over spring break.

The unique event pits sixteen of the nation’s premier teams against each other in a bracket style tournament. Each round is a best of five series of individual matches between two schools.

Stanford head coach Conrad Ray went to Arizona with senior Joseph Bramlett, juniors Steve Ziegler and Sihwan Kim and freshmen Steve Kearney and Andre DeDecker.

The matches were held at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, which is also the new home of the World Golf Accenture Match Play Championships. Dove Mountain is a desert golf layout, which features elevation changes from 2,300 to 3,000 feet.

For the Callaway Collegiate Match Play, the course played as a par 72 and measured 7,833 yards.

Stanford, ranked second in the nation, was the top seed going into the tournament and defeated 16 seed Indiana, 3-2 in the first round on Sunday.

Kim, Ziegler and Kearney picked up the three wins for the Cardinal. Kim was a 2-up winner over Alex Martin. The junior won holes 13 and 17 for the victory.

Ziegler led from start to finish in his match against David Erdy en route to a 3 and 2 victory. Kearney pulled out a 1-up victory over Ren Han.

Stanford met its match on Tuesday in the quarterfinals against the No. 12 Trojans of USC.

Bramlett and Kearney were the only winners on the day for the Cardinal, who fell 3-2. Bramlett defeated Matthew Giles 1-up, while Kearney beat Stewart Hagestad, 3 and 2.

Bramlett was a rising star as a freshman. He earned second-team All-American honors and helped Stanford win its first NCAA title in 14 years. But two freak wrist injuries kept him on the sideline for most of his sophomore and junior seasons. His return to the Cardinal lineup bolsters Stanford’s chances to come out on top at the NCAA championships.

“His biggest asset, whether he had the wrist injury or not, is his mental toughness,” Coach Ray told gostanford.com of Bramlett.

“And that really had to hold some weight over the last couple years because he’s run the gamut of emotions,” Ray added. “All the things that run through your mind if you’re a premier athlete being pulled away from your sport, he’s had to deal with. And he’s handled it with a lot of character.”

The Trojans won three matches at the top of the lineup, enough for an overall victory. T.J. Vogel defeated Kim, 2 and 1, Steve Lim bested Ziegler, 4 and 3, and Martin Trainer earned a 1-up victory over DeDecker.

After falling out of the championship bracket, Stanford suffered a 3.5-1.5 loss against Iowa. Bramlett halved his match with Chris Brant and Kearney defeated Bradley George for the Cardinal’s only points of the day.

In the seventh place match Stanford fell to the tenth seeded San Diego Toreros 3-2. Bramlett defeated Jason Shano, 6 and 4, and Ziegler beat Kenneth McCready 3 and 2. Kim, DeDecker and Kearney all lost their respective matches.

Stanford will have an opportunity to redeem itself this weekend at the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitation, which is also held at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Course, Dove Mountain.