After a hiatus from the fall season, Stanford men’s golf was back in action this week with the Southwestern Invitational on Monday and Tuesday. Led by top-10 finishes from sophomores Ethan Ng and Freddie Lee, the Cardinal placed fifth overall with a 12-over 876 to open the spring season.
Host Pepperdine claimed the tournament win with a 14-under 850 on the team’s home course of North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, CA.
Heading into the third and final round on Tuesday, the Cardinal sat in sixth with its leading two golfers — Ng and Lee — tied for 14th place. But a resounding 3-under 285 team performance moved the Cardinal ahead one spot into fifth place by the end of the final round.
“I thought our guys played a lot of solid golf throughout the week,” said head coach Conrad Ray. “We hurt ourselves with too many careless bogeys from easy positions and some three putts on the greens, but overall it was a good way to open up the New Year. Pepperdine on their home course is a tough equation, but it was good to see what they have and what we can expect from a bunch of good teams in the field.”
Ng had a particularly strong tournament finish. After shooting 5-over 77 in the opening round, the sophomore followed up with back-to-back 3-under 69s to tie his career low for a round. His performance was highlighted by four birdies and an eagle on the final round. He also played par 5s at 7-under over the two-day event. Behind a total of 215 strokes, Ng placed a team-high sixth.
Lee followed one stroke behind Ng, tying for ninth place with 216 strokes. The Australian native sandwiched a second-round 4-over 76 performance with two 2-under 70s, which included four birdies. He finished in the top-10 of a tournament for the first time in his career.
The team was also represented by senior Henry Shimp, freshman Barclay Brown and sophomore Daulet Tuleubayev. Junior Ashwin Arasu competed individually.
Men’s golf will continue its spring season with a trip to Kona, Hawaii for the Amer Ari intercollegiate from Feb. 6-8.
Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.