California Big Match Team 2023 (California Athletics Photo)
Rina Tatematsu of California knew she just needed a two-putt on No. 17 to win the match for the Golden Bears.
After a fantastic lag putt, she never even had to hit the second one. The Cardinals conceded the putt, and the match was over, giving California the 4-3 win at Menlo Country Club in Woodside, Calif.
However, Karl Vilips of Stanford delivered what can only be called a miracle on Hole No. 16.
With California 3-up and in close off the tee on the par-3 No. 16, Vilips needed a hole-in-one to continue the match, because a halve would have ended the match.
And he delivered.
Vilips threw his tee shot past the hole, used the backspin to drain the hole-in-one, and headed to No. 17.
However, Tatematsu and Sampson Zheng ended the match against Vilips and Rachel Heck on No 17.
The win was California's third in the annual event, making California 3-1 in its four years.
Before that match went final, the Golden Bears and Cardinals were all knotted up with three match wins each.
For Stanford, Barclay Brown and Caroline Sturdza, Paula Martin Sampedro and Kush Arora, and Sadie Englemann and Sean-Karl Dobson all secured match wins.
For California, along with Tatematsu and Zheng, Ethan Fang and Kayln Noh, Ethan Chung and Adora Liu, and Olivia Lee and Costas Panay secured match wins.
In "The Big Match", Stanford's mixed twosome will compete against a Cal mixed twosome in a better ball match play format. Each of the six matches is worth one point, with a total of six points available in the overall Big Match competition. If needed, the number 1 team for both schools will play No. 1 and No. 18 until a winner is determined.
Last season, Stanford's No. 1 men's and women's golf teams teamed up on Thursday for a 4-2 victory over Cal in the 2022 Big Match at Menlo Country Club. The annual event is hosted by the membership of the club.
The event began in 2018, but this version was just the third due to 2020 and 2021 being canceled due to Covid. The 2022 victory was Stanford's first in the event.
FINAL RESULTS
Brown/Sturdza over Ochoa/Du, 4&3
Martin Sampedro/Arora over Fouillet/Lee, 3&1
Englemann/Dobson over Jin/Chen, 3&2
Tatematsu/Zheng over Vilips/Heck, 2&1
Fang/Noh over Lu/Gao, 3&2
Chung/Liu over Ganne/Greyserman, 4&2
Lee/Panay over Xu/Beber-Frankel, 3&2
ABOUT THE The Big Match
In this unique format that combines the men’s and women’s
players from each university into one team, a Stanford mixed
twosome will compete against a Cal mixed twosome in a better
ball match play format. Each of the six matches is worth one point
with a total of six points available in the overall Big Match
competition. If needed, the number 1 team for both schools will
play 1 and 18 until we have a winner.
View Complete Tournament Information