On Saturday, Cal will play Illinois in one match, while Georgia Tech meets Alabama in the other
by Cassie Stein, Brentley Romine, Ron Balicki,
Nick Masuda
MILTON, Ga. (May 31, 2013) – A clutch shot
by California junior Brandon Hagy sealed Cal’s
spot in the semifinals of the NCAA
Championships by defeating Arizona State 3-2
at The Capital City Club's Crabapple course.
Hagy stuck his shot to 4 feet with a 138-yard
gap wedge.
“It was a great number for me,” Hagy added.
ASU’s Jon Rahm fired back with a shot to 12
feet above the cup. Rahm missed his putt and
conceded the match.
The Sun Devils were up early in four of the five
matches.
“You could sense in their players, they had a
shot at this,” Cal head coach Steve Desimone
said. “They had a sense of purpose that was
unbelievably strong.”
But the momentum swing came at the turn.
Four of five Arizona State players – Austin
Quick, Max Rottluff, Trey Ka’ahanui, Spencer
Lawson – made bogeys at the par-4 9th. Hagy
made a birdie to Rahm’s par. It swung the
favor to Cal, with all matches either all square
or with the Bears 1 or 2 up.
The No. 1 team in the Golfweek/Sagarin
College Rankings put its first points on the
board when NCAA Individual Medalist Max
Homa won his match again Ka’ahanui 3 and 2.
“I saw the confidence, I just didn’t have good
shots,” Homa said of his start. Homa and
Ka’ahanui played even-par golf until the 8th
hole of the day. Homa never made a birdie all
day. He made one bogey on No. 10.
Joël Stalter was next to close his match
against Rottluff, a freshman from Germany.
Stalter went 2 down early and fast. But he
fought back.
“I just told myself he wouldn’t win another
hole,” Stalter said. That held true as Stalter
took it to all square on No. 9 and won hole 12.
He won, 1 up.
Michael Weaver and Quick took their match to
extra holes. Quick sunk a 12-foot birdie putt
on the 19th hole to secure points on the board
for ASU.
Michael Kim, the No. 1 player in
the Golfweek Rankings, lost his quarterfinal
match up to Lawson on the 18th, 1 up.
Therefore 2-2, with one match left on the
course, it all came down to Hagy.
Hagy added that it was a moment that he’ll
never forget.
“Jon pushed him (Brandon) all the way today,”
Desimone said. “He and Joël are experienced
players and they performed when they needed
to.”
As for ASU, it had nothing to lose.
Said head coach Tim Mickelson: “I’m going to
tell them I’m damn proud of them. It was a
great learning experience for next year and
hopefully we’ll get back.”
With that, Cal will take on Illinois in the
semifinals Saturday.
-- OTHER QUARTER-FINAL MATCHES --
Georgia Tech def. UNLV, 3-2
Ollie Schniederjans led his NCAA Championship
quarterfinal match Friday against UNLV’s Kevin
Penner for 16 holes until Penner squared things
up with a long birdie on the par-4 17th hole at
the Capital City Club’s Crabapple course. And
when the match went to extra holes,
Schniederjans delivered, sticking his approach
at the par-4 first hole to within 3 feet.
When the match-clinching birdie putt dropped,
Schniederjans gave a big fist pump. The gallery
of mostly Georgia Tech fans erupted.
Schniederjans’ teammates came rushing out
onto the green to congratulate him.
Then came the tears, as Schniederjans
covered his face with a white towel, taking a
few seconds to collect his emotions.
“That was kind of surprising,” Schniederjans
said of the moments after his 19-hole victory,
which gave the Yellow Jackets a 3-2 win and
set up a semifinal match against defending
national runner-up Alabama on Saturday. “You
saw the other guys, they were like that, too.
We love this program. We love this team.
That’s how bad we want it.”
Illinois def. Texas, 3-2
Illinois Sophmore Alex Burge rolled to a 3-and-2
victory over Cody Gribble of Texas, clinching
the deciding point in the team’s 3-2 win over
the defending NCAA champion Longhorns.
“What Alex did out there today was a huge,
huge deal,” said Small, in his 13th season at
the Illinois helm. “Coming back from what
happened at regional and playing the way he
has here, well, that’s what this program
celebrates. What a story for that kid. Things
like that are what is probably the most
satisfying thing for a coach.”
Burge never trailed in his match, winning Nos.
2, 3 and 4 to go 3 up. He won the 10th hole to
make it 4 up; after Gribble won the 11th, the
two halved holes 12-16 to bring the match to
an end.
Freshmen Thomas Detry and Charlie Danielson,
playing in the first two matches, completed
the Illini winning point total, each posting a 1-
up victory.
Alabama def. New Mexico, 4-1
Junior Bobby Wyatt provided the clinching
point after closing out Victor Perez on the 17th
with a two-putt par, securing a 2-and-1
victory. Wyatt pointed to the early lead as a
big reason why the Tide cruised into the semis.
"Looked like we got up early. The first time I
got a look at a board was on the seventh, and
I saw we were up in four matches, so that's
always nice," said Wyatt, ranked No. 3 in the
Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings. "It's definitely
better than the other way around. But it's
match play, any of those matches can flip at
anytime. So you just keep your head down and
take care of business."
And take care of business they did, with senior
Scott Strohmeyer taking care of Benjamin
Bauch 4 and 3, sophomore star Justin Thomas
pulled away for a 4-and-3 win over James
Erkenbeck and Cory Whitsett was a 5-and-4
victor over John Catlin after going 7 under
through 14 holes.
The NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship is the pinnacle of collegiate golf in the United States, held annually in late May or early June. The event brings together the nation's top 30 teams and six individual qualifiers, all of whom have advanced...
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