The Rice Thresher

Location: http://the.ricethresher.org/sports/2006/04/21/golf_stanford_us_intercollegiate

April 21, 2006 > Sports > Rain halts golf’s efforts at Stanford’s U.S. Intercollegiate

Rain halts golf’s efforts at Stanford’s U.S. Intercollegiate

By Brian Mothersole | Thresher staff

The golf team’s last chance for a regular season tournament victory was cut short by rain last weekend, and the squad finished 15th of 17 teams at the U.S. Intercollegiate in Palo Alto, Calif. The meet, hosted by Stanford University, was halted three holes into the third and final round Sunday, and the Owls were forced to come home early with a 611 over two rounds on the par 72, 6,742-yard course.

Next for the Owls is the Conference USA Championship, which will be held April 24-26 at the Old Waverly Country Club in Columbus, Mississippi. Rice finished sixth in last year’s Western Athletic Conference Championship, and current C-USA rivals Southern Methodist University and the University of Tulsa placed first and second, respectively.

Despite placing no higher than seventh in any meet since they took third at the Feb. 7 Rice Intercollegiate, head coach Drew Scott said he is confident in his players.

“[The team is] not going to be intimidated,” Scott said. “If we win the C-USA tournament, then we have an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. That’s a big carrot to be dangling in front of their faces, and I think they’ll be ready for the challenge.”

In California, poor weather plagued the Owls for the entire tournament, and no player shot better than two-over-par on any round. Scott said the team should have played better.

“We played 36 holes and really struggled,” Scott said. “The weather was unlike anything we’ve seen all year. It was cold and rainy. … But then again, we’re trying to get our game to a level at which we can go anywhere in the country and not have to worry about the climate.”

Fifth-ranked UCLA won the abridged tournament with a 578, followed closely by last year’s defending champion USC, which shot a 579, and host Stanford, which shot with a 580. Rice finished between the University of California-Davis and Long Beach State.

Senior Parker LaBarge, who led the team with a 35th-place 150, attributed the finish to both talented opponents and a difficult course.

“The tournament had a lot of top schools, and the course was extremely tough,” he said. “They’ve had so much rain [on the course] that they weren’t able to cut the rough, so it was extremely deep and impossible to play from.”

Sophomore Addison Awe finished two shots behind LaBarge, his 152 placing him 46th overall. Junior Daniel Lee ended one shot behind him, placing 50th. Freshman Kyle Kelley and sophomore Jeff Krakowiak rounded out the team with 73rd and 84th place finishes.

LeBarge said the team’s postseason hopes rest on winning the conference tournament.

“We haven’t played well enough to get an automatic bid [to the regional tournament], so our last chance is the conference meet,” he said. “We’re going to come in just like every other tournament, shoot it one hole at a time, and hopefully we’ll have a chance to win.”

End of article

Back to top