Cal Wins 10th Annual Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate, Shatters Tourney Team Score Record
PALM DESERT, Calif. (Feb. 18, 2018) – The 19th-ranked University of California men’s golf team saved its best round for last at the 10th Annual Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate at Classic Club, recording a sparkling 268 (-20) on Sunday to secure the team victory with a tournament record score of 817 (-47). Cal’s Collin Morikawa and Sebastian Crampton were two of four players that tied for the individual victory with 54-hole scores of 202 (-14), breaking the previous individual tournament score record of 203 (-13) set by Julien Brun of TCU in 2014. Fredrik Nilehn of Texas Tech and individual Austin Eckroat of Oklahoma State joined Morikawa and Crampton in the four-way tie for first atop the individual leaderboard, while the Red Raiders took second place in the team standings.
Morikawa, the No. 9 player in the nation according to Golfstat.com, recorded a final-round 65 (-7) to climb five spots on the leaderboard on the final day. Crampton moved up two spots into the tie for first, posting a final-round 66 (-6). The Bears’ four scoring players for Sunday’s round recorded a whopping 25 birdies on the day, helping Cal demolish the previous Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate team score record of 837 (-27) set by Oregon in 2014. The five players in the Cal lineup totaled 10 sub-70 rounds out of a possible 15, while the lineup posted just one individual round above par. Cal amassed 75 birdies during the 54-hole tournament, leading the 23-team field by a wide margin.
Texas Tech matched Oregon’s previous tournament team score record with an 837 (-27), finishing second thanks to a final round 273 (-15). Nilehn, Golfstat’s No. 16-ranked player in the nation, crept up the leaderboard before settling into the first-place tie after a 65 (-7) on Sunday. Colorado placed third as a team, firing a 54-hole score of 845 (-19), while No. 21 UCLA was fourth at 848 (-16). A wide margin separated the top four teams from the remainder of the field, as No. 36 Kansas rounded out the top five teams with an even score of 864. No. 36 TCU placed sixth at 866 (+2), while host Wyoming finished in ninth at 873 (+9).
Eckroat, one of four individuals from Oklahoma State who competed in the 135-player field, charged up the leaderboard on day three by matching the tournament individual single-round score record with a 64 (-8) on Sunday. He recorded an amazing nine birdies, bogeying just one hole to tie Wyoming’s Dan Starzinski for the best individual round of the tournament. Starzinski, the field leader after the second day of competition, ended up in a tie for 19th place with a score of 213 (-3). He was the top Wyoming finisher along with teammate Quintin Pope, who posted a steady progression of 72-71-70 during the three days of play.
Classic Club’s par-four, 459-yard hole No. 11 was again the toughest during Sunday’s round, yielding just 12 birdies and a stroke average of 4.38 during the final 18 holes of play. The par-five, 560-yard hole No. 14 was again the most favorable, allowing a stroke average of 4.53 on Sunday. The field of 135 players averaged 74.22 strokes per round during the three-day tournament at the par-72, 7,322-yard Classic Club.
The University of Wyoming will host the Wyoming Cowboy Classic at another Troon property, the Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, Ariz., April 9-10. Stay tuned to Troon.com and GoWyo.com as well as @wyo_golf and @troongolf on twitter for more information as the Wyoming Cowboy Classic approaches.