UCLA and USC couldn’t keep pace with California and Oregon at the Pacific 12 Conference golf championships in Corvallis, Ore., this weekend, as Cal defeated Oregon in a playoff to claim the title. USC placed third, UCLA fourth.
Cal and Oregon finished regulation tied at 12 under par, and Cal prevailed on the second playoff hole, led by Brandon Hagy’s birdie on No. 16 at Trysting Tree GC. “We chased the Ducks all day,” said Cal Coach Steve Desimone. “We were very fortunate to come out on top.”
UCLA, led by Patrick Cantlay, entered the weekend ranked third nationally in the Golfweek/Saragin national rankings. USC was fifth.
The Trojans were down 14 strokes to begin play Sunday but rallied with the lowest team score of the day, an 8-under 352. They were led by junior Sam Smith (right), who shot a season-best 67 on Saturday and matched that effort on Sunday to conclude the weekend at 9-under–par 279 (77-68-67-67). Smith was third in individual play.
The Bruins’ 72-hole team total was 7 under par, following a 3-over showing on Sunday (363). Cantlay (below) tied for fifth in individual play at 8 under par (69-70-71-70 – 280).
Stanford’s Andrew Yun emerged as the medalist in the competition, blazing to 13 under par (68-70-69-68 – 275) – the 12th time the Cardinal as produced the medalist in this event.
USC’s Jeffrey Kang finished 12th at 3 under par, Martin Trainer tied for 17th at 1 over and Steve Lim and Anthonoy Paolucci tied for 21th at 3 over.
UCLA’s Pedro Figueiredo was seventh at 2 under and Anton Arboleda tied for 13th at 1 under.
The NCAA Division 1 Championships will be played May 29-June 3 at Riviera CC.
