Eric Chun has finished his last two tournaments under par.Eric Chun has finished his last two tournaments under par.

Chun's 68 Propels Northwestern to Third Place Finish at Gifford Collegiate

Nov. 10, 2010

Gifford Collegiate Championship Final Results (PDF Format) Get Acrobat Reader

SAN MARTIN, Calif. -- Buoyed by junior Eric Chun's (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) final-round 3-under 68, Northwestern jumped one spot in the final standings at the Gifford Collegiate Championship to finish third overall -- its best finish at the event since earning runner-up honors at the inaugural staging in 2005.

Northwestern has competed in all six Gifford Collegiate Championships (formerly the CordeValle Collegiate), which annually boasts a very strong field. This season, eight of the 12 entrants are ranked in Golfstat.com's top 50. The 35th-ranked Wildcats jumped No. 26 USC Wednesday to capture third by a five-stroke cushion at 34-over 1,099 (371-360-368), trailing only second-place No. 16 Stanford and first-place No. 3 UCLA. Other ranked teams NU defeated were: No. 5 Augusta State (ninth), No. 24 San Diego (seventh), No. 25 Washington (tied for fourth) and No. 47 Oklahoma (eighth).

The Gifford Collegiate consists of six-person lineups and five scorers for each team. Typical collegiate events feature five-person lineups with the top four scorers for each school counting toward the team total.

Chun charged up the leaderboard early in the day despite a bogey on No. 5, which was his first hole of final round. He followed that up with birdies at Nos. 6, 8 and 9 before a fourth birdie at the 230-yard par 3 12th put him at 3-under par. He alternated two birdies with two bogeys the rest of the way in to account for his final-round 3-under 68, the second-best individual score of the day.

Chun's 54-hole total of 1-under 212 (73-71-68) marks his second top-10 this season, his fourth top-20 in five fall events and is his second-straight tournament with a 54-hole under par effort. He carded a 1-under 215 at the UNCG Bridgestone Golf Collegiate two weeks ago.

Senior David Lipsky (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) finished 11th as an individual at 4-over 217 (72-71-74) after a final round 3-over 74. Lipsky made two birdies on the day, but a disastrous triple-bogey 8 on the par-5 18th hole contributed to his final tally. Still, Lipsky put together his fourth top-20 finish in five fall tournaments this year.

Despite shooting into the top-20 of the individual standings with an even-par 71 Tuesday, sophomore Nick Losole (Scottsdale, Ariz./Scottsdale Notre Dame) struggled to a 6-over 77 Wednesday to end up 26th at 10-over 223 (75-71-77). Losole quickly got to 2-under after three holes, but five bogeys and one double in a nine-hole stretch followed. He immediately got a shot back with a birdie to end that run, but back-to-back bogeys on his final two holes accounted for the 77.

The final trio of Wildcats all finished the Gifford Collegiate Championship tied for 38th position at 12-over 225. Senior Josh Dupont (Poway, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) made a couple of birdies Wednesday, but he also made four bogeys and one double-bogey to finish at 4-over 75 to lead to his 54-hole total of 225 (76-74-75).

Freshman Brad Shigezawa (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou) fired his third-straight 4-over 75 in the tournament Wednesday. Shigezawa struggled on the back nine with three-straight bogeys on Nos. 13, 14 and 15 before a double at No. 18 left him five-over. He made birdie on No. 1 and par the rest of the way, however, to steady himself for his 225 (75-75-75).

Freshman Jack Perry (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) made seven bogeys against two birdies in his final round for a 5-over 76, putting him at 12-over 225 as well (76-73-76).

Northwestern now is off until the beginning of the spring season, which gets underway Feb. 11-12 at the Big Ten Match Play Championship. The Wildcats are the defending champions of that tournament.

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