Feb. 21, 2012
Rice Intercollegiate Final Results (PDF Format) 
HOUSTON -- Coming off its third-straight victory at the Big Ten Match Play Championship last weekend, Northwestern made it 2-for-2 during the spring season with a four-shot win in stroke play action Tuesday at the Rice Intercollegiate.
The Wildcats carded their best team score of the 15-team event in Tuesday's final round, combining for a 2-under 286 to give Northwestern a 54-hole total of 2-under 862 (289-287-286), good for a four-stroke cushion over second place Houston. The win is the 29th for head coach Pat Goss in his 15-year career. 2011-12 is the ninth season under Goss in which NU has won multiple times.
Northwestern is the first two-time champion in the 12-year history of the Rice Intercollegiate. NU previously won in 2003 when Scott Harrington also claimed individual medalist honors with a 7-under 209.
After beginning the shotgun start Tuesday on holes No. 1-3, Northwestern began its back nine with an eight-shot lead. Houston made a charge by dropping multiple long birdie bombs on the back side, but the Wildcats were able to hold off the challenge to get the win.
Senior Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) held a share of the lead after the first day with a 36-hole total of 3-under par. He made three birdies on the front nine to turn at 3-under 33 on the day and 6-under for the tournament, then came to 18 with the same score and a 6-under par 54-hole total already posted by New Mexico State's Zachery Fullerton. Needing a birdie at the 542-yard par-5 18th to win or a par to force a playoff, Chun hit a good drive to the left rough before hooking a hybrid into a greenside bunker some 50 yards from the pin. Chun put his third shot on the green, then narrowly missed a 35-footer for birdie before tapping in to officially tie for first place at 6-under 210 (71-70-69) and force a playoff for medalist honors.
In that playoff, both players found the rough off the first tee, and Fullerton chose to lay up. Chun went aggressive, cutting a 3-wood around a tree to just short of the greenside bunker. He missed his pitch and had to get up-and-down for par, nailing a 15-footer after his opponent was already in with 5 to extend the match.
On the second hole, a 440-yard par-4, both players found trouble off the tee. Chun eventually just missed a chip for birdie that resulted in a tap-in par, forcing Fullerton to make a 10-footer, which he did.
Moving to the third playoff hole, the windy par-3 third, Chun missed the green short right while Fullerton hit a great tee shot to 12 feet. Chun would end up bogeying while Fullerton two-putted for the win.
Chun's finish is his third top-2 of the season and his fourth top-10 in six stroke play starts this year.
Junior Nick Losole (Scottsdale, Ariz./Scottsdale Notre Dame) made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 4 and 5 Tuesday, then made a bogey at No. 7 before carding a third birdie at the 415-yard par-4 ninth to make the turn at 2-under, tied for second overall at that same number. Eight pars and a bogey at the lengthy 505-yard par-4 14th led to a final round 1-under 71 and a 54-hole total of 1-under 215 (73-71-71), which placed him solo ninth in the field.
Senior Sam Chien (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) hit beautiful shots all day at Westwood Golf Club, but had trouble making putts to score low. He carded a birdie at No. 6, but the long par-3 eighth bit him for a double bogey. From there, Chien finished out with 11-straight pars - which is not to say he did not have birdie opportunities. For example, on the 16th, he tucked his approach in just 10 feet from the hole but missed the putt. Still, his 1-over 73 gave him a 3-over 219 (72-74-73), good for a top-20 finish at 19th.
Sophomore Jack Perry (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) played even-par golf until finding red numbers with a birdie on the 445-yard par-4 seventh hole. He stayed on that number until the 13th, when he found trouble in the form of four bogeys over a five-hole stretch to finish his day at 3-over 75 and his tournament at 5-over 221 (73-73-75). Perry tied for 24th overall.
Freshman Bennett Lavin (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) made an early birdie on the 328-yard par 4 fifth hole when he hit his approach to eight feet from 83 yards away. He would give that stroke back at No. 6, then he got revenge on the 240-yard par-3 eighth -- which he played in a combined 5-over par Monday -- by getting a nice up-and-down par. Another birdie at the 12th hole preceded a double bogey at the 505-yard par-4 14th to put Lavin in black figures. On No. 16, he fist-pumped a good par-saving putt before a great downhill bunker shot from 50 yards on the 18th allowed him to save another par.
Lavin would conclude his day with two more pars to card his second-straight 1-over 73, tying Perry for 24th at 5-over 225 (75-73-73).
Northwestern returns to action March 22-23 at the Barona Collegiate Cup in Lakeside, Calif.
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