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Gifford Collegiate Championship CordeValle San Martin, Calif. NU's Place: 3rd/10 teams Golfstat.com Live Scores 36 Hole Results  |
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SAN MARTIN, Calif. -- Led by freshman Dylan Wu's (Medford, Ore./St. Mary's School) 3-under 68, Northwestern moved into the top three on day two of the Gifford Collegiate and will play in the last pairing in Wednesday's final round at CordeValle.
The Gifford Collegiate is a 6 count 5 event that tests the depth of a team's roster much more severely than a typical collegiate 5 count 4 tournament. After a strong opening performance Monday, NU stepped up even more in the second round with Wu's effort backed up by five teammates all shooting even-par 71 or 1-over 72 to provide support from Nos. 1 all the way through 6 in the Wildcats' lineup.
"Solid round today," tweeted NU Director of Golf and Player Development Pat Goss. "Love seeing the birdie count." Northwestern carded 22 birdies as a team with an additional eagle for good measure in shooting a 2-under 353 to get to 3-over 713 (360-353) for the tournament. NU leads No. 16 Stanford by six strokes, No. 4 Texas by eight, No. 22 South Florida, No. 34 SMU and No. 38 Colorado to give the Wildcats an edge on five of the seven top-40 teams in the field.
No. 18 USC and No. 8 UCLA have separated themselves from the pack; the Trojans lead the tournament at 12-under par while the Bruins are in second at 9-under.
Wu began his day with birdies at Nos. 1 and 3, but gave those strokes back at Nos. 6 and 7. He then stepped to the tee on the driveable par-4 eighth hole and drilled his tee shot into a greenside bunker. For the second day in a row, however, the youngster dug into the sand and drained the shot, this time for an eagle. In Monday's opening round, Wu jarred a bunker shot for birdie at No. 15 that "Luke Donald would have been impressed with" according to head coach David Inglis.
As an encore to the eagle, Wu made birdie at No. 9 for a 3-under 33 going out. He began the back nine with four-straight pars, birdied No. 14 to get to 4-under, then carded a bogey at No. 16 to finish up with a 68 to put him in a second-place tie at 5-under 137 (69-68), one shot out of first.
Behind Wu, a trio of Wildcats carded even-par rounds of 71 while the bottom two members of the NU lineup shot 1-over 72 to keep Wu's deep number deep in the team race as well.
After shooting a 7-over 78 in the first round Monday, senior Scott Smith (Pepper Pike, Ohio/University School) was determined to post a better number in the second round. To that end, he made four birdies in his first eight holes included a sizzling stretch of three-straight from Nos. 6 through 8.
"Smith fist pumps a long make on 7 and then steps up on 8 and hits a perfect drive to 10 feet!" Goss tweeted.
Smith eventually came back to Earth and would finish at even-par 71 following bogeys on each of his last three holes, but still improved seven shots to move up to 49th in the individual standings at 7-over 149 (78-71).
"Solid round but tough finish for Smith," Goss tweeted. "3-putt on 16 and poor drives lead to 3 bogeys. Front nine was the best of his career. Good stuff."
Freshman Charles Wang (Beijing, China/Sarasota Christian School) birdied his first two holes of the second round, but gave those strokes back before the turn. On the back side, he answered a late bogey at No. 15 with a birdie at the 166-yard par-3 16th to record one of NU's three even-par 71s on the day. Wang's score represented a four-stroke improvement over Monday's round and moved him up to 32nd in the individual standings at 4-over 146 (75-71).
Senior Matthew Negri (El Cajon, Calif./Grossmont) was the third Wildcat to come home in even-par 71 Tuesday and he did so with late fight. After a three-birdie front nine saw him still turn at even par, Negri made bogey at Nos. 10 and 12 to find himself 2-over on the day. He bounced back with a birdie at No. 14 and another on his final hole of the day for a 71 and a 36-hole total of 29th place 3-over 145 (74-71).
Both junior Josh Jamieson (St. Andrews, Scotland/High School of Dundee) and senior Bennett Lavin (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) rounded out Northwestern's team scores Tuesday just one stroke behind their trio of teammates with rounds of 1-over 72, giving NU one of its deepest team efforts in recent memory.
Jamieson mixed two birdies with two bogeys during an even-par front nine and got to red numbers with a birdie at No. 10. Two additional bogeys coming home led to a 1-over 72 on the day and a 1-over 143 (71-72) for the tournament to put him 18th in the field entering Wednesday's final round.
Lavin made par on his first six holes of the second round, fighting for a good par after hitting into the hazard on the par-5 sixth hole. He followed that save up, however, with a pair of short-sided mistakes at the par-3 seventh for a double bogey.
Showcasing senior resolve, Lavin erased the error immediately with birdies at Nos. 8 and 9 to turn at even-par. He then came home with a 1-over 36 on the back nine to shoot 1-over 72 for the round, placing him tied with Jamieson for 18th in the field at 1-over 143 (71-72).
Competing as an individual, freshman Sam Triplett (Scottsdale, Ariz./Brophy Prep) shot a 2-over 73 to remain squarely in the middle of the pack at the Gifford with a 38th-place 36-hole total of 5-over 147 (74-73).
The third and final round of the Gifford Collegiate at CordeValle gets underway at 11 a.m. CT/9 a.m. PT tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 5.
Northwestern -- 3rd/10 360-353 (+3)
T2 -- Dylan Wu -- 69-68 (-5)
T18 -- Josh Jamieson -- 71-72 (+1)
T18 -- Bennett Lavin -- 71-72 (+1)
T29 -- Matthew Negri -- 74-71 (+3)
T32 -- Charles Wang -- 75-71 (+4)
T38 - Sam Triplett -- 74-73 (+5)
T49 -- Scott Smith -- 78-71 (+7)
Players in italics are competing as individuals
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