Northwest college teams kick off spring golf season in Hawaii

The Washington men’s golf team opened its spring season by finishing seventh in the Ameri Ari Invitational at Waikoloa’s Kings’ Course on the Big Island of Hawaii. The Huskies ended up 9-under for the 54-hole tournament, 21 strokes behind the winners – top-ranked Texas.

Oregon, ranked second in the country, finished 12th in the tournament while Oregon State was 17th.

The Huskies, ranked fifth by Golfstat.com, entered Friday’s final round fourth on the leaderboard and just five strokes off the lead. Uncharacteristic mistakes cost the Huskies a shot at returning to the mainland with a title in tow.
The best rounds of the day were turned in by UW’s two junior leaders Chris Williams and Charlie Hughes. Both shot even-par 72s. Williams ended tied with Cheng-Tsung Pan for a team-best 13th-place finish. Both finished the tournament at 5-under 211. They finished six strokes behind Jeffrey Kang of USC and Jordan Spieth of Texas.

• The Husky men’s golf team led wire to wire and claimed the two day, 54-hole San Diego Intercollegiate team title at San Diego Country Club. Four Huskies finished in the top 14 among individuals – led by Chris Williams and Cheng-Tsung Pan, who finished tied for third – as Washington claimed its second team title of the 2011-12 year.

Not only did the Huskies – ranked fifth by Golfstat.com – win, but they did so convincingly. UW ended up +6 overall after a third round score of 1-under 287. They outdistanced second place USC by seven strokes and third-place and third-ranked UCLA by 14 shots.

Host San Diego State and Tennessee tied for fourth at +23. Other notables included fourth-rated Stanford in 8th at +38 and two-time defending NCAA Champion Augusta State was ninth at +41.