UW performs well at PING-Golfweek Preview

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Updated: October 2, 2012

The Huskies tied for fifth, led by second-place finishes for All-Americans Chris Williams and Cheng-Tsung Pan at the PING-Golfweek Preview.

Chris Williams and Cheng-Tsung Pan tied for second among individuals and the Huskies finished tied for 5th at the highly competitive PING-Golfweek Preview, which concluded at the Capital City Club in Alpharetta, Ga. on Tuesday, Sept. 25th.

Fourteen of the 15 teams in the field were ranked in Golfweek’s top-25 and No. 6 Washington held its own. The Huskies ended up 14 over and tied with fifth-ranked UCLA.

No. 2 rated California and No. 4 Georgia Tech were declared co-champions after both teams shot 4 under for the day to finish at 5 over for the tournament. Defending national champs and third-ranked Texas tied for third at 13 over with 15th-ranked UNLV.
The Huskies finished ahead of No. 1 ranked Alabama, which ended up tied for ninth.

“It wasn’t an amazing week, but it was a good week overall. I thought we competed really well,” summed up Husky Coach Matt Thurmond, whose team shot 3-over 283 in Tuesday’s final round.

“Obviously a better score today would have gone a long ways, but an outstanding final round by Trevor Simsby and Chris and Pan tying for second place in probably the toughest field of the regular season is still really good.”

Williams and Pan each shot 1-under 69 to end up even par for the tournament. A total of eight players tied for second by shooting 210.

The top-10 finish was the 22nd of Williams’ UW career, third most in school history.

Tom Berry of San Diego State led wire-to-wire and held on in the final round to earn medalist honors. He shot 2-over 72 on Tuesday, but still was the only player to finish under par at 2 under.

Simsby had the most volatile day of the Husky five, but ultimately ended up shooting 69. He had six birdies on the day, but scored big twice with a couple of double bogeys. He finished the tournament tied for 27th at 5-over 215.

Gerrit Chambers shot 76 to finish 12-over 222 and tied for 59th. Charlie Hughes ended up tied for 61st after shooting 80 a day after posting a 69.

The tournament was played on the 7,248-yard Crabapple Course that will also serve as host for the 2013 NCAA Championship, May 28-June 2. The 54-hole test not only gave Thurmond a good measuring stick at where his team stacks up against some of the best teams in the country, but also how the course will test his team at the end of the season.