Young Washington men’s golf team looks like it is in re-loading mode, not rebuilding

When asked prior to the start of the fall golf season about the prospects of his young Husky men’s golf team, head coach Matt Thurmond shrugged his shoulders and said, “I don’t know what we have.”

At The Prestige at the TPC Stadium Course at PGA West, Thurmond learned what he has is a pretty darn good team.

The Huskies finished the 54-hole tournament at the 7,300-yard, par-72 course in a tie for second with Stanford. Both the Cardinal and the Huskies shot a combined 867 (+3) and finished three strokes back of tournament champion California.

Washington’s five-man roster includes a freshman, two sophomores and two untested juniors. Thurmond had to replace three All-Americans from his 2010 team. Charlie Hughes finished as the Huskies’ top individual finisher, ending up fourth out of 81 competitors — his best-ever collegiate finish. Chris Williams, Jens Bracht and Cory McElyea all shot a 71 (-1) to lead the Huskies’ charge. Each took turns carrying the team at different points and pushing Washington to the top of the leaderboard.