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Leading wire-to-wire, No. 12 Stanford made the most of its home course advantage Wednesday by winning the NCAA Stanford Regional at rainy Stanford Golf Course.
The victory was the fourth in a row for the second-seeded Cardinal, securing a spot in the NCAA Championships, May 24-29, at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It will be Stanford’s 12th trip in the last 15 years.
The last time the Cardinal won four consecutive tournaments was in 2013-14. Coming into the regional, the Cardinal prevailed at The Goodwin, the Western Intercollegiate and Pac-12 Championships.
In its last four start, the Cardinal is an accumulative 48-under.
“We’re happy that we picked up our fourth win a row and we just want to keep this momentum going,” said Stanord coach Conrad Ray. “Now anything is possible when you get a ticket to the big show.”
Stanford started the final round with a 10-stroke advantage, but Ray knew it wouldn’t be easy.
“You do this long enough and you see crazy stuff happen,” he said. “North Carolina got off to a hot start. But our guys hung in there and they kept fighting. All year we’ve played well on the back nine.”
Stanford closed with a field-best 8-under-par 272 to finish the 54-hole, 13-team regional at 23-under 817. It was the sixth regional crown for the Cardinal, who previously won in 1996, 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2017.
Arizona State and North Carolina tied for second at 11-under 829, while Georgia Southern claimed fourth and LSU placed fifth. All advance to the NCAA Championships.
Kyler Dunkle of Utah earned the individual spot.
In all, 30 teams and six individuals from six regional sites qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Cardinal senior Isaiah Salinda, competing on his home course for the last time, earned medalist honors for the second time in a month. He shot rounds of 67-68-68 to conclude at 10-under 200. Salinda scored his first victory collegiate triumph last month at the Western Intercollegiate.
“Perfect way to end it,” Salinda said.
Salinda broke a three-way with back-to-back birdies at the par-4 15th and par-5 16th holes. He made an eight-footer at 15, then flushed a 221-yard 4-iron on the green with his second shot at 16 and nearly made the 12-foot eagle putt.
“It was kind of tough day with the conditions and I knew it wouldn’t be easy,” he said. “To finish strong like that feels really good.”
Salinda snapped a three-way tie with back-to-back birdies at the par-4 15th and par-5 16th holes. He made an eight-footer at 15, then flushed a 221-yard 4-iron on the green with his second shot at 16 and just missed a 12-foot eagle putt.
“I didn’t do any one thing particularly great,” said Salinda. “Everything was really solid. I drove it well and when I was out of position, I was able to save pars and keep the momentum going.”
Junior David Snyder secured his third top-10 in his last four starts by tying for second, posting scores of 67-68-68 to finish at 7-under 203. He was runner-up at The Goodwin in late March.
Senior Brandon Wu continued his stellar play and tied for sixth. He shot rounds of 68-67-69 to wind up at 6-under 204 and has finished in the top-10 in five-of-his-last-six starts and hasn’t finished lower than 11th.
Junior Henry Shimp recorded his best round of the week with a 68 and shared 43rd with freshman Daulet Tuleubayev (74) at 6-over 216.
For the third straight round, Stanford got the start it wanted, as three players birdied the par-5 first hole.
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