Washington Wins San Diego Intercollegiate


Paced by All-American and 2011 Walker Cup team member Chris Williams, the University of Washington rolled to a wire-to-wire win in the San Diego Intercollegiate. The two-day, 54-hole event was held at San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista, Calif.

The medalist was Alex Ching of San Diego at 2-under 214, while Garrick Porteous was another stroke back in second. Williams finished tied for third at even-par 216 with UW teammate Cheng-Tsung Pan and Southern Cal's Steve Lim and Martin Trainer.

The Huskies, which entered the tournament ranked fifth by Golfstat.com, finished at 6-over 870 thanks to a 1-under 287 team total in the final round.

They won the tournament - their second of the 2011-12 season after a victory in the Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational last fall - by seven strokes over Southern Cal and 14 over third-ranked UCLA.

"We only won this year at the Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational but it didn't quite feel the same because it was a rain-shortened event," Husky Coach Matt Thurmond said. "This is the first real win for these guys on a tough course against a tough field. It feels great."

Host school San Diego State and Tennessee tied for fourth at plus-23. Another notable was fourth-rated Stanford in eighth at 38-over par. Two-time defending NCAA Champion Augusta State finished ninth at plus-41.

Thurmond is hoping the triumph in San Diego bodes well for later this spring when the NCAA Championship will be held up the Pacific coast at famed Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

"What I'm most proud about is that it's a really hard course and they played well," he said. "It is something we pride ourselves in and it was championship conditions out there. You know we're going to be in southern California for a tough championship hopefully at the end of May. It is good practice to play in these championship conditions."

For all the scores, visit http://www.golfstatresults.com//public/leaderboards/team/static/team2834.html.