--photo Pac-10.org
STANFORD, Calif. (May 1, 2011) -- The USC Trojans used an extra hole to capture the 2011 Pac-10 Men’s Golf Championship at the Stanford Golf Course behind the performance of sophomore Martin Trainer, who also needed extra holes to earn Pac-10 Medalist honors.
The Trojans held a three-stroke lead heading into today’s final round and shot a 354 (+4) to finish at 1,415 (+15). However, it was the play of the OREGON Ducks who caught the Trojans, making up nine strokes by shooting 345 (-5) to grab a share of the lead. Senior Jack Dukeminier and junior Daniel Miernicki each posted final round scores of 3-under 67 to lead the Oregon comeback.
In a playoff that started on No. 18, USC prevailed by posting an even-par on the extra hole, while Oregon finished at 3-over.
“Can’t believe how well they did this week. I am so proud of every single kid, everyone contributed, and proud of our coaching staff,” said USC coach Chris Zambri.
“There were times out there where we kind of thought it might have been slipping away, at the very end especially. We played 17 and 18 great, which was a lot different from what we did yesterday. What a finish, this team has really come together in the last couple of months and it’s been pretty special,” said Zambri.
Trainer, from nearby Palo Alto, Calif., needed extra holes to earn Pac-10 individual honors. He and OREGON STATE junior Alex Moore entered today’s round tied for the individual lead. Both shot even-par 70 to finish regulation play tied at 5-under 275, but it was Trainer who needed to save par with a five-foot putt on the final hole to not only force an individual playoff, but the team playoff as well.
Using only No. 18 for the individual playoff, Trainer and Moore locked up for nearly two hours before Moore surrendered a stroke on the seventh extra hole and Trainer tapped in for par to earn Medalist honors. It was the first time a Trojan took the individual title since Jamie Lovemark in 2007.
“It was a big putt (on 72nd hole). To tell you the truth, I was so zoned in on what I was doing and my coach kind of gave me the outlines of what it meant, but I didn’t really know that it was for both the tie for the team and individual titles,” said Trainer.
“It was an amazing week, the course was incredible and they did a great job with the tournament. It was really awesome and I am glad I got to win both. That’s pretty rare, so I am going to enjoy it,” added Trainer.
UCLA’s Pontus Widegren had the low round of the day with a 4-under 66, leading UCLA to a final round 348 (-2) and a third place finish in the team race with a score of 1,418 (+18). Host Stanford finished fourth with a 72-hole total of 1,420 (+20).
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ABOUT THE
Pac-12 Championship
72-hole men's collegiate championship of the
Pac-12 Conference with simultaneous team and
individual competitions. Unlike most college
tournaments, the best five scores of six players
account for the team score each day.
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