Warian Is Medalist & Gophers Are Team Champs at Highland Meadows
April 16, 2024
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Derek Hitchner made two birdies down the stretch to win the deciding point for Pepperdine on Tuesday in the NCAA Division I Men's Championship quarterfinals. But the Waves' defense of the team title that they won a year ago came to an end a few hours later, when they lost 4-1 to the host Arizona State team at Grayhawk Golf Club.
In the semifinals Tuesday afternoon, ASU's Cameron Sisk did to Hitchner what the 2021 Minnesota State Amateur champ had done to North Carolina's Ryan Gerard in the morning, making a pair of back-nine birdies to claim a 2&1 victory. But by the time Sisk secured his 2&1 victory, it didn't really matter. The Sun Devils already had the required three points for a victory.
Sisk made the final 4-1. So ASU will face Texas on Wednesday morning at Grayhawk in the title match.
Texas, the No. 4 seed, earned its place in the final with a 3-1-1 triumph over Vanderbilt, the No. 1 seed. The feature match pitted the Longhorns' senior Cole Hammer, a two-time Walker Cupper, against Vanderbilt freshman Gordon Sargent, who claimed medalist honors on Monday with a birdie on the first hole of a four-man playoff. Sargent followed that with a 3&1 victory over Baard Skogen in the quarterfinals. That was the point that got the Commodores across the finish line in their 3-2 victory over No. 8 seed Texas Tech.
Bur Sargent's winning streak -- and Vanderbilt's -- ended Tuesday afternoon. Sargent led for only one hole, after he won the fifth hole (205 yards, par 3) with a par. Hammer leveled the match with a par at the 348-yard, par-4 sixth. Another par at the 188-yard, par-3 eighth gave Hammer a lead that he never relinquished on the way to a 4&3 victory.
Vanderbilt was part of a three-way tie for first with Oklahoma and North Carolina in the 72-hole stroke-play portion of the tournament. The Waves got the No. 1 seed because the total of the scores they threw out (teams counted four of five scores for each round) were better than the scores that Oklahoma and North Carolina threw out.
North Carolina ended up as the No. 3 seed, and the defending champs from Pepperdine got the No. 6 seed.
In their match Tuesday morning Pepperdine's Dylan Menante overcame North Carolina's Ryan Burnett in 19 holes, and Joey Vrzich got another point for the Waves. The Tar Heels got points from David Ford and Austin Greaser to make it 2-all. Hitchner's match against Ryan Gerard was also tied after 13 holes, but Hitchner won the 14th hole (430 yards, par 4) with a birdie, and the par-3 16th (173 yard) with another birdie. He then halved the par-4 17th and secured a 2&1 victory.
There was a lot of back and forth in the semifinal between ASU, the No. 7 seed, and Pepperdine. In the first match out, the Waves' Menante turned a 1-down deficit into a 2-up lead by winning the 13th, 14th and 15th holes. But ASU's Mason Anderson won the 16th and 17th with birdies, and he wound up winning on the 19th hole.
The second match had an even more violent turn. ASU's Preston Summerhays went on a birdie binge and won six holes in a row to establish a 5-up lead after 10 holes, only to see Joe Highsmith come back to level the match after 16 holes. Undaunted, Summerhays birdied the 17th and the 520-yard, par-4 18th and emerged with a 2-up victory.
David Puig led for the last 13 holes, and gave ASU its third point, 2&1 over Vrzich. The point that Pepperdine was counting on pretty much from the start came from William Mouw, who grabbed the lead from James Leow and the fourth hole and went on to win 3&2.
Hitchner, a former Minnesota state high school champion from Blake, took a 1-up lead over Sisk twice in the front nine, but Sisk evened things both times, first with a birdie at the par-3 fifth, and then with a par at the ninth. He pulled ahead with a birdie at the 650-yard, par-4 11th, and he made another impressive birdie at the 230-yard, par-3 13th. The two seniors then parred the next four holes, and that was that.
Men's NCAA Division I ChChampionships
At Grayhawk Golf Club
Par 70, 7,289 yards
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Match Play
Quarterfinals
No. 1 Vanderbilt def. No. 8 Texas Tech 3-2
No. 7 Arizona State def. No. 2 Oklahoma 3-2
No. 6 Pepperdine def. No. 3 North Carolina 3-2
-- Dylan Menante, P, def. Ryan Burnett, NC, 19 holes
-- David Ford, NC, def. Joe Highsmith, P, 1 up
-- Joey Vrzich, P, def. Peter Fountain, NC, 3-2
-- Austin Greaser, NC, def. William Mouw, P, 2&1
-- Derek Hitchner, P, def. Ryan Gerard, NC, 2&1
No. 4 Texas def. No. 5 Oklahoma State 3-2
Semifinals
No. 4 Texas def. No. 1 Vanderbilt 3-1-1
No. 7 Arizona State def. No. 6 Pepperdine 4-1
-- Mason Anderson, ASU, def. Dylan Menante, P, 19 holes
-- Preson Summerhays, ASU, def. Joe Highsmith, P, 2 up
-- David Puig, ASU, def. Joey Vrzich, P, 2&1
-- William Mouw, P, def. James Leow, ASU, 3&2
-- Cameron Sisk, ASU, def. Derek Hitchner, P, 2&1
Stroke Play
Final results (top 8 teams advanced to match play)
T1. Vanderbilt 282-282-281-289--1134
T1. Oklahoma 287-275-277-294--1134
T1. North Carolina 288-281-280-285--1134
4. Texas 291-291-278-277--1137
5. Oklahoma State 289-277-277-298--1141
6. Pepperdine 294-282-277--293--1146
7. Arizona State 290-292-277--289--1148
8. Texas Tech 297-287-285-284 --1153
Failed to advance
9. Arkansas 294-286-286-293--1159
T10. Auburn 285-296-288-291--1160
T10. Florida 300-285-286-289--1160
T12. Georgia 291-292-289-299--1171
T12. Georgia Tech 298-289-290-294--1171
14. Ole Miss 297-287-293-300--1177
15. Oregon 2875-300-291-306--1182
Missed 54-hole team cut -- 877
16. Texas A&M 300-287-292--879
17. Kansas 286-297-297--880
18. Stanford 295-290-297--882
T19. Arizona 386-306-291--883
T19. Wake Forest 303-285-295--883
T21. Florida State 291-300-296--887
T21. Brigham Young 295-302-290--887
23. Ohio State 300-300-293--893
24. North Florida 306-298-291--895
25. Georgia Southern 295-305-297--897
26. Liberty 290-303-305--898
27. Utah 297-311-296--904
28. South Florida 297-311-296--904
29. East Tennessee State 297-308-306--911
30. College of Charleston 305-313-295--913
Individuals
1. Gordon Sargent, Vanderbilt 70-68-68-74--280
T2. Ryan Burnett, North Carolina 71-69-70-70--280
T2. Parker Coody, Texas 72-70-68-70--280
T2. E. Lopez-Chacarra, Okla. St. 73-70-65-72--290
T5. Chris Gotterup, Oklahoma 73-66-68-74--281
T5. David Ford, North Carolina 71-70-69-71--281
T5. William Mouw, Pepperdine 71-70-70-70--281
T5. Cameron Sisk, Arizona State 70-73-68-70--281
9. Fernandez De Oliveira, Arkansas 71-71-68-72--282
10. Sam Bennett, Texas A&M 77-70-72-64--283 (playing as an individual)
T25. Derek Hitchner, Pepperdine 76-67-71-74--288
Missed individual cut
Ben Sigel, Kansas 74-74-77--225
April 9, 2024
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