Men's Golf Finishes Second at PING-U.S. Collegiate Championships

University of Arizona Athletics

April 7, 2002

TUCSON, Ariz. - The University of Arizona continued its strong play in Sunday's final round of the PING-U.S. Collegiate Championships, but couldn't catch tournament-winner Texas, who won the event by two strokes.

Texas held a nine-stroke lead heading into Sunday's final round and, once again, Arizona made it close by carding its second straight sub-par team total. The Wildcats' 284 (-4) total shaved seven strokes off the Longhorn lead, but it was UT's depth that made the difference. Three Texas individuals finished in the top-20 places to give the squad a three-round total of 859 (-5) and the two-stroke win over Arizona. No team, however, played the final 36 holes better than Arizona's cumulative five-under-par tally, while UA's 861 total was the team's second-lowest total of the year.

Leading the way for Arizona was sophomore Chris Nallen, whoposted a three-round 206 (-10) to finish in second place individually. It was a career-low tournament for Nallen, and his total tied for the 10th best score in UA history in both aggregate total and in relation to par. The native of Blairstown, N.J., shot a final-round 68 (-4) to break 70 for the fourth time in his last six rounds played. Oklahoma State's Hunter Mahan carded a three-under 69 Sunday to claim individual medalist honors at 204 (-12). Texas' John Klauk finished third at 208 (-8)

UA junior Ricky Barnes finished in a tie for 20th place with a three-round 221 (+5). For Barnes, who was two-over on Sunday, it was his fourth top-20 finish of the season. Junior Reid Hatley and freshman Kipp Riehle tied for 24th at 222 (+6), while sophomore Andy Connell finished tied for 34th place at 224 (+8). Connell, who shot a one-under 71 on Sunday, was a collective four-under par over the last 36 holes.

The 54-hole, 10-team tournament was contested at Tucson National Golf Course, a par 72, 7,094-yard layout. The Wildcats will next be in action on April 12-13 at the Savane/ASU Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.

Top 5 Teams                  		Top 5 Individuals
1.  Texas        	859 (-5)	1.  Hunter Mahan, Oklahoma State	62-73-69=204 (-12)
2.  ARIZONA       	861 (-3)	2.  Chris Nallen, Arizona        	65-73-68-=206 (-10)
3.  Oklahoma State	863 (-1)	3.  John Klauk, Texas           	67-70-71=208 (-8)
4.  Texas Christian	869 (+5)	4.  J.J. Wall, Texas              	67-71-71=209 (-7)
5.  Georgia Tech	871 (+7)	5.  Tom Johnson, Northwestern       	67-75-69=211 (-5)

                                  	Arizona Finishers
                           		  2.  Chris Nallen	65-73-68=206 (-0)
                         		T20.  Ricky Barnes	72-75-74=221 (+5)
                        		T24.  Reid Hatley	79-72-71=222 (+6)
                          		      Kipp Riehle	74-73-75=222 (+6)
                         		T30.  Nathan Lashley*	78-74-71=223 (+7)
                        		T34.  Andy Connell	84-69-71=224 (+8)
                        		      Steven Eshbach*	72-74-78=224 (+8)
                             		T36.  Nick Juszczak*	77-71-77=225 (+9)
                         		T41.  Tim Weiss*	75-77-74=226 (+10)
                        		T45.  Brandon Smith*	77-75-75=227 (+11)
                          		T51.  Brian Woolf*	77-75-77=229 (+13)

                            		* competed as an individual

PING-U.S. Collegiate Golf Championships FINAL RESULTS

Tucson National G.C. Tucson, AZ Dates: 04/05 - 04/07 (Today:04-07-2002) Par: 72 Yardage: 7094

Fin. School Scores 1 Texas, Univ. of 278 290 291 859 -5 2 Arizona, U. of 290 287 284 861 -3 3 Oklahoma State U. 281 296 286 863 -1 4 TCU 289 297 283 869 +5 5 Georgia Tech 282 300 289 871 +7 6 Arizona State U. 286 294 295 875 +11 7 Houston, Univ. of 280 301 301 882 +18 8 UNLV 296 300 290 886 +22 9 Northwestern 289 311 287 887 +23 10 Kent State 297 304 302 903 +39

Fin. Name School Scores 1 Hunter Mahan Okla. St. 62 73 69 204 -12

2 Chris Nallen Arizona 65 73 68 206 -10

3 John Klauk Texas 67 70 71 208 -8

4 J.J. Wall Texas 67 71 71 209 -7

5 Tom Johnson N'western 67 75 69 211 -5

6 Andy Doeden TCU 70 73 70 213 -3

7 Matt Weibring Ga. Tech 69 73 72 214 -2

8 Par Nilsson Okla. St. 70 75 71 216 E

9 *Scott Ferguson Houston 72 73 72 217 +1

10 Chez Reavie Arizona St 71 74 73 218 +2 Ben Flam Arizona St 69 79 70 218 +2 Nicholas Thompson Ga. Tech 68 78 72 218 +2

13 Simon Robinson Houston 67 77 75 219 +3 Kevin Hermis Houston 66 73 80 219 +3 Steve Lohmeyer Kent State 72 73 74 219 +3

16 Brad McIntosh Houston 74 75 71 220 +4 Kris Mikkelsen Ga. Tech 72 74 74 220 +4 Jesse Mueller Arizona St 71 73 76 220 +4 *Steve Shuert TCU 70 71 79 220 +4

20 Ricky Barnes Arizona 72 75 74 221 +5 J.J. Killeen TCU 79 71 71 221 +5 Rusty Kennedy Texas 76 72 73 221 +5 Stephen Polanski TCU 72 80 69 221 +5

24 Ryan Moore UNLV 73 74 75 222 +6 Clark Corbett UNLV 74 75 73 222 +6 Bret Guetz TCU 74 74 74 222 +6 Reid Hatley Arizona 79 72 71 222 +6 Chan Wongluekiet Ga. Tech 73 78 71 222 +6 Kipp Riehle Arizona 74 73 75 222 +6

30 Anders Hultman Okla. St. 74 76 73 223 +7 Jason Hartwick Texas 70 77 76 223 +7 Dayton Rose Okla. St. 75 75 73 223 +7 *Nathan Lashley Arizona 78 74 71 223 +7

34 Andy Connell Arizona 84 69 71 224 +8 *Steven Eshbach Arizona 72 74 78 224 +8

36 Peter Laws Kent State 77 76 72 225 +9 Adam Rubinson TCU 73 79 73 225 +9 Brandon Askew UNLV 78 78 69 225 +9 Casey Strunk N'western 77 78 70 225 +9 *Nick Jusczcak Arizona 77 71 77 225 +9

41 Alex Noren Okla. St. 80 73 73 226 +10 Pat Moore Arizona St 75 73 78 226 +10 *T.C. Ford N'western 76 80 70 226 +10 *Tim Weiss Arizona 75 77 74 226 +10

45 Troy Matteson Ga. Tech 74 75 78 227 +11 John Wine Houston 73 77 77 227 +11 *Brandon Smith Arizona 77 75 75 227 +11

48 Bjorn Widerstedt N'western 74 80 74 228 +12 Brien Davis UNLV 71 77 80 228 +12 *Adam Cranford Ga. Tech 74 78 76 228 +12

51 Chris Thayer N'western 73 78 78 229 +13 Joe Hurtuk Kent State 73 78 78 229 +13 *Brian Woolf Arizona 77 75 77 229 +13

54 Scott Harrington N'western 75 81 74 230 +14 Brett Callas Houston 76 76 78 230 +14 J.C. Deacon UNLV 83 74 73 230 +14

57 Sean Howell Kent State 77 77 78 232 +16

58 Culley Barragan Texas 74 80 79 233 +17 *Shane McMenamy Arizona St 77 81 75 233 +17

60 Brady Stockton Arizona St 84 74 76 234 +18

61 *Chris Miller Kent State 81 76 78 235 +19

62 Kevin Kotyk Kent State 75 83 82 240 +24

63 *Tim Sanchez Texas 80 79 83 242 +26