Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Barona Collegiate Cup
Chun Finishes Second, Perry Fires 66 at Barona Collegiate Cup
3/23/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
March 23, 2012
Barona Collegiate Cup Final Results (PDF Format) 
LAKESIDE, Calif. -- Northwestern fired its best round of the tournament in Friday's final round at the Barona Collegiate Cup, carding a 4-under 356 to finish in seventh place in the 16-team field.
Northwestern moved up one spot following the first round, ending the second in a seventh-place tie with No. 34 Saint Mary's (Calif.) at 3-over 723 (358-365). The second round was completed Friday morning after being suspended due to darkness the night before. The Wildcats would remain in seventh at 1-under 1,079 (358-365-356) after Friday's final round, topping eighth-place Saint Mary's and No. 41 Illinois in ninth. NU was just one stroke in back of No. 38 TCU.
"We made good progress this week," head coach Pat Goss tweeted. "Especially considering the tougher 6 count 5 format."
In most college tournaments, teams field lineups comprised of five players and compose a team score made up of the lowest four totals from those players for each round. The Barona Collegiate Cup, like the Gifford Collegiate at CordeValle which NU played in the fall, is a 6 count 5 format, expanding those lineups by one player.
Senior Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) began his second round with four-straight pars before back-to-back birdies at Nos. 5 and 6. On the par-5 sixth hole, Chun scrambled his way to a 4, first driving the ball into a bunker before laying up into tall grass and hacking a wedge out to 15 feet -- from where he drained the putt. Chun sandwiched two more birdies at 10 and 12 around a bogey on the par-3 11th to account for a second-round 3-under 69.
Entering the final round in fifth place, three strokes off the lead, Chun charged into a share of the lead after reaching 2-under with a birdie at the sixth. He gave a stroke back at No. 9, eventually finding himself four strokes back after his opponents got hot. Chun countered with a hot streak of his own, making birdies at 14, 15 and 16 (chipping in for the red number on No. 16) to climb back within a stroke at 11-under for the tourney.
San Diego State's J.J. Spaun would pull away at the end for a 3-stroke win while Chun finished with pars on his final two holes to card a 4-under 68, ending up in a five-way tie for second at 11-under 205 (68-69-68). Chun now has five top-10 finishes and four top-2 finishes (with one win) in seven stroke play starts this year. He has 14 rounds at par or better out of 21 played this year, including nine rounds in the 60s.
Sophomore Jack Perry (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) surged into the top 20 with a second-round 2-under 70. Perry made an early birdie on No. 3 before three-straight birdies on Nos. 10, 11 and 12 dropped him all the way to 4-under. He made bogey at the difficult 18th just prior to Thursday night's suspension, then opened Friday morning with a bogey on his final hole of the second round, the par-5 first, to find himself in 17th place entering Friday's scheduled finale.
Perry then put together easily the best round of his collegiate career, firing a bogey-free 6-under 66 to vault all the way up to a career-best ninth place finish. He started with a birdie at the lengthy 260-yard par 3 third hole, then had back-to-back birdies at Nos. 7 and 8. On the back side, Perry found red numbers at the 12th and the 17th, then, on his final hole -- the 541-yard par-5 first -- he crushed a 231-yard hybrid to almost five feet. Though he barely missed the eagle putt, Perry tapped in the birdie for a 6-under 66 and a 54-hole total of 9-under 207 (71-70-66).
"I am especially proud of Jack Perry this week," Goss tweeted. "This was his first college tourney without a three-putt, his first bogey-free round and his career-best score by three."
Senior Sam Chien (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) made birdie on his first hole of the second round, but three bogeys on the front side left him at 2-over par making the turn. He got back to even with birdies at Nos. 10 and 13 before finding trouble on the par-3 16th that lead to a double bogey and a 2-over 74.
In Friday's final round, Chien made the turn at 1-under after a two birdie, one bogey front side, but three bogeys and no birdies on the back nine led to another 2-over 74 and a 54-hole total of 3-over 219 (71-74-74). Chien finished in 41st position.
Junior Nick Losole (Scottsdale, Ariz./Scottsdale Notre Dame) made two double bogeys on the front side for a 4-over 40 going out in the second round. Consecutive birdies at 12 and 13 helped his cause before he gave one shot back on the 14th en route to a 3-over 75.
After finishing the second round Friday morning with a par, Losole was 1-over through nine holes in the final round before carding three-straight birdies from Nos. 13 to 15. On the par-5 13th, Losole hit a three-wood right of the green and got up and down for his birdie. "Losole playing confidently now," Goss tweeted. "His short game let him down the first rounds."
Losole did give some strokes back with a bogey at 15 and a double bogey on the difficult 18th, finishing at 1-over 73 for the final round and 7-over 223 (75-75-73) for the tournament. He came in 56th in the individual standings.
Freshman Bennett Lavin (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) found himself 4-over through 11 holes in Thursday's second round before a birdie at the par-5 13th. He would finish the back nine with back-to-back bogeys, however, to card a 5-over 77.
After finishing Thursday's suspended round with a par Friday morning, Lavin climbed to 4-over in the third round after a double bogey at No. 11 and a bogey at No. 12. Eventually reaching 5-over par, Lavin birdied both No. 17 and No. 1 to finish his tournament with a 3-over 75 and a 68th-place 9-over 225 (73-77-75).
Sophomore John Callahan (Hinsdale, Ill./Benet Academy) was 5-over through 11 holes in his second round before settling down to make two birdies against just one bogey over the next stretch of six holes prior to Thursday's suspension. He had a disastrous start to his morning, however, when he made double bogey on his final second round hole for a 6-over 78.
In the final round, Callahan had a six-over stretch from holes No. 3 through 10 to contribute to an eventual 5-over 77 and a 23-over 239 (84-78-77).
After opening with a 3-under 69 in the first round playing as an individual and not counting toward the team total, freshman Matthew Negri (El Cajon, Calif./Grossmont) had a quadruple bogey start to his second round with an 8 on the par-4 18th hole. He immediately fought back with birdies on Nos. 1 and 2 before a double bogey at the third. Negri continued to struggle through the second round, eventually finishing with an 8-over 80.
In the final round Friday, Negri shot a 7-over 79 to finish in 78th place at 12-over 228 (69-80-79).
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