Stanford knocked off Wake Forest and Vanderbilt to reach the match-play finals of the NCAA Division I Men’s Championships at Blessings Golf Club https://arkansasrazorback.comthe-blessings-golf-club in Fayetteville, Ark.
And it was freshman Daulet Tuleubayev (pictured) who put the Cardinal there.
Tuleubayev, from Kazakhstan, blew most of a big lead, but sank a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to claim a 1-up victory over Harrison Ott of Vanderbilt and give the Cardinal a 3-2 victory over the Commodores in the semifinals.
“(Tuleubayev) got off to a great start and kept fighting even though he unfortunately made a big mistake at No. 17,” Stanford Coach Conrad Ray said. “But he hit a great shot with a 5-iron and a great putt on the last hole.
“It’s match play and anything can happen. He was feeling the pressure, but it was pretty impressive, what he did at the finish.
“ … Really proud of our guys.”
Stanford will face Texas in the final and try to win its ninth NCAA men’s golf championship and first since 2007. The Longhorns upset defending national champion Oklahoma State, 3 and 2, when Steven Chervony beat Zach Bauchou on the first hole of a playoff in the deciding match.
Tuleubayev, who won the Kazakhstan Amateur when he was 12, had a 4-up lead after 13 holes, but Ott won the next two and the lead was down to 1 after the freshman accidentally hit his ball with a practice stroke and lost the 17th hole because of the penalty for doing so.
However, Tuleubayev won it with three impressive shots on the last hole.
Stanford’s other two points came on Isaiah Salinda’s 3-and-2 victory over Patrick Martin and Brandon Wu’s 4-and-3 win over Reid Davenport. John Augenstein of Vanderbilt beat Henry Shimp, 2 up, and Will Gordon gave the Commodores their over point by getting past David Snyder, 1 up.
In the morning quarterfinals, Stanford beat Wake Forest, also by 3 and 2.
Wu defeated Eric Bae, 4 and 3, while Salinda downed Eugenio Charcarra, 3 and 2, and Snyder beat Lee Detmer, 1 up. The Demon Deacons got their points when Cameron Young trounced Tuleubayev, 5 and 4, and Alex Fitzpatrick defeated Shimp, 1 up.
In the other quarterfinal matches, Oklahoma State trounced SMU, 4 and 1, Vanderbilt beat Texas A&M, 3 and 2, and Texas got past Oklahoma, also by 3 and 2.
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 who put the Cardinal there. Tuleubayev, from Kazakhstan, blew most of a big lead, but sank a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to claim a 1-up victory over Harrison Ott of Vanderbilt and give the Cardinal a 3-2 victory over the Commodores in the semifinals.){kind=link}