Summer tournament results for Ziegler, Chung, Kim, Kemmer & Kearney

In addition to the great win by David Chung in the prestigious North-South Amateur Championship held at Pinehurst #2, All-American Steve Ziegler advanced to the round of 16 at the British Amateur held June 15-20. Steve now is the 19th ranked amateur in the world.

In other action, recently graduated Dodge Kemmer and incoming freshman Steven Kearney competed in the Sahalee Players Championship. Dodge finished tied for 12th and Steven finished 55th. Meanwhile, after a great start to the summer by Sihwan Kim, he continued his fine play finishing 24th in the Dogwood Invitational.

Results can be found below for the four events.

The British Amateur Championship |
The North-South Amateur Championship at Pinehurst |
http://www.sahaleeplayerschampionship.com/index.htm l
http://www.sahaleeplayerschampionship.com/results/2009/Stroke.html |
http://www.thedogwood.com/scores

Senior co-captain Daniel Lim reflects on his years on the Farm

I can remember sitting in my house in Gilroy, getting a phone call from coach about my acceptance into Stanford. At the time, Stanford golf was ranked in the top 50 in the country, yet I was excited. I was going to a school that had won every Director's Cup, had players like TIger Woods and Tom Watson as alumi, and excelled in academics and athletics.

I can confidently say that these past 4 years have well exceeded my expectations. Fast foward time and 4 years later, I'm sitting in my dorm room as a senior, co-captain with senior Dodge Kemmer of a top 5 ranked Golf team, with the potential of contending for a national championship. Much has changed both for me and the program, and it has been an amazing journey.



I have a NCAA championship ring sitting in my room and a picture with then President of the United States, sitting on top of my fire place, a luxury given only to those who win the national championship every year in their sport. I have learned much about me and the game that I love.

But more importantly, it is the experiences with my teammates that stay with me the most. I can remember my freshmen year duties, frustrated at loading and and unloading the van and now, I continue the tradition from a different angle, bossing David Chung. I remember my sophmore year shooting 66 during qualifying only to find out that I was in 5th place behind Miller and Savage's 64. And now senior year, with my last US Intercollegiate at Stanford on the horizon, I practice harder and dream of defending what Coach Ray annually calls our "home turf".

But, it is not alone. Like yesterday, with weather.com warning of high winds, up to 46 miles per hour, there were my teammates. David Chung was hitting his 8 iron about 100 yards, Sihwan was hitting shots that went backwards for fun, Steve Ziegler was out enjoying himself with ear muffs, while both Dodge and Joe were hitting their 9 irons probably 200 yards at the other end of the driving range. I can't wait to see what happens this weekend and importantly, what awaits us in May and June.

Win on three boys.....Win

GO STANFORD

Daniel Lim

Joseph Bramlett writes about his team and his frustrating injury

Click on image to enlarge.

Joseph Bramlett, now a junior fighting an injury, was 2nd team All-American as a freshman. Joseph had the lowest stroke average on the team before his injury. He writes about his team and his injury. He was recently featured in an ESPN article.

"With daylight savings behind us the spring season is now in full force and Stanford golf is right on track. Watching the guys win in a dominant fashion two weeks ago was nearly as exciting as being there myself. Ziggy’s huge finish down the stretch making birdies on a tough course to win the individual title and run away with the team title is just another push forward for us as a team. At one point in the final round we had five golfers in the top ten which goes to show the depth that were starting to find as a team again. We have been working hard all year and we can feel that it is finally starting to click.

For me personally it has been a very trying quarter. I injured my wrist during finals week of fall quarter and have been unable to get back to practicing yet. It has been frustrating at times, however with the physical limitations that have been placed on me I have tried to grow in other ways. I’ve found things in my game that I can work on without a club and hopefully make my transition back into playing a little bit easier and faster. I definitely learned a lot about returning after an injury last year and although there is nothing enjoyable about not being able to play, I am extremely motivated and excited to get the chance to play again. It’s amazing how many people take this game for granted and my appreciation and love for the game has definitely grown.

Seeing the guys play so well and the momentum that comes with it makes me want to get back even faster. Hopefully the guys can keep up the good work and I will be able to help them out a little down the closing stretch of the season. I’m trying to stay patient, as everyone has reminded me, and hopefully come April and May this will pay off."
Joseph Bramlett

All Cardinal fans are pulling for Joseph to fully recover from his injury and return to the links again soon!

Jordan Cox shares an experience "I will remember for the rest of my life"

Hi, my name is Jordan Cox and I am a junior. It is hard for me to believe that three years have already passed by because it seems like just yesterday that I was signing my letter of intent to come to Stanford.

I would like to share with you one of my experiences from this quarter that I will remember for the rest of my life. It was 7:00am on Sunday morning (Sunday is typically the teams day to relax or practice on our own or catch up in school) and the team rallied for an all-day practice session. This was not official team practice organized by Coach Ray and Coach Tight. This was a collective group of 8 men showing their passion for golf and dedication to each other.

The weather that day was terrible. It was freezing outside, raining, and extremely windy. Yes, the team could have been sleeping in the warm comfort of their beds that day, but instead we were out in the elements trying to improve our games on a day where most other teams around the country are probably doing nothing. We practiced from sun up to sun down, but there was a moment around 4 o'clock when I stopped what I was doing to take a breather. All 8 guys were on or around a single putting green on the new facility. The rain was coming down harder than it had been all day and wind was blowing so hard that it was making the rain come down sideways.

It was that very moment when I looked up to see 8 guys grinding on their games, continuing to push through the elements, and refusing to give up. This was a day that sets Stanford golf apart from every other school around the country and made me even more proud to wear that Stanford "S" on my chest. I feel like the team has really come together and all 8 guys are collectively working together to achieve the goal of winning that NCAA championship. It was a day like this that reaffirms my decision that coming to Stanford and playing on the golf team was one of the best decisions I have ever made in
my life.

The team is working harder than ever and I am excited to see what happens as our season progresses and NCAA's get closer. Go Cardinal!
Jordan Cox

Dodge Kemmer provides a unique perspective on the team's Big Island adventures

Here's a photo of co-captains Dodge and Daniel with Hal Gogger and Sukey Grousbeck.

Senior co-captain Dodge Kemmer's Hawaii blog:

When Coach pulled out about 20 yards of yellow nylon cord from his travel bag, we knew we were in trouble. Luckily, he didn’t make us pull the mini-van to the house to save money on gas because “the budget is tight boys.” But we did leave the fate of our week up to friction and the trust that Coach wouldn’t hit the brakes as hard as he is known to do. After some brainstorming, stacking, roping, securing, and unnecessary manly displays of force from coach and Ziegler, not to mention stares of disbelief from our Korean core and the rest of the airport traffic, we managed to load 6 golf carry bags on top of a sans-luggage rack minivan. We were off. During our pre-week Costco run, Coach, Sihwan, and I debated whether we should get any protein shakes or not; we compromised and got two 30-packs.

It wasn’t long after we arrived at the Grousbeck’s beautiful house overlooking the ocean that we were on our way to the beach. Ziegler gave everyone football throwing lessons but then was sidelined when he lost his contact in the ocean and somehow couldn’t find it even an hour later. Sihwan and I were afraid to tell him that he probably wouldn’t find it, but enjoyed witnessing the search. (It turned out that he lost his sunglasses, not his contact.) This trip also marked the inaugural ocean-football game, in which Lim and I dominated Sihwan and Chung by some ungodly margin. It wasn’t the last we would see of that pair though. After the final round, Coach joined the losing team and we got Ziegler. Ignoring the rush count, Coach barreled toward the endzone as soon as he hiked the ball. It took Steve on one leg, me on an arm, and Lim jumping on his back to take him down.

We also played golf during our stay. The tournament wasn’t much to write home about save the strongest wind I’ve ever played in (which is usually significant in Kansas), a good showing by Steve (t7) and a great last round by our freshman Chung. I must admit, it is hard to not enjoy yourself when you are looking around on every green trying to determine where the ocean is in relation to the Mauna Kea volcano; I’ve had less spectacular landmarks to note.

And so we returned, our skin a few shades darker, our spirits a few pegs higher, and our grades a few points lower, dreading the return to real life.
Dodge Kemmer

Sophomore Steve Ziegler on preparation for the next NCAA title!

Editor's Note - this blog by Steve Ziegler was written prior to the Isleworth tournament in Florida.

I arrived at Stanford on September 8th with the kind of excitement a kid would have if he was reuniting with all his friends at Disney World. I remember how giddy I felt but I also remember the underlying anxiety, the anticipation of competition soon to come much like the jitters you get on the first tee of a significant golf round.

I was eager to get started with everything-qualifying rounds, workouts, classes-again because I remember my experience here last year as overwhelmingly enjoyable. There’s an elevated pride that coincides with carrying a Stanford bag due to the great success the program had not just in 2007, but ever since 1942 when Sandy Tatum and company won the 1942 NCAA Title. In a way, those who have preceded us at Stanford Golf make our effort much more worth it, because we are validating their success. Stanford has an exceptional golfing history as many well know, and this has paved the way for championship aspirations again this fall.

Focusing on the National Championship from the moment you arrive is something our entire team has come to embrace. However, the road to the championship begins long before May.

We made our debut in mid-September at Olympia Fields in Chicago. The tournament was a real treat with a strong field and a very difficult course. Unfortunately, we made too many mistakes to come out on top, finishing fourth behind the likes of Illinois, Indiana, and Oklahoma State. Our next tournament was held a couple weeks later in Palm Springs at the Norman Course of famed PGA West. We had four members of the team finish in the top-15, but unfortunately once again were unable to come out with a win, finishing third behind impressive showings from TCU and UC Davis.

We’re currently preparing for our next tournament to be held Oct. 26-28th at Isleworth C.C. in Orlando, Florida. Talking with the guys, I get a heightened sense of excitement despite the prior sub-mediocre finishes, because we’re just waiting for our “impressive finish.” It’s like Coach Ray told the guys the other day, “I’m just waiting for you guys to put on a show.” This is so true, and we’ve seen a show of great golf in qualifying rounds and practice all year. We’re just waiting to display it nationally.

Only a handful of golf programs in the country can say, “With enough discipline, focus, and a little luck, we have a legitimate shot at winning NCAA’s come May.” What’s exciting about Stanford golf, at least since I’ve been here, is we are one of those programs year in and year out. We have the right people in place to prolong this success so when all of us are long gone, Stanford will still be challenging the nation’s best for national titles.

It’s amazing how quickly the days pass in retrospect; it feels like I arrived yesterday. I believe this is a testament to how busy we are, but more importantly see it as an indicator of how much fun this team has. We’re chasing championship dreams together, and we’re having a blast doing it. This is a rarity, but luckily our team is certainly capable.

Steve Ziegler

Sophomore Graham Brockington talks about the upcoming season & his injury

After losing to UCLA by one shot at nationals last year we all left campus with a bad taste in our mouths. However, coming back to campus and seeing all of my teammates again is a great and exciting feeling. We are all even hungrier for the title this year than we were last year.

For me, the prospect of playing golf again and playing well is really exciting. At the end of last year I dislocated my middle finger and had to have surgery that kept me away from golf until August. I had to wear a splint in order to keep that finger straight and in turn, spent most of the summer trying to figure out why people kept giving me such nasty looks as I drove on the highway holding my middle finger up in the air. Now that I am healthy I am enjoying competing with the guys. As excited as I was to arrive here last year, I like it here even more now that I am a sophomore and am much more comfortable with school, golf, and the surrounding area.

My goal was to come in to school and qualify to play in the first tournament in Chicago. Unfortunately I fell short of qualifying, however I got better every round and if it weren’t for one bad round I may have qualified.

While we were disappointed with our finishes in Chicago and Palm Springs, I still feel great about the potential of our team, especially with Joe Bramlett back. He gives our team a huge lift on and off the course and I look for him to have a great season.

This season I look forward to improving even more than last year and to hopefully contribute more and more to the team as the season progresses. I am just trying to make the most out of my time here and to learn something new every day. I know it is only October but I can’t wait to see what June has in store for us.

Graham Brockington, Sophomore