Thorbjornsen Leads Stanford On Day One

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Stanford men’s golf sits in a tie for 16th place with a 15-over 295 following a challenging first day of the 2022 NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club. The Cardinal is led by Michael Thorbjornsen, whose 1-over 71 was good for a tie for 16th. Stanford played in the afternoon wave with Texas A&M and Georgia Tech, as the afternoon teams saw the breeze pick up, the greens firm up and found birdies hard to come by. 

“Really tough setup today,” Knowles Family Director of Men’s Golf Conrad Ray said. “Afternoon draw the course always firms up. There were maybe only two holes that you could really get at for legit birdie tries. The scores all the way around are pretty high. Our guys hung in there I actually thought pretty well. We had a little bit of a slow finish, but I think it’s good we can turnaround and clean up a few easy mistakes and be ready to go in the morning.”

Grayhawk Golf Club’s Raptor Course is playing at 7,289 yards and par 70 this week, after the women played it as a par 72. Holes No. 7 and 18 are playing as par 4’s for the men this week. With the increased distance, lower par and greens continuing to dry out, the Cardinal only tallied seven birdies on Friday, with 56 pars, 25 bogeys and two double bogeys.

“I think you go into the week knowing that par is a good score,” Ray said. “We talk about executing shots and hitting it in the correct spot and being disciplined a lot, so that’s kind of a common message. Not a huge difference here we just have to be able to execute. I think you have to start by hitting it in the fairway. You just have to do the easy stuff really well. I think the doubles we had today were just easy chips around the greens or three putts when you didn’t want it, so all in all the guys did a good job cutting those big ones out.”

Thorbjornsen tallied 14 pars, two birdies, a bogey and a double bogey during his round en route to a 71. Classmate Karl Vilips fired a 3-over 73 with two birdies. Thorbjornsen, Vilips and Barclay Brown each had two birdies, while Henry Shimp had Stanford’s seventh of the day. 

“Attitude is the whole thing,” Ray said. “They’re probably a little sour the way it ended — we were three or four shots better, but there’s a lot to build on. You look at the scores and the teams we are competing against and we beat a lot of really good teams today. We just have to reset, come out fresh in the morning and go at it again.”

Stanford, Texas A&M and Georgia Tech will be paired together…