Sooners Finish 13th in Hawaii

Feb. 8, 2008

WAIKOLOLA VILLAGE, Hawaii -- The 42nd-ranked University of Oklahoma men's golf squad fired a final-round team score of 295 (+15), finishing 13th at the UH-Hilo Intercollegiate in Waikoloa Village, Hawaii, on Friday.

Entering Friday's play off of back-to-back sub-par rounds at the par-70, 6,738-yard course, the Sooners dropped five spots in the team standings in a stacked field that included nine teams in the latest Golfweek top 50, including three top-10 schools - No. 4 Georgia Tech, No. 8 USC and No. 10 Stanford.

"It was nice to get off to the start the we did in the first two rounds, as we were right in the race through 36 holes," said head coach Jim Ragan. "We have a very young squad that needs to gain a little more experience in closing tournaments, but the way they played on Wednesday and Thursday is very promising as we continue our spring schedule."

Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Jesse Schutte carded rounds of 68, 65 and 72 in leading the Sooners, finishing in a tie for 11th. Sophomore Ben Blundell matched Shutte's final-round 72 and placed T39th at +2. Two strokes back was fellow sophomore Eric Durbin who fired rounds of 69, 71 and 74.

Final Results

Rounding out the OU scoring were freshman Ryan Sirman and sophomore Tyler Rody who carded respective rounds of 77 and 79, finishing 73rd and 90th, respectively.

"I'm proud of the way Jesse played this week, especially the first two rounds," said Ragan. "Today was a little tough as he didn't hit the ball the way he is capable of and didn't have too many putts drop, but I expect him to continue his strong play and find himself near the top of the leaderboard the rest of the year."

Stanford won the team title with a three-round 813 (-27). In the medalist race, ASU's Jesper Kennegard fired rounds of 68, 63 and 66 for a two-stroke victory over a pair of Cardinal golfers.

The Sooners return to the links on Feb. 18, when they travel to San Antonio, Texas, to compete in the UT-San Antonio Intercollegiate.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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