Husky Golfer CT Pan Wins Amer Ari Invite, UW Finishes Second

A short-handed Huskies Men's Golf Team traveled to Hawaii last week to compete in the Amer Ari invite.  The concluded that trip with some impressive results.

Team ace, CT Pan, had a remarkable tournament including a final day that saw him play all but one hole at or below par.  He finished the day at 3 under and ended up winning top individual honors for the tournament with a 17 under 199.  His efforts helped to buoy a Huskies squad playing with just four players.  The Huskies would go on to finish just behind Arizona State in second place for the tournament.  The Oregon Ducks came in at third.

The Amer Ari Invite is an annual tournament that involves most of the Pac 12.  It was held at the Waikoloa Resort in Kona, HI.  This is the third year in a row that UW has managed a second place finish in this particular tournament.  Other participants include Stanford, Texas, Auburn, Colorado, Hawaii, USC and, yes, Oklahoma State.

Here is the full press release from the Washington Athletic Department:

Pan Wins Amer Ari Invite, UW Settles For Second

Release: 02/07/2015

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WAIKALOA, Hawai’i – Cheng-Tsung Pan finished off a great tournament at the Amer Ari Invitational, earning individual medalist honors. He led the Dawgs to a runner-up finish as Washington finished just two strokes back of Arizona State.

Pan shot a round of 3-under 69 to finish at 17-under 199 for the tournament. He won by two strokes over Brandon McIver of Oregon and Scottie Scheffler of Texas. Pan birdied the final two holes to clinch the win. For the day, he made five birdies with the only blemish being a double-bogey on the ninth hole. Amazingly, the double-bogey was the only hole he played above par for the entire week.

“What an exciting tournament in so many ways,” said head coach Matt Thurmond. “Pan played nearly flawlessly for his fifth win as a Husky. He broke 200 for 54 holes, which is so low.”

The win was Pan’s fifth of his career as he now sits alone on the all-time Washington list just one back of Chris Williams.

As a team, the Huskies finished the final round at 6-under 282. For the week, the Dawgs were 36-under, but finished two strokes back of Arizona State. USC and Oregon tied for third, one shot back of Washington.

“We hung in there all day today when times were tough and made a flurry of birdies at the end, but Arizona State made too many late birdies for us to get the win.”

The Dawgs were playing with just four players as Kevin Kwon was forced to withdraw. It was freshman Frank Garber that led the way on Saturday, shooting a round of 4-under 68. He made five birdies and an eagle on the day to finish at 6-under 210 for the tournament to tie for 26^th.

“Frank played his last three holes in four under,” said Thurmond. “I loved how he finished.”

Jonathan Sanders was also under par in the final round, finishing with a 2-under 70. He made three birdies and one bogey to finish at 7-under for the tournament and tied for 23^rd.

Corey Pereria rounded out the Husky scoring with a round of 3-over 75. He also finished at 6-under and tied for 26^th with Garber.

The Huskies also had two individuals in the field, led by Jordan Lu who finished with a 3-under 69 to get to 5-under 211 for the tournament and tied for 32^nd.Chris Babcock shot a 2-over 74 and finished the week in 90^th.

“It’s always an extremely competitive field and we’ve now finished second three years in a row,” said Thurmond. “It’s a great start to our spring.”

Next up for the Huskies is The Prestige at PGA West. The three day 54-hole tournament begins Monday, February 16 in La Quinta, Calif.