Golfweek

By RON BALICKI
Senior Writer

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – With medalist Stefan Wiedergruen setting the pace, Charlotte exploded out of the starting gate and then held on down the stretch Sunday to capture the 19th Ping/Golfweek Preview at Purdue University’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex.

In winning their second tournament in as many starts this season, the 49ers shot a closing 3-over 291 to finish at 3-over 867 and edge second-round leader Oklahoma State by four strokes. The Cowboys ended with a 10-over 298 and 7-over 871, two strokes better than USC, which posted the final day’s best round of 1-under 287.


Alabama was a distant fourth in the 15-team field at 17-over 881, while Minnesota was another shot back, but one better than Arizona State.

“To win this tournament, against this kind of field and on a great golf course like this feels incredible,” said Charlotte coach Jamie Green. “I’ll admit, my heart got pumping harder the last couple holes, but we hung in there.

“With the (three) seniors we have on this team, we’ve won 13 tournaments, but I’d have to say this is the biggest of them all,” Green said. “What I’m hoping for now is that we can repeat UNLV’s feat.”

The Preview is held each fall at the site of the following spring’s NCAA Division I Championship. UNLV is the only team to win the Preview and go on to capture the NCAA in the same season on the same course, that coming in 1997-98 at the University of New Mexico.

“This should no doubt give us a great deal of confidence, not only for the rest of the season, but hopefully should we get back here in May,” Green said.  “Knowing you’re playing a golf course where you’ve already won will be a huge boost.”

Charlotte, which placed itself among college golf’s elite when it placed third at last season’s NCAA Championship, already looks poised for another strong postseason. It opened this season by winning Tennessee-Chattanooga’s Scenic City Invitational at Council Fire Golf Club. That’s the same venue that will be used in the spring for the NCAA Division I Men’s East Regional.

Wiedergruen, a junior from Germany, led the way as he closed with a 4-under 68 to finish at 7-under 209 over the demanding 7,464-yard, par-72, Pete Dye-designed Kampen course. He finished two strokes better than a pair of Swedish players, Minnesota’s Victor Almstrom and his 49er teammate, Jonas Enander Hedin.

Almstrom had six birdies and three bogeys in his final-round 69. Hedin, the leader after two rounds at 4 under, notched a pair of birdies against a lone bogey for a 71.

The only other player to finish in red numbers was Oklahoma State freshman Rickie Fowler at 1-under 215. Fowler, playing in his first collegiate tournament, was 4 under after six holes to get to 6-under on the tournament, but triple bogeyed the par-4, ninth when he hit his second shot out of bounds. He then bogeyed Nos. 11 and 12 before making birdie on No. 13. He closed with a bogey at 18.

Before this week, Wiedergruen had finished first in one tournament and tied for first in another, but those were considered junior varsity events.

“This is really big for me,” said Wiedergruen, who led the Chattanooga tournament after two rounds, and finished second with a 7-under total, two shots behind teammate Corey Nagy. “I played well in our last tournament so I had a lot of confidence coming in here this week. Last time I just didn’t give myself many opportunities for birdies (in the last round), and today I did.”

More importantly he made the most of those opportunities, early and often.

Wiedergruen birdied the opening hole and then tacked on birdies at Nos. 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 to make the turn in 6-under 30. He birdied No. 10 to get to 9-under for the tournament. But he double bogeyed 11 and finished with a bogey at 18.

He had just 10 putts on the opening nine holes Sunday, as Green noted with a laugh, “The only time he asked me to help him read a putt was at No. 9. It was about a 15-foot, downhill, slider and he two-putted. It was his only two-putt on the front side.”

And it was Wiedergruen’s start which helped the 49ers take command of the tournament.

Starting the day three shots behind Oklahoma State, Charlotte was 10 under par after six holes and surged to a seven-stroke lead over the Cowboys. The closest anyone would get from that point was the final 4-shot victory margin.

The 49ers were 9 under at the turn to lead the Cowboys by eight. They held that same advantage with three holes to play.

“Last night I just told the guys to go out and have fun,” said Green. “I think they were pretty loose, especially at the start. It did get a little tense toward the end, but they kept their focus and finished off the deal.”

Said Oklahoma State coach Mike McGraw, “We just got thumped. We didn’t play all that great, but Charlotte did. They came out and did what they had to do and got the job done. I give them a lot of credit.”

• • •

Ron Balicki is a Golfweek senior writer. To reach him email rbalicki@golfweek.com.