Bumped. Congrats to our boys for bringing home Bru-103. Click on the graphic for official recap. GO BRUINS. -N

Amazing finish.  UCLA led Stanford by three with Erik Flores on 18 and Kevin Chappell on 17.  Flores bogeyed 18.  Chappell dunked it in the water on 17.  He dropped, hit his next shot into the rough, which is about four inches deep where he hit it (more on that below).  Chappell stepped up and holed his chip for bogey.  They took a one shot lead to 18 where Chappell smoked his drive down the middle, knocked his second shot on the green, and two putted for the team and individual championship.

The 17th hole is a par three, and it looked like they were playing from the back tee, which puts it around 220.  Water all down the right hand side, Pete Dye railroad ties and the whole bit.  It's a really tough hole, but it looked downwind today.  The wind usually blows the other direction.  He need a par on 18 to win, and 18 is about a 470 yard par four.  Again, it's manageable when it's downwind, and impossible when it's into the wind.  Walking away with par there is quite a feat, especially with two championships on the line.

Full disclosure, I'm about a four handicap, and I play all over the Chicago area (my avatar is tee shot on #13 at Cog Hill).  I get down to West Lafayette to play the Purdue course about twice every summer.  I played there two weeks ago right before they closed the course to prepare it for the tournament, and they were promoting it as a chance to play it under the conditions they have at the NCAAs (in retrospect, it may have actually been a warning).  The rough was practically unplayable.  The first cut was over three inches, and a few yards in, it was about seven inches.  Just brutal.  It already has a course rating of over 76 from the tips (7,450 yards), and it was probably playing 2.5 strokes above that with this rough.  On the first day, the second player of the day to tee off hit his ball five yards into the rough.  Three players, and two spotters (who are out there to do nothing other than find balls in the rough) couldn't find his ball, and he had to re-tee with a two stroke penalty.  I hit one in that rough two weeks ago, lost it, dropped, hit that ball about 30 feet, and almost lost that one too.  It's that deep and thick.  There are five par fours over 470.  Under those conditions, it's probably the toughest course I've ever played.  For Chappell to play it two under for the week is awesome.