Alabama, Texas To Meet In NCAA Match Play Final
June 02, 2012 | Men's Golf
June 2, 2012
Click here for live streaming coverage Sunday at NCAA.com
2012 NCAA Men's Golf Match Play Finals Pairings 
2012 NCAA Men's Golf Match Play Semifinal Results
Click here for a video recap of the 2012 NCAA Men's Golf Championships Match Play at NCAA.com.
After three days of stroke play and two more of match play that totaled 90 holes, the original 30-team field that was trimmed to eight match-play squads on Thursday and to four on Friday was whittled to two Saturday (June 2) as top-ranked Alabama defeated No. 7 Oregon, 3-2, and No. 2 Texas eliminated No. 3 California, 3-2, to advance to the final of the USC-hosted 2012 NCAA Men's Golf Championships at the Riviera C.C. in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Alabama is after its first-ever national title in its 13th NCAA Championship final while Texas is after its third national crown. The Tide's best previous finish was a third in 1975. The Longhorns, in their 58th NCAA final, won back-to-back titles in 1971-72.
Oregon fell in the semifinals of match play for the second time in three years after being eliminated by Oklahoma State in 2010. Cal, the NCAA winner in 2004, was in its first match play semifinal.
The match play final between Alabama and Texas will begin at 10 a.m. PT off the 1st tee.
-- Alabama 3, California 2 -
Cal's Max Homa defeated Alabama's Justin Thomas, 2&1, for an early 1-0 lead. He trailed by two holes early before pulling even with a par on 9. He took his first lead at 12 and took the lead for good on 14 before clinching it with a birdie on 17.
The Tide's Cory Whitsett evened the score after he took down Cal's Brandon Hagy, 3&1. Whitsett never trailed in the match, though he never led by more than a hole until a birdie on 14. He carried the two-hole lead until 17, where his birdie ended the match.
Cal's Michael Kim gave Cal a 2-1 lead with a 2&1 win over Alabama's Bobby Wyatt, but the Crimson Tide were leading by a hole in the remaining two matches.
The Bears' Pace Johnson, trailing by a hole to the Tide's Scott Strohmeyer on the 18th hole, hit his tee shot behind a row of trees. The shot was so errant, however, it gave him a workable angle at the green, which he used to get to within 10 feet. His birdie, putt, however, was off-line and Strohmeyer evened the score, 2-2.
It came down to Alabama's team captain, Hunter Hamrick, who led Cal's Joel Stalter by a hole after 17. Stalter came within a wisp of evening the match on 17, but his 12-foot birdie putt went rimmed the cup before scooting out. On 18, Hamrick glided his birdie putt to within inches the pin, forcing Stalter to birdie from just outside the green. When he failed to do so, the Tide clinched a spot in Sunday's final.
-- Texas 3, Oregon 2 --
In a back-and-forth matchup, Texas took a 2-0 lead thanks to a 3&1 win from Toni Hakula over Oregon's Robbie Ziegler and Cody Gribble's 2&1 victory over the Ducks' Jonathan Woo. Hakula trailed early but claimed the lead for good on the 7th hole. Gribble was tied with Woo through 15 holes but back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 clinched the win.
Oregon's Daniel Miernicki was either tied with or trailed Texas' Dylan Frittelli through 16 holes before sinking a 30-footer for eagle on 17, taking the wind out of Fritelli's birdie. He clinched the 2 UP win with a 3-foot birdie putt on 18.
By the time Miernicki's final putt hit the bottom of the cup, the Longhorns' Julio Vegas had reclaimed the lead with a birdie putt on 17 to go 1 UP over Oregon's Andrew Vijarro. He then sent his second shot on 18 to within eight feet of the pin. Vijarro, from about 25 feet, next missed a long birdie attempt from the fringe while Vegas punched in his birdie putt for the clinching 2UP win.
Behind them on 18, Oregon's Eugene Wong was clinging to a one-hole lead over Texas' Jordan Spieth, but the drama was stopped once Vegas' ended the match.
Alabama 3, California 2
(in order of finish)
Max Homa (CAL) def. Justin Thomas (ALA), 2&1
Cory Whitsett (ALA) def. Brandon Hagy (CAL), 3&1
Michael Kim (CAL) def. Bobby Wyatt (ALA), 2&1
Scott Strohmeyer (ALA) def. Pace Johnson (CLA), 1UP
Hunter Hamrick (ALA) def. Joel Stalter (CAL), 1UP
Texas 3, Oregon 2
(in order of finish)
Toni Hakula (TEX) def. Robbie Ziegler (ORE), 3&1
Cody Gribble (TEX) def. Jonathan Woo (ORE), 2&1
Daniel Miernicki (ORE) def. Dylan Frittelli (TEX), 2UP
Julio Vegas (TEX) def. Andrew Vijarro (ORE), 2UP
Eugene Wong (ORE) def. Jordan Spieth (TEX), 1UP
Alabama Coach Jay Seawell: "Cal is a great golf team. We talked about that last night at our team meetings. To expect from 1 to 18 to be a battle. Their team is built very similarly to ours. They've got five good players and we've got five good players.
"Every match went to at least 17. It came down to our captain (Hunter Hamrick) hanging on. I put him at 5 because if there is anyone on the team we need to depend on, he earned the right to be that guy.
"This had more of a Ryder Cup feel to it. We're on the wrong side of the Mississippi here. Cal had a lot of people here. They were very loud and very good fans. You could feel it. We felt like an away team. It gets your adrenaline going. It was a great match and great for college golf."
Alabama Senior Hunter Hamrick: ""Justin Thomas is probably the best player in the country, and for him not to win it and we still pull it off...we are just fighters. We don't do extra things, we just do what we need to win."
Cal Coach Steve Desimone: "The only match that compares to this one was the championship match from 2004. I was exhausted after that one, and I am exhausted now. The only difference was we won that one.
"Give Alabama credit. We closed in on the back 9, but the Crimson held tough. This was a great experience for us. I am confident that we will knock on the door the next couple of years. Our guys get it."
California Sophomore Joel Stalter: "It is an honor playing with these guys. We had a phenomenal season, and I will always remember what we accomplished. We broke every school record, and it was a great performance today even though we lost. We are really young. This should give us the motivation to win the tournament next year."
Texas Coach John Fields: "It was never clear at any point who would win. Our guys hung in there the whole way and to make those birdies at the end on this course was awesome.
"Oregon is a great team and they have two first team All-Americans so we had our hands full the whole time. I've got five different individuals out there on the course with five different games and I'm proud of all of them."
"For us it's all one day at a time. We've got a chance to play Alabama for the national championship. That reminiscent of another sport recently, not ours, but our guys will be ready for it.
"When you get to this level everyone you play is really good, so you have to make sure you're putting your best foot forward all the time."
Texas Junior Julio Vegas: "I made a few mistakes and I knew that Andrew Vijarro was a great player so it was going to be a tight match. In golf bad shots are part of the game, but if you stay patient and focused you can work through them. I stayed patient the whole time and was confident in my game.
"On 18 I just wanted to finish strong with a birdie. I focused on it and that's what I did.
"We have a great team and it pushes you to keep up with each other. Playing with such talented guys every day makes you better."
Oregon Coach Casey Martin: "All of the guys played well today, even the ones that lost. Riviera is a great venue and this was an exciting competition. We competed well and hopefully we have a shot again next year.
"The expectations will not be like they were this year (with four seniors). We are going to have to rebuild a little bit and go from there."
