UW falls to Arkansas 3-2 in the NCAA golf quarterfinals

TOLEDO, Ohio — A time will come when the University of Washington men's golf team can reflect on its Pac 10 championship, its four other tournament titles, the gaudy national rankings, and everything else that went into arguably the most successful season in program history.

But that time was not Friday, as a tough loss in the NCAA quarterfinals to Arkansas made it impossible for proper perspective. Under the new match-play format, the Huskies fell 3-2 to the fourth-seed Razorbacks at Inverness Club.

"It doesn't take anything away from all of the great things, but we still fell short from where we expected us to be, so all I feel right now is disappointment," UW coach Matt Thurmond said.

Washington, seeded fifth in the eight-team tournament, received dominating wins by Nick Taylor and Darren Wallace. The match was tied at 2-2 when Arkansas' David Lingmerth beat Richard Lee 3 and 1 on the 17th hole. A match play is stopped when one player leads by more points than there are holes remaining.

Arkansas later advanced to today's finals with a 3-1-1 semifinal victory over Georgia. The Razorbacks will play Texas A&M for the title.

"We had a great season, but obviously this is the one where you want to go all the way," Lee said. "This year was special, but it just hurts to end this way. We'll learn from this, get better next year, and try to do it again."

Lee's one-point lead after 12 holes evaporated quickly when he bogeyed No. 13 and double bogeyed No. 14, giving Lingmerth a lead he would later extend.

"I hit it in the rough a couple of times, and I felt like I lost it," Lee said. "It would have been a little better if he actually earned it, but I felt like I gave it away, so it hurts a little bit more right now."

Taylor, who earned All-America honors by finishing ninth in the individual tournament, romped past Andrew Landry, 4 and 3. Wallace's match with Ethan Tracy ended when Wallace built a six-point lead after 13 holes. Washington's other two players, Chris Killmer and Tze Huang Choo, each fell 3 and 2. Taylor called the week "disappointing" as neither his personal or team goals were obtained.

"Individuals was kind of disappointing because I didn't play my best and I made a lot of dumb mistakes which probably cost me being in contention the last few holes," Taylor said. "But that really didn't matter because the team tournament [was the focus] and we didn't make it."

Despite his team's woes Friday, Thurmond said he is "100 percent" in favor of the match play format, which this year replaced stroke play in determining the team championship.

"I think it's awesome," he said. "We need to do more and more and more of it. There's golf and there's competing. There are a lot of golfers out here, but real competitors come out in match-play format."

Thurmond should be confident entering next season as the top five players from this year's team that was ranked No. 4 in the latest Golfweek poll are expected to return. All but the sophomore Choo will be seniors.

"We're going to be scary next year for a lot of teams," Lee said.