FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Stanford men’s golf is once again a national champion.

No. 6 seed Stanford defeated No. 5 Texas 3-2 in the final match of the 2019 NCAA Div. I Men’s Golf Championship at Blessings Golf Club.

The national title is Stanford’s first since 2007 and ninth in program history. Texas held a 3-0 head-to-head advantage over Stanford during the regular season, but the Cardinal got it done when it counted most.

Texas freshman Parker Coody put the first point on the board in the match, defeating fellow freshman and Stanford’s semifinal broken driver hero Daulet Tuleubayev 6&5 in the match’s fourth pairing to put the Longhorns up 1-0.

Stanford would respond to even the match, with senior Isaiah Salinda improving to 3-0 in match play this weekend, handing standout Texas freshman Cole Hammer his first loss of the week, 4&3.

“I was super excited to play Cole, I was hoping we’d get paired together,” said Salinda after the round. “He’s a really good player, one of the best in college, so I was looking forward to it. I knew I was playing well and it would be a good match. It felt good to come out on top.”

Brandon Wu added the second point for Stanford, defeating Pierceson Coody 4&3. Just seconds later, the fireworks erupted over Blessings as Henry Shimp defeated Spencer Soosman 2&1 to seal the deal. David Snyder’s match with Steven Chervony was conceded.

“It’s crazy. You can’t script a better ending to your career,” said Wu. “This whole week, we knew that every round could be our last so to end on a high note is great.”

Earlier in the tournament during the stroke play segment, Stanford head coach Conrad Ray said this season was “the hardest we’ve worked in my time at Stanford,” noting how the team’s confidence has continued to build thanks to great practice, a new workout and four consecutive wins to end the season entering the NCAA Championship.

“I just feel like our guys have gotten a lot of confidence out of playing solid and it means a lot when you can have your four and five guy kick in on a regular basis,” Ray said while praising the senior leadership of Salinda and Wu. “It’s been a team effort.”

It truly was a team effort for the Cardinal in match play. David Snyder hit the putt to send Stanford to the semifinals and Tuleubayev hit the putt to clinch the Cardinal’s spot in the finals. Salinda and Wu both went 3-0 in matches, while Shimp picked up his first match play victory to clinch the title.

“Isaiah and Brandon’s leadership is huge,” said Ray. “They were rock solid all year, so we leaned on them a lot. They left a strong legacy of leadership. I’m happy they could end their career like this because they are a huge part of our success.”