Stanford’s Golf Team Is Making History in the 2023 U.S. Open

This year’s U.S. Open had 12 different final qualifying sites, and four men on Stanford’s golf team were vying to punch their ticket to Los Angeles Country Club. These four men are Barclay Brown, Michael Thorbjornsen, Karl Vilips, and Alexander Yang.

Barclay Brown played at the Los Angeles final qualifying, shooting 10-under across two rounds, taking one of 5 spots at this location. Michael Thorbjornsen shot 8-under, taking one of 4 qualifying positions.  Karl Vilips played at the Rockville, Maryland location, where he shot 4-under to place in one of 4 qualifying spots. Alexander Yang played at the Lakewood, Washington location, where he shot 3-under across two rounds to secure one of two spots. 

The record shows this is the first time in the U.S. Open history that four current university golfers on a single team have qualified. The last time it has come close was in 2015, revealed by David Shefter of the USGA. During this year, LSU’s team had three players: Philip Barbaree, Luis Gagne, and Jacob Bergeron. They would have had four players in total if Sam Burns hadn’t turned professional the year earlier. An impressive feat nonetheless. 

History in the making 👏

Four @StanfordMGolf players will tee up @USOpenGolf. This is the first time four collegiate teammates will play in the same major championship.

📷 @PGATOUR pic.twitter.com/BnGtfRTyTI

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) June 14, 2023

Former Stanford golfer Tiger Woods has to have a huge smile on his face seeing the great success his university is achieving. In addition to the men’s success, Rose Zhang, who recently just turned pro out of Stanford, won in her LPGA debut marking the first time it happened since 1951.

The Stanford boys have four chances to make even more history if all of them can make the cut. If they do so, they put themselves in a position to become the first amateur to win the U.S. Open since 1933.

“Honestly, sleeping on leads is not something that I’m unfamiliar with.”

🌹 Rose Zhang has won 10 of her last 12 starts in stroke play. pic.twitter.com/iqD2D0fP3B

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 5, 2023

So many stories, possibilities, scenarios, and drama coming to this year’s U.S. Open, you better not miss it.

Cover Image Via Twitter