Campillo finishes in tie for 2nd at NCAA Championships

On the 10th hole in the final round of the NCAA Golf Championships, junior Jorge Campillo sliced his second shot left, landing it only two inches from the water hazard. With only one option, he took off his shoes and socks and hit his next shot with his feet in the water.\nn an impeccable recovery, Campillo punched it back to the fairway and chipped to within 18 feet of the hole, where he calmly sank his next putt to save par.\nEight holes and a 1-under par back nine later, he finished in a tie for second place. In doing so, he matched Wayne McDonald’s performance at the 1969 NCAA Championships for the best individual result in Indiana men’s golf history. \nThe team finished 21st overall at the championships, which were hosted by Purdue University on the challenging Kampen golf course in West Lafayette. The team’s finish represented the best overall finish since 1980, when they placed 20th. \nIU coach Mike Mayer said words couldn’t describe his player. \n“Jorge Campillo, what can you say,” he said. “It was a great day to watch him, coach him and be a part of it.”\nThe Hoosiers and Campillo experienced a slow start on day one of the four-day event, posting a 25-over par score as a team with Campillo shooting a 3-over 75. The team improved slightly the next day, but still finished with a two-day score of 47-over par, much to the displeasure of junior Seth Brandon.\n“We really came out the first two days and embarrassed ourselves,” he said. “It was pitiful.”\nOn day three of the tournament, the team only finished nine of eighteen holes before lightning caused play to be suspended. This benefited the Hoosiers, especially Campillo, who struggled on holes 6 through 9, posting bogeys on each hole. Campillo said the delay helped him re-focus and come back stronger for the next day.\n“I got lucky because I was so frustrated and so mad, but so lucky the game was cancelled,” he said. “If I would have had to keep going I probably would have shot 78 or 80.”\nInstead, the Caceres, Spain, native shot an even-par 72 in the third round, which continued the following day.\nCampillo experienced another difficulty as he broke his driver after the second round. After seeing how bad its condition was during warm-ups for the third round, the rules officials granted him a switch to his backup driver.\nThe team rebounded as a whole in the third round, and shot the third-best third-round total at 9-over par. Junior Drew Allenspach said he thought the team really battled and didn’t give up.\n“I think that shows the heart this team has,” he said.\nThe Hoosiers were 20 shots off making the final cut to 15 teams going into the third round, but came within just one stroke before falling seven shots from making it.\nCampillo advanced into the final group of 81 players as the top individual from the teams failing to make the cut.\nEven though his teammates were disappointed to have missed the cut, they said they enjoyed watching their fellow Hoosier play.\n“That’s one of my good buddies and my teammate so I’m really happy for him,” Brandon said.\nAllenspach also expressed how good he thought his teammate performed under tough conditions.\n“They set these courses up so the best players come out on top,” he said. “Jorge is definitely one of the best players in college, possibly the world.”\nAllenspach, who finished 38th amongst those who missed the cut, said the course was without a doubt one of the hardest he has ever played. He experienced the difficulty of the course on hole seven during the second round of play.\nThe junior hit his tee shot into deep grass, and the ball could not be found. When he hit a second tee shot his ball landed in more rough. When he finally made it to the green, it took Allenspach four putts to make it in the hole.\n“That hole seemed to have my number,” he said.\nThe course was so difficult that only the individual champion, Kevin Chappell of UCLA, shot under par. UCLA also claimed the team title, edging Stanford by one stroke. Campillo and Chappell were the only two individuals to post three rounds at even-par or lower.\nThe IU team’s lone senior, Santiago Quirarte, said he had fun competing in his first and last NCAA tournament. \n“It was nice to do something for the first time, especially with these four guys.” he said.\nWith the top-four players returning for next season, Mayer hopes his players will build on what they accomplished this year.\n“We talked about making this a learning experience,” he said. “I think we learned something about ourselves and what it takes to be successful at this level.”