Heading into the eagle putt on 18, Brad Reeves had one opportunity. Sink the putt to win, two-putt to send it into a playoff, or three-putt to lose. Brad was trying to beat Henry Shimp, a player from Stanford, who had taken the lead with a finishing eagle on 18 and Brad's bogey on 16. Brad had hit the ball into the water on the short par 4 (298 yards), got onto the green on his penalty shot and two-putted. Brad parred the par 3 hole 17 to be 1 shot down heading into 18. His first shot on 18 layed Amateurup to the lake and left him a 200 yard shot to the hole. He hit a beautiful 2nd shot to the green to be on for eagle.
Brad Reeves had always wanted to go to Arizona. Growing up in Woodbridge, California (Near Stockton and Elk Grove) as a massive Niners fan and avid golfer, golfing with his dad. He grew up to go to his dream golf school, Arizona. He starred in his first tourney, the John Burns Intercollegiate, and finished tied for 13th. He got his first Top 10 finish in his third tourney, the Memorial Amateur, where he finished tied for 6th. He was already tearing it up for the Cats as a freshman, and had 4 top-5s.
Brad never had a great history in the PAC 12 Championship which showed statistics wise as he seemed to not get better. In his freshman year, and he finished tied for 20th, he finished tied for 48th in his sophomore year. He finished a bit farther up in his junior year, tied for 41st, but sadly, he could not play in his senior year due to COVID-19. He stayed at Arizona for the 5th year of his college sports career. He opened the year with his first collegiate win by winning the Arizona Intercollegiate, but finished tied for 47th in the Cabo Challenge after finishing tied for 9th in The Prestige. He has been finishing in the Top 20 this year in every tournament except for in Cabo. He came into the Pac 12 Championship after the ASU Thunderbird Invite where he finished tied for 16th.
The Fourth Round started early at 7:30 in threesomes and the leaders went off at 9:31. I was there and had time (got their at 7) before the leaders came around, so I watched Kyle Suppa for USC tee off, and then decided to focus on a group. My chaperone, John, and I decided to watch Taehoon Song (Washington), Karl Villips (Stanford), and Carson Barry (OSU). All needed miracles to get into the lead with Taehoon starting his round at +7, Karl at +3, and Carson at +2. They did not let it phase them though and continued on with some great golf. They always bounced back if they had a bad shot or hole or even holes. Carson was able to bounce back with 2 consecutive tee shots in the rough and make par or under. Taehoon was able to bounce back from his bad score on the first three rounds, and Karl bounced back from a few bad holes on the front 9. We watched them throughout their Front 9, but went to Hole 3 to catch up with The leaders who were tearing it up. All 3 were matching each other shot for shot, but Reeves broke away on the Back 9. Henry Shimp was rising in the ranks with a birdie on Hole 15 that brought him to -13. Shimp also birdied 17 to be -14 and eagled 18 to finish -16 which meant he had tied for the lead. Reeves told me that he had gotten the news and knew where he stood in the standings. Pressure may have gotten to Reeves as he bogeyed 16 after hitting one into the water, recovering well, and 2-putting. He pared 17, and it came down to an eagle putt on 18 which he missed, but then sank a birdie to tie. He had sent it to a sudden death playoff. Yuki finished -15 and Ryggs finished -13.
The first day, April 26, was a very long day for everyone there as golfers had to play 2 rounds of golf (36 holes) which would mean over 7.7 miles of walking for the players who are carrying their clubs. It would be a grueling workout, and take the vbest of golfers to get through it. David Puig, the rising sophmore star from ASU, had already won two tournaments in 2021, and was the favorite. From 7 AM to 9:01 AM, golfers teed off on mixed tees (Hole 10 and Hole 1), and the results of round 1 were interesting. Freshman Yuki Moriyama from Oregon took the first round with -7 with Brad Reeves and Ryggs Johnston from ASU hot on his tail.
The Second Round started in the afternoon with golfers teeing off from mixed tees from 12:30 PM to 2:31 PM. Ryggs Johnston had an incredible 2nd Round, and finished his day at -11. Yuki had a decent back 9 which caused him to finish -3 on the round and -10 on the day. Puig and Reeves both had very decent 2nd Rounds and finished tied for 3rd at -7. Trevor Werbylo out of Arizona and Chun An Yu out of Arizona State finished tied for 5th at -6. Still in the hunt were USC Senior Star Kaito Onishi (7th, -5), Stanford 5th year Senior Henry Shimp (Tied-8th, -4), and Washington star Jan Schneider (Tied-8th, -4). On the team leaderboard, ASU led at -25 with Arizona behind by 1 stroke (-24) and Oregon (-15), Stanford (-5), Oregon State (E), and USC (E) still in the hunt after the first day. Hosts, Cal, were +10 on the day, and Colorado was in last at +17.
The Third Round was on April 27, and it was only a one round day. The golfers teed off at mixed tees from 10 AM to 12:30 PM to start their round. Aaron Du from Cal had an awesome round, finishing at -6 for the day and -8 for the tournament. Puig had completely dropped from the top 8 after round 3. Brad Reeves had an incredible front 9 and kept it clean on the back 9, finishing -5 for the day and -12 for the tournament which gave him part of the lead. Yuki Moriyama and Ryggs Johnston both had very mediocre rounds and both finished -12 on the day. It was a three way tie, but Chun-An Yu who was -9 was close. Also guys competing were Aaron Du (Tied-5th, -8), Henry Shimp (Tied-5th, -8) , Jan Schneider (Tied 5th, -8), and OSU star Shawn Lu (8th, -7). It was a great round for almost every team except for UCLA who had a horrible round and dropped to last with +37. Arizona had taken the lead over ASU, leading at -29 while ASU had -25. Oregon (-17) was sneeking in the bushes, and so was their rival OSU (-16). Stanford (-11), Wahington (-6), and USC (E) all needed an incredible final day to take the PAC 12 Championship.
The Fourth Round started early at 7:30 in threesomes and the leaders went off at 9:31. I was there and had time (got their at 7) before the leaders came around, so I watched Kyle Suppa for USC tee off, and then decided to focus on a group. My chaparone, John, and I decided to watch Taehoon Song (Washington), Karl Villips (Stanford), and Carson Barry (OSU). All needed miracles to get into the lead with Taehoon starting his round at +7, Karl at +3, and Carson at +2. They did not let it phase them though and countinued on with some great golf. They always bounced back if they had a bad shot or hole or even holes. Carson was able to bounce back with 2 consecutive tee shots in the rough and make par or under. Taehoon was able to bounce back from his bad score on the first three rounds, and Karl bounced back from a few bad holes on the front 9. We watched them throughout their Front 9, but went to Hole 3 to catch up with the leaders who were tearing it up. All 3 were matching each other shot for shot, but Reeves broke away on the Back 9. Henry Shimp was rising in the ranks with a birdie on Hole 15 that brought him to -13. Shimp also birdied 17 to be -14 and eagled 18 to finish -16 which meant he had tied for the lead. Reeves told me that he had gotten the news and knew where he stood in the standings. Pressure may have gotten to Reeves as he bogeyed 16 after hitting one into the water, recovering well, and 2-putting. He pared 17, and it came down to an eagle puttt on 18 which he missed, but then sank a birdie to tie. He had sent it to a sudden death playoff. Yuki finished -15 and Ryggs finished -12.
The playoff holes would be 1 and 18 with the players going to Hole 1 first, and then Hole 18. On Hole 1, Reeves shanked his tee shot into the rough while Shimp hit his onto the fairway. Both had it on in two, but Reeves was farther away, and missed his first putt. It all came down to a 10 footer from Shimp and he missed it. Both parred the hole and moved to 18. Both of their tee shots nestled near the lake, leaving a 200 yard shot. Shimp shot over the lake, aiming for the rough, so it would trickle down and on like it had when he eagled it. It did not which took a lot of pressure of Reeves, and Brad smashed it over the lake and on, leaving him with a 10 foot putt. Shimp missed his chip on, and the greens were fast, so he was left with a 10 foot putt. Shimp missed his birdie putt and pared. Reeves put his first putt close, and putted it in for birdie and the win. Reeves told me that he had not wanted to mess up and 3 putt, so he kept calm. Reeves won the individual tournament and his college Arizona won the college section of the tournament.
Final Leaderboard:
Individual:
1 ARIZ Brad Reeves -16
2 STAN Henry Shimp -16
3 ORE Yuki Moriyama -15
T4 ASU Ryggs Johnston -12
T4 ASU Chun-An Yu -12
6 WASH Jan Schneider -10
7 CAL Aaron Du -9
College:
Top 6:
Arizona -41
ASU -37
Stanford -35
Washington -21
Oregon -18
OSU -12
Note: Host, Cal, finished 7th (-6)
I interviewed Brad later on in the week, and he is looking to go pro this Summer. He is looking to work his way up to the Korn Ferry and eventually the PGA Tour. He is a lifelong Niners fan, and was very happy that the Niners picked Lance. We at HS360 wish Brad good luck going pro. Stay Safe!
