June 02, 2008
from the Abbotsford News

Nick Taylor, the defending Canadian Amateur champ, added another impressive finish to his resume with a runner-up result at the NCAAs last week.

Three years after James Lepp made history by winning the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Golf Championship, fellow Abbotsford product Nick Taylor made his own run at the prestigious title.

Taylor –who golfs for the University of Washington, Lepp’s alma mater – turned in an impressive runner-up result at the collegiate golf showcase, held at Purdue University’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Indiana last week. Taylor shot 75-66-73-75=289 on a course that played extremely tough, finishing three strokes back of winner Kevin Chappell of UCLA and tying for second with Jorge Campillo of Indiana University.

In 2005, Lepp became the first Canadian to win the NCAA title, rallying from six strokes down in the final round to defeat Michael Putnam of Pepperdine in a playoff.

“It feels really good,” Taylor said in a press release following Saturday’s final round. “I was proud of how I played. I didn’t think I’d be that close to Kevin (Chappell) in the end, but I played really well today and I’m happy with the way I finished.”

Taylor, a Ledgeview Golf and Country Club product, posted the low round of the tournament with a second-round 66, and led his Washington Huskies to a seventh-place finish in the team standings.

“Nick’s the main reason we finished in the top 10 as a team,” Huskies coach Matt Thurmond said. “He was absolutely awesome.”

Adam Hadwin, a national team member with Taylor and a junior at the University of Louisville, finished tied for 55th (78-76-74-82=310) at the NCAAs. The Bateman grad helped Louisville to a tenth-place team finish.