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Joël Stalter Was A Winner As A Pro For The First Time Sunday
MGOLF8/7/2016 5:15 PM | By: Cal Athletics
Joël Stalter Wins First Pro Event
Former Golden Bear Victorious At European Challenge Tour’s Swedish Challenge
KATRINEHOLMS, Sweden – Joël Stalter (70-69-69-68 – 276, -12) became the seventh Cal men's golf affiliate to win a professional event Sunday when he captured the European Challenge Tour's Swedish Challenge hosted by Robert Karlsson for his first victory as a pro. Stalter (70-69-69-68 – 276, -12) sank a 10-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to defeat fellow playoff competitors Oliver Farr and Ben Stow. Stalter, who bogeyed the 18th hole to miss a chance at winning before the playoff, had started Sunday's final round tied for eighth and five shots off the lead.
"At the start of the day winning was not on my mind at all," Stalter told EuropeanTour.com. "I was trying to put myself out there but I never thought about winning until I saw my name at the top of the leaderboard. I stayed really steady, and I was really proud of my mentality today."
Stalter earned €32,000 for the victory and moved into ninth place in the Road to Oman Rankings with the top 15 at the end of the season graduating to The European Tour.
Stalter earned All-American, All-West Region, All-Pac-12 and All-America Scholar honors during each of the final two seasons of his Cal career (2012-13, 2013-14) while playing in the program's Golden Era (2009-14). Stalter, who was also an honorable mention All-Pac-12 pick as a 2011-12 sophomore, graduated from the Haas School of Business in May of 2014.
"It's exciting to see Joël get his first of many professional wins today," said Walter Chun, Cal's Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men's Golf. "He has been working so hard on his game, and it's great to see all of it coming to fruition today. The Cal golf family is proud of him today and we'll continue to be his biggest fans."
Stalter is the third former Cal men's golf student-athlete to win a professional golf event in 2016 following James Hahn's victory at the PGA Tour's Wells Fargo Championship in May and Max Homa's win at the Web.com Tour's Rust-Oleum Championship in June. The seven Cal golfers that have won pro events have captured a total of 22 all-time titles.
