Even though the No. 4 UW men’s golf team didn’t capture another team victory this week at The Prestige, impressive freshmen performances and steady veteran play proved that the Huskies are poised to make another run at a national championship.

The Huskies concluded The Prestige at PGA West yesterday by shooting a final-round 1-under 287. The Huskies recovered from their 9-over first-round score by playing well today and shooting a 3-under 287 on Monday. They ended up 5-over as a team and finished alone in third place.

“It was a solid day,” head coach Matt Thurmond said. “We had five guys in it all day. We didn’t win, and that was disappointing, but we had two decent days of golf, and I was happy about that. We aren’t playing our best, but we’re still competing well.”

Three Huskies finished in the top 20. Senior Nick Taylor, one of the country’s top collegiate golfers, led the way again, as he shot a final-round 72 en route to a tournament-total 1-under 215. The All-American finished tied for eighth place. Through three tournaments this season, Taylor has yet to finish out of the top 10. Despite such solid play, Taylor isn’t at the top of his game.

“He’s not getting everything out of his game right now,” Thurmond said. “He wouldn’t tell you he’s playing that well. He’s still able to battle, but he’s a little frustrated that he’s had chances to play better and hasn’t quite done it yet.”

Following Taylor was fellow senior Richard Lee. The Bellevue, Wash., native turned in his low round of the tournament, shooting a 2-under 70, and ended up tied for 13th place overall.

Junior Tze Huang Choo also showed that he hasn’t lost a step from last year, as he provided consistent play all week. The native of Singapore fired his second-consecutive round of even-par golf yesterday by birdieing two of the last three holes. He finished tied for 14th overall at 2-over.

Freshmen Charlie Hughes and Chris Williams were also impressive all week. Hughes tied for 31st place overall, and Williams shined during the final round, sinking five birdies en route to a Husky tournament-low 68. Their impressive play is exciting both for the future and the current season.

“Chris is an awesome player, and he’s been playing well in practice,” Thurmond said. “It’s nice to see him finally have a good round on a tough course. Charlie had a great tourney, but he just made two really bad mistakes.”

Veterans Darren Wallace and Chris Killmer, both consistent starters last season, got their games back on track yesterday. Wallace made five birdies and fired a one-over 73, while Killmer followed his second-round 80 with a 74 yesterday.

Although the fall tournaments are more of a tune-up for the spring season, Thurmond still believes they are important and can provide benefits.

“We’ll be a totally different team come April and May, but at the same time, it’s good to learn things and develop skills,” the eighth-year head coach said. “To start off with three solid tourneys, I’m happy with that. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves and what we need to improve and what we’re good at. [The fall tournaments] are not the Pac-10s, and they aren’t nationals, but they are still important.”

The men will practice for the next two weeks before heading off to Isleworth, Fla., to compete in the Isleworth Invitational, which runs from Oct. 25-27.

Reach reporter Taylor Soper at sports@dailyuw.com.