Twenty-eight collegians from all divisions of college golf were selected by the GCAA for inclusion on the 2012 Ben Hogan Award Watch List. The award goes to the top men's college golfer, taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during a 12-month period. (Full disclosure, I'm on the committee that helped select the players.)
One of last year's finalists is on the 2012 list: UCLA's Patrick Cantlay. Three semifinalist from a year ago also appear: Cantlay, Auburn's Blayne Barber and Stanford's Andrew Yun.
A group of 10 semifinalists will be selected April 11 with three finalists then invited to attend the Hogan Award ceremony at Colonial CC in Fort Worth on May 21.
The award is sponsored by Baird Private Wealth Management in association with the Friends of Golf, Colonial CC and the GCAA.
Blayne Barber, Auburn
Zachary Blair, BYU
Julien Brun, TCU
Patrick Cantlay, UCLA
Sean Dale, North Florida
Derek Ernst, UNLV
Dylan Frittelli, Texas
Luke Guthrie, Illinois
Stephan Jaeger, Chattanooga
Brooks Koepka, Florida State
Jace Long, Missouri
Bryden Macpherson, Georgia
Daniel Miernicki, Oregon
Corbin Mills, Clemson
Cheng-Tsung Pan, Washington
Thomas Pieters, Illinois
Patrick Rodgers, Stanford
Kyle Souza, Chico State
Jordan Spieth, Texas
Justin Thomas, Alabama
Ethan Tracy, Arkansas
Harold Varner, East Carolina
T.J. Vogel, Florida
James White, Georgia Tech
Cory Whitsett, Alabama
Chris Williams, Washington
Eugene Wong, Oregon
Andrew Yun, Stanford
- Golf Digest
- Golf Tours & News
- College Golf Blog
Short-game work paying off for UNM's Catlin
John Catlin came to a realization last summer. Then he added a daily routine to fix it.After an underwhelming spring season, Catlin decided he needed to elevate his play around the green to take his overall game to the next level. So every day, the New Mexico junior was in a bunker, in the rough, or somewhere working on his short game.
Suffice it to say, his diligence his paying off. Following a successful fall season, Catlin claimed his first collegiate title last week at the Arizona Intercollegiate. Through six events now in the 2011-12 season, Catlin has posted a 70.17 stroke average, down from 74.1 last season.
Catlin credits extensive short-game practice with his hometown coach, Eric Pollard of Sacramento, Calif., over the summer. But Lobos coach Glen Millican sees a more complete all-around adjustment in his top performer.
Read more
Amateurs get more USGA exemptions
HOUSTON--The USGA has rectified an incongruity for the past several years in which the U.S. Amateur champion has been fully exempted into the field at the British Open but the British Amateur champ had not gotten a reciprocal invite into America's national championship.
The USGA Executive Committee has unanimously approved, beginning this year, the addition of an exemption for not only the British Amateur champion into the U.S. Open but the winner of the Ladies British Open Amateur into the U.S. Women's Open. Australia's Bryden Macpherson, a junior at Georgia, and England's Lauren Taylor will be the first to take advantage of the change this summer at The Olympic Club and Blackwolf Run, respectively.
Additionally, the USGA also announced it would issue annual exemptions into the men's and women's Opens to the winner of the Mark H. McCormack Medal, which recognizes the top-ranked amateur on the World Amateur Golf Ranking at the conclusion of the summer amateur season. The R&A had made public a similar exemption into the British Open earlier this year. The 2011 recipients of the McCormack Medal were Patrick Cantlay , who was previously exempt into the U.S. Open for his runner-up finish at the U.S. Amateur, and Lydia Ko., the 14-year-old New Zealander who recently won the New South Wales Open.
"These exemptions demonstrate our strong partnership with the R&A, our value placed on amateur golf and of course our support of the World Amateur Golf Rankings," said Tom O'Toole, the chairman of the USGA Championship Committee, during a press conference at the USGA Annual Meeting.
Changes to exemption criteria in the USGA's other amateur championships were also announced. The top 75 point leaders on the World Amateur Golf Ranking and anyone tied for 75th at the close of entries will received an exemption into the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, and increase from the top 50 that was initiated in 2011. (The U.S. Amateur will continued to exempt only the top 50 from the WAGR.)
For the U.S. Junior and U.S. Mid-Amateur, those in the top 400 on the WAGR at the close of entries will be exempt in 2012, and while those in the top 500 will be given open entry into the USGA Senior Amateur.
On the women's side, the USGA approved the use of the women's WAGR to create exemption categories into the women's amateur championships. The top 25 on the women's WAGR will be exempt into the U.S. Women's Amateur, the top 50 into the Women's Amateur Public Links, the top 75 into the U.S. Girls' Junior and the top 500 into the Mid-Amateur and Senior Amateur.
The USGA Executive Committee has unanimously approved, beginning this year, the addition of an exemption for not only the British Amateur champion into the U.S. Open but the winner of the Ladies British Open Amateur into the U.S. Women's Open. Australia's Bryden Macpherson, a junior at Georgia, and England's Lauren Taylor will be the first to take advantage of the change this summer at The Olympic Club and Blackwolf Run, respectively.
Additionally, the USGA also announced it would issue annual exemptions into the men's and women's Opens to the winner of the Mark H. McCormack Medal, which recognizes the top-ranked amateur on the World Amateur Golf Ranking at the conclusion of the summer amateur season. The R&A had made public a similar exemption into the British Open earlier this year. The 2011 recipients of the McCormack Medal were Patrick Cantlay , who was previously exempt into the U.S. Open for his runner-up finish at the U.S. Amateur, and Lydia Ko., the 14-year-old New Zealander who recently won the New South Wales Open.
"These exemptions demonstrate our strong partnership with the R&A, our value placed on amateur golf and of course our support of the World Amateur Golf Rankings," said Tom O'Toole, the chairman of the USGA Championship Committee, during a press conference at the USGA Annual Meeting.
Changes to exemption criteria in the USGA's other amateur championships were also announced. The top 75 point leaders on the World Amateur Golf Ranking and anyone tied for 75th at the close of entries will received an exemption into the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, and increase from the top 50 that was initiated in 2011. (The U.S. Amateur will continued to exempt only the top 50 from the WAGR.)
For the U.S. Junior and U.S. Mid-Amateur, those in the top 400 on the WAGR at the close of entries will be exempt in 2012, and while those in the top 500 will be given open entry into the USGA Senior Amateur.
On the women's side, the USGA approved the use of the women's WAGR to create exemption categories into the women's amateur championships. The top 25 on the women's WAGR will be exempt into the U.S. Women's Amateur, the top 50 into the Women's Amateur Public Links, the top 75 into the U.S. Girls' Junior and the top 500 into the Mid-Amateur and Senior Amateur.
Vogel succeeding at home in Florida
Even after committing to USC as a high school senior, T.J. Vogel took an
official visit to the University of Florida. "Just in case something
happened," Vogel recalled Thursday.Turns out, something did happen. And Vogel appears to be thriving in a new environment.
Vogel won his first event of the spring season, taking the individual title at the Sea Best Invitational (formerly the JU Invitational) at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass by two shots, while leading the Gators to their second win of the 2011-12 season. The junior had finished the fall with three consecutive top-10 appearances.
Following a disappointing sophomore year in Los Angeles, Vogel transferred during the summer to Gainesville, which was the lifelong Florida resident's second choice out of high school. He said he was close to attending Florida initially, explaining the official visit he took at the end of his recruitment.
For Gators coach Buddy Alexander, he's just thankful to finally have Vogel on campus. "He's been a joy to work with so far and an unbelievably significant contributor to our program," said Alexander, in his 24th year at Florida, "and I don't know where we'd be without him, to be honest."
It's working out for Vogel just as well.
Read more
CI Podcast/Arizona's Rick LaRose
The Arizona Intercollegiate, hosted by the University of Arizona, begins Jan. 30, kicking off the spring semester of the 2011-12 men's college season. Seemed only appropriate then to have the Wildcats' coach, Rick LaRose, as my podcast to preview the event as well as provide his insights from an impressive, 34-year career coaching college golf.Do yourself a favor before listening to the podcast and read LaRose's bio, particularly the information at the bottom, to get a glimpse at what a dynamic life LaRose has lived.
CI Podcast/Rick LaRose
The Syllabus: 'Is the spring here yet?' edition
A bit of a change of pace this week since there's not much change in my Fab Five. I'm going to post my "Fascinating" Five, the five programs that I'm most curious regarding how they'll perform this spring. Ladies first …
Women
1. Duke
It's been 22 months and counting now since the Blue Devils last won a college tournament, an eternity to fans of the five-time NCAA champions. This season, the squad has yet to even post a top-five finish, with fellow coaches' appearing to give Dan Brooks' squad the benefit of the doubt with them ranked 14th in the final fall Golf World/NGCA poll. The good news is that with Lindy Duncan the folks in Durham have a No. 1 player who can carry the team to victory on the right week. But for them to be a legitimate contender come the postseason, another player (or two) has to emerge. Laetitia Beck and Aleja Cangrejo have both shown signs they're ready to take that step. Now would be a good time to go ahead and do it.
First spring event: Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, Palos Verdes CC, Palos Verdes, Calif., Feb. 13-15
Read more
Women
1. Duke It's been 22 months and counting now since the Blue Devils last won a college tournament, an eternity to fans of the five-time NCAA champions. This season, the squad has yet to even post a top-five finish, with fellow coaches' appearing to give Dan Brooks' squad the benefit of the doubt with them ranked 14th in the final fall Golf World/NGCA poll. The good news is that with Lindy Duncan the folks in Durham have a No. 1 player who can carry the team to victory on the right week. But for them to be a legitimate contender come the postseason, another player (or two) has to emerge. Laetitia Beck and Aleja Cangrejo have both shown signs they're ready to take that step. Now would be a good time to go ahead and do it.
First spring event: Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, Palos Verdes CC, Palos Verdes, Calif., Feb. 13-15
Read more
Are the OK State men going to be OK?
You could call Mike McGraw an optimist, although it's oversimplifying things. The Oklahoma State men's coach isn't one to insist that the sky is blue when it's actually gray or, more importantly, that his guys are hitting the ball flush when they're scrambling for pars. The better way to describe McGraw is that he's a believer, a man who identifies simple truths and believes they can remain that way in the future when fueled with hard work and discipline.
Why does any of this matter? Well, after needing to replace All-Americans Kevin Tway and Morgan Hoffmann in the Cowboys' starting lineup last fall, McGraw now is in search of somebody to take the place of Peter Uihlein, the former U.S. Amateur champion who decided to pass up the final semester of his senior year to try and earn a European Tour card as a fledging pro, if he hope to keep his squad in contention for a Big 12 and NCAA titles.
It's a task that's as challenging as any coach in the country will have this spring.
Read more
Why does any of this matter? Well, after needing to replace All-Americans Kevin Tway and Morgan Hoffmann in the Cowboys' starting lineup last fall, McGraw now is in search of somebody to take the place of Peter Uihlein, the former U.S. Amateur champion who decided to pass up the final semester of his senior year to try and earn a European Tour card as a fledging pro, if he hope to keep his squad in contention for a Big 12 and NCAA titles.
It's a task that's as challenging as any coach in the country will have this spring.
Read more
CI Podcast/Tennessee's Erica Popson
Erica Popson might have been the best part-time college golfer in the country last fall. The Tennessee junior All-American finished second at the Cougar Classic and T-8 at the Tar Heel Invitational. Yet in the Lady Vols other two starts, the Mason Rudolph Fall Preview and the SEC/Pac-12 Challenge, she had to withdraw both times due to a nagging ligament injury to her left thumb that ultimately required surgery last November.In this week's podcast, Popson talks about her recovery—which Tennessee fans can rest easy knowing is going well—as well as her breakout sophomore season of 2010-11, where she won three individual titles, including the SEC championship. She also discusses why she's anxiously waiting by the phone this month, and how a renewed mental approach has led to her college success.
CI Podcast/Erica Popson
Which school has the toughest spring schedule?
More interesting, perhaps, than exploring what are the toughest tournaments of the spring (see yesterday's post) is identifying what schools have the toughest schedules. Any idea what programs will face the most ranked teams during the spring season?
Having gone through the schedules of every team that received a vote in the final fall edition of the Golf World men's and womens' coaches polls, I calculated how many top-10 and top-25 teams each of school would face through the remainder of the 2011-12 season, as well as how many schools they will compete against that received at least one vote in the final fall poll.
Below is what I found. Schools are listed in the order based on who will be facing the most schools that received a vote. I also broke down the charts by the top 25 and by all teams receiving votes, revealing that some unranked schools are facing the stiffest competition of any program in the country.
On the men's side, 12th-ranked USC clearly has the toughest road to travel. The Trojans face 25 top-10 teams in their seven starts, seven more than any other school, 39 top-25 opponents and 48 schools that received at least one vote in the final fall poll.
Interestingly, it appears top-ranked Texas won't be able to coast much this spring, either, ranking second in the most top-25 foes and most opponents who received votes.
Expanding beyond the top 25, two unranked teams boast fairly challenging schedules, specifically Texas Tech and Florida.
Similar to the men, the USC women's team faces the toughest spring test as it faces 15 top-10 teams (only Arizona with 16 sees more), 39 top-25s (10 more than any other) and 53 opponents who received votes. The Trojans cross-town rivals, top-ranked UCLA, would appear to have the second toughest schedule.
Interestingly, however, when you expand beyond the women's top-25 programs, several unranked teams have some of the toughest schedules in the country. Florida State and Michigan State both move jump into the top five in this ranking, with Wake Forest and Denver among the top 10.
Having gone through the schedules of every team that received a vote in the final fall edition of the Golf World men's and womens' coaches polls, I calculated how many top-10 and top-25 teams each of school would face through the remainder of the 2011-12 season, as well as how many schools they will compete against that received at least one vote in the final fall poll.
Below is what I found. Schools are listed in the order based on who will be facing the most schools that received a vote. I also broke down the charts by the top 25 and by all teams receiving votes, revealing that some unranked schools are facing the stiffest competition of any program in the country.
On the men's side, 12th-ranked USC clearly has the toughest road to travel. The Trojans face 25 top-10 teams in their seven starts, seven more than any other school, 39 top-25 opponents and 48 schools that received at least one vote in the final fall poll.Interestingly, it appears top-ranked Texas won't be able to coast much this spring, either, ranking second in the most top-25 foes and most opponents who received votes.
Expanding beyond the top 25, two unranked teams boast fairly challenging schedules, specifically Texas Tech and Florida.Similar to the men, the USC women's team faces the toughest spring test as it faces 15 top-10 teams (only Arizona with 16 sees more), 39 top-25s (10 more than any other) and 53 opponents who received votes. The Trojans cross-town rivals, top-ranked UCLA, would appear to have the second toughest schedule. Interestingly, however, when you expand beyond the women's top-25 programs, several unranked teams have some of the toughest schedules in the country. Florida State and Michigan State both move jump into the top five in this ranking, with Wake Forest and Denver among the top 10.Toughest college event of the spring is ... ?
A year ago, curiosity caused me to look a bit into the college golf schedule to see how many times the top programs would face off against each other prior to the NCAA postseason. I took all the teams that received at least one vote in the final fall Division I men's and women's coaches' poll, called up their schedules online and started comparing to identify the tournaments with the strongest fields of the spring and the schools with the toughest schedules.
Being no less curious this January, I went ahead and did the same thing for this coming spring. For today, I'm posting information on the top tournaments (I'll explore what programs face the stiffest competition tomorrow.)
Below is my list of the top men's and women's tournaments, ranked in order of which events have the most teams in their field that have received at least one vote in the coaches' polls. That chart also breaks down how many schools ranked in the top five, top 10 and top 25 are in the field, if you prefer those as barometers for how "strong" an event is. I also list how the event did compared to its "ranking" in 2011.
As was the case a year ago the toughest men's event was the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters in Las Vegas, which will be held March 9-11 at Southern Highlands CC, hosted by UNLV. All told, 12 teams in this year's SHCM field received a vote in the final fall Golf World/Nike Golf men's coaches' poll (compared to 14 in 2011) with 10 teams from the top 25 (the same as a year ago).
On the women's side, the Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge outside of Los Angeles took top honors for the spring, with last year's No. 1, the Liz Murphey Collegiate, falling to third. Played at Palos Verdes GC from Feb. 13-15, the Northrup Grumman will have 15 teams that received votes in the final fall Golf World/NGCA women's coaches' poll (the Liz Murphey had 18 in 2011).
The Northrup Grumman, however, does not have the most top-25 schools in its field; that honor went to the Ping/ASU Invitational, which will have 11 ranked programs playing at Karsten GC in Tempe (last year's Liz Murphey had 15 top-25 teams).
Being no less curious this January, I went ahead and did the same thing for this coming spring. For today, I'm posting information on the top tournaments (I'll explore what programs face the stiffest competition tomorrow.)
Below is my list of the top men's and women's tournaments, ranked in order of which events have the most teams in their field that have received at least one vote in the coaches' polls. That chart also breaks down how many schools ranked in the top five, top 10 and top 25 are in the field, if you prefer those as barometers for how "strong" an event is. I also list how the event did compared to its "ranking" in 2011.
As was the case a year ago the toughest men's event was the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters in Las Vegas, which will be held March 9-11 at Southern Highlands CC, hosted by UNLV. All told, 12 teams in this year's SHCM field received a vote in the final fall Golf World/Nike Golf men's coaches' poll (compared to 14 in 2011) with 10 teams from the top 25 (the same as a year ago).On the women's side, the Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge outside of Los Angeles took top honors for the spring, with last year's No. 1, the Liz Murphey Collegiate, falling to third. Played at Palos Verdes GC from Feb. 13-15, the Northrup Grumman will have 15 teams that received votes in the final fall Golf World/NGCA women's coaches' poll (the Liz Murphey had 18 in 2011).
The Northrup Grumman, however, does not have the most top-25 schools in its field; that honor went to the Ping/ASU Invitational, which will have 11 ranked programs playing at Karsten GC in Tempe (last year's Liz Murphey had 15 top-25 teams).
Campus Insider continues
More on GolfDigest.com
Slideshows
The 18 Most Annoying Golf Partners
The only thing worse than playing with one is being one.
