Almost every time I've talked to a college golf coach over the phone the past few months, I've asked at some point in our conversation a straight-forward, yet difficult question:
How has the recession impacted your team?
The usual answer from coaches has been that their athletic director has asked them to "do more with less." Tightened budgets, however, are starting to influence their plans for recruiting this summer as well as their tournament schedules for next fall. More than a few coaches have said that they're reducing the number of events they'll compete in where they have to fly rather than drive.
"It used to be that a if a tournament was farther than 5 1/2, 6 hours from campus, we'd fly," one coach told me recently. "Now, if it's anywhere under eight hours, we'll take the van."
Some schools have been rather public with their cost cutting, most notably Stanford, which let go 21 employees in its athletic department in early March. Others have been more subtle. At Clemson and Arizona State, members of the athletic department (including the golf coaches) have been required to take unpaid furlough days.
There was an interesting story today on the NCAA News website, written by Michelle Brutlag Hosick, about how financial issues might affect the landscape of collegiate athletics in the future. She highlights, among other points, the risk of a divide at the Division I level growing between schools that have football/basketball programs that continue to generate revenues and those schools that don't or have programs in smaller, lower profile conferences.
The best example of this regarding golf might be the stories I'm hearing from some coaches at men's programs who are inviting teams to their tournaments for the 2009-10 season. With the ".500 rule" in mind, they're starting to invite lower profile schools to their tournaments, only to have those schools say that they appreciate the offer but they don't have the money to attend that tournament because of a restricted travel budget. How sadly ironic is it that the ".500 rule" is actually doing what it was intended to do--give chances for "smaller" schools to play against the "bigger" powers--and yet those teams now can't afford to take advantage of the opportunity?
There have been some rumblings that the NCAA Board of Directors might be inclined to review the overall model of Division I sports, perhaps even restructure how certain sports operate. If such a review occurs in golf, chances are the first thing that might be examined is a reduction in the length of fall season (if not an outright elimination of fall play, under the guise of cost savings).
Do I really think it will get to that point? In my heart of hearts, no. Still this is the NCAA we're dealing with and anything is possible. Bottom line: if you're a college golfer or coach, don't take anything for granted right now, least all the progress that's been made for the sport the past decade be taken away.
Results for March 2009
Back to Campus Insider Index
This week's syllabus: March 27-April 2
FAB FIVE
My look at the top five teams in the country right now
MEN
1. Georgia (Last week's syllabus: 1)
The Bulldogs responded well to the head-to-head competition they had with Oklahoma State in winning the Linger Longer Invitational last weekend by two strokes.
Next event: U.S. Collegiate, GC of Georgia, Alpharetta, Ga., April 5-7
2. Oklahoma State (2)
Conversely, the Cowboys inability to close out a tournament is beginning to become worrisome for fans in Stillwater. There's no question about their talent, though, as evidenced by Trent Whitekiller, playing as an individual, taking medalist honors at the Linger Longer.
Next event: Morris Williams Intercollegiate, University of Texas GC, Austin, Texas, March 30-31
3. Indiana (NR)
The Hoosiers got to the finals of the Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship after winning the Big Ten Match Play in February. If they can get to the Elite Eight at nationals, you've got to like their chances.
Next event: U.S. Collegiate, GC of Georgia, Alpharetta, Ga., April 5-7
4. Washington (NR)
The Huskies' runaway win at this week's Duck Invitational gives them three team titles and seven top-five finishes in eight starts. Three individual wins from junior Nick Taylor, most ever by a UW player in a single season, puts him in the thick of the player-of-the-year race.
Next event: U.S. Collegiate, GC of Georgia, Alpharetta, Ga., April 5-7
5. Stanford (3)
Sophomore Steve Ziegler, medalist at the USC Collegiate, continued to have a hot hand, finishing T-10 in the Callaway Match Play qualifier.
Next event: U.S. Collegiate, GC of Georgia, Alpharetta, Ga., April 5-7
WOMEN
1. UCLA (1)
Why have the Bruins been able to win five times in seven starts? Well, UCLA's average drop score (75.73) is almost two strokes lower than the next best school (Virginia, 77.66).
Next event: Ping/ASU Invitational, Karsten Course at ASU, Tempe, Ariz., April 3-5
2. Arizona State (2)
A bit of a surprise that the Sun Devils stumbled in the final round at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational last weekend, falling to Purdue, but nothing to worry about for ASU fans.
Next event: Ping/ASU Invitational, Karsten Course at ASU, Tempe, Ariz., April 3-5
3. USC (3)
The Trojans are in the top-10 in six statistical categories (first-round scoring average, last-round average, par 3, 4 and 5 scoring and birdies). The last one, they're second in the country with 254 birdies on the year.
Next event: Ping/ASU Invitational, Karsten Course at ASU, Tempe, Ariz., April 3-5
4. Purdue (NR)
The Boilermakers didn't just win the Betsy Rawls title, but they did it in impressive fashion, breaking the tournament's 54-hole scoring record (set in 1983) by 18 strokes.
Next event: Liz Murphey Collegiate, University of Georgia GC, Athens, Ga., March 27-29
5. Oklahoma State (4)
The Cowgirls have the second lowest adjusted scoring average in the country (72.51) while playing a schedule that currently ranks the second toughest in Division I.
Next event: Liz Murphey Collegiate, University of Georgia GC, Athens, Ga., March 27-29
STAT OF THE WEEK
71.66
Career stroke average of Clemson's Kyle Stanley through 85 rounds. The junior from Gig Harbor, Wash., who is playing in the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational this week thanks to his victory at the Southern Amateur last summer, remains second on the Tigers' all-time scoring list, just shy of D.J. Trahan's 71.49 mark. He has dropped the career average .06 strokes during the 2008-09 season.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
* N.C. State sophomore Matt Hill returns to Bulls Bay GC this week to defend his individual title at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate. If he is successful, the 20-year-old from Brights Grove, Ontario, will have three straight victories this spring (having won the General Hackler and Schenkel E-Z-Go titles in his last two starts) and four wins during the 2008-09 season. If this were to happen, I think he becomes the front-runner for men's national player of the year. Consider that his worst finish in seven starts to date is a T-14 and he currently has a 70.32 average. With the possible exception of Washington's Nick Taylor, Hill is the hottest player in men's golf as we blog. I don't see him cooling down this week either.
* Stanford men's coach Conrad Ray told me in a recent e-mail exchange that he's hopeful Joseph Bramlett will return before the spring but that progress on the junior's injured wrist has been slow. On the Cardinal's team blog, Bramlett noted in mid-March that he still wasn't practicing. "I’m trying to stay patient, as everyone has reminded me, and hopefully come April and May this will pay off," he wrote.
More interesting, and insightful, was Bramlett's thoughts about what he's been going through of late: "It has been frustrating at times, however with the physical limitations that have been placed on me I have tried to grow in other ways. I’ve found things in my game that I can work on without a club and hopefully make my transition back into playing a little bit easier and faster. I definitely learned a lot about returning after an injury last year and although there is nothing enjoyable about not being able to play, I am extremely motivated and excited to get the chance to play again. It’s amazing how many people take this game for granted and my appreciation and love for the game has definitely grown."
Talk about a mature young man. You can't help but feel for him as he's spent his second straight spring unable to do the thing he loves.
* Conspicuous by his absence at the Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship was Alabama freshman Bud Cauley, who had been in the line-up for the Crimson Tide in their previous six tournaments. According to coach Jay Seawell, Cauley is suffering from a bone bruise in his right wrist. He is undergoing regular treatment for the injury, says Seawell, who expects him to be able to play at the U.S. Collegiate April 5-7.
TOURNAMENTS ON TAP
MEN
Furman Intercollegiate
Furman University GC, Greenville, S.C. (Par 72, 6,944 yards)
March 27-29
Host: Furman
Field: Appalachian State, Charleston Southern, Davidson, East Carolina, Elon, Francis Marion, Furman, Marshall, North Florida, Old Dominion, Presbyterian, Rhode Island, Samford, Temple, Troy, Virginia Tech, Western Carolina, Winthrop, Wofford
Defending champion: Chattanooga (10-over 874) by three strokes over Clemson; Chattanooga's Jonathan Hodge (three-under 213) by one stroke over Vanderbilt's Jon Curran
Skinny: Past individual champions include Curtis Strange (Wake Forest, 1974), Jay Haas (Wake Forest, 1976), Mark Calcavecchia (Florida, 1979), Brad Faxon (Furman, 1983) and David Duval (Georgia Tech, 1991)
FAU Spring Break Championship
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Gleneagles CC, Delray Beach, Fla.
March 27-29
Host: Florida Atlantic
Field: Eastern Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Illinois, Iowa, Marquette, Memphis, Michigan, Missouri, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, St. John's, Wisconsin
Defending champion: New Event
Skinny: Inaugural tournament has a pretty solid field with Illinois (No. 6 in the latest Golf World/Nike Golf coaches' poll) and several Golfstat top-50 programs; also has six of Golfstat's top 50 individual players in the field
Western Intercollegiate
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Pasatiempo GC, Santa Cruz, Calif.
March 29-31
Host: San Jose State
Field: Brown, California, Colorado, Denver, Fresno State, Kansas, Long Beach State, Mercer, Michigan State, Nevada, Oregon, Oregon State, Pacific, San Jose State, Santa Clara, St. Mary's, UC Santa Barbara, Wyoming
Defending champion: St. Mary's (40-over 880) by one stroke over Michigan State and UC Irvine; Michigan State's Jack Newman (four-under 214) by two strokes over St. Mary's Michael McRae
Skinny: Tournament celebrates its 63rd playing and maintains its tradition of being played on this Alister Mackenzie gem. Going to take a lot of work for St. Mary's (No. 158 in the Golfstat ranking) to defend its team title
Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Bulls Bay GC, Awendaw, S.C.
March 29-31
Host: Bulls Bay GC
Field: Augusta State, UCF, Charleston, Chattanooga, Clemson, Georgia State, Kentucky, LSU, Maryland, North Carolina, N.C. State, South Carolina, USC Aiken, Virginia, Wake Forest
Defending champion: N.C. State (14-under 838) by 12 strokes over Clemson and South Carolina; N.C. State's Matt Hill (nine-under 204) by two strokes over Virginia Tech's Jurrian vander Vaart
Skinny: With the Wolfpack's victory here a year ago, they have finished in the top five in eight of their last 13 tournaments.
Diet Pepsi Shocker Classic
Wichita CC, Wichita, Kan. (Par 71, 6,814 yards)
March 30-31
Host: Wichita State
Field: Bowling Green State, Colorado State, Drake, Iowa State, Kansas State, Liberty, Missouri-Kansas City, Nebraska, Northeastern State, Northern Colorado, Oklahoma Christian, Oklahoma City, South Dakota State, South Florida, Texas-Arlington, UTEP, Western Illinois, Wichita State
Defending champion: Wichita State (three-over 855) by nine strokes over SMU; UT Arlington's Kevin Carrigan (seven-under 206) by four strokes over SMU's Kelly Kraft
Skinny: NAIA's Oklahoma City still holds the record for low single round team score in this event (seven-under 271 in 1999)
Morris Williams Intercollegiate
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
University of Texas GC, Austin, Texas (Par 71, 7,412 yards)
March 30-31
Host: Texas
Field: Air Force, Arkansas, Baylor, BYU, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, Rice, SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tulsa, UNLV, USC
Defending champion: Texas (16-over 868) by six strokes over Oklahoma State; Texas' Bobby Hudson (five-under 208) by four strokes over Texas' Charlie Holland
Skinny: Hudson's final-round 65 last year set a new course record at University of Texas GC; the course will host one of the six men's regionals in May
Anteater Invitational
El Niguel CC, Laguna Niguel, Calif. (Par 72, 7,016 yards)
March 30-31
Host: UC Irvine
Field: Arizona, Cal Poly, CSU Northridge, Loyola Marymount, Portland, Sacramento State, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UTEP, Weber State
Defending champion: Santa Clara (seven-under 857) by four strokes over UC Irvine; Santa Clara's Scott Travers (eight-under 208) on third playoff hole over Loyola Marymount's Brian Locke
Skinny: Tournament, celebrating its 29th playing, moves to El Niguel after being played at Santa Ana CC a year ago.
Larry Nelson Collegiate Invitational
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Woodlands at Chateau Elan, Braselton, Ga. (Par 72, 6,750 yards)
March 30-31
Host: Kennesaw State
Field: Belmont, Belmont-Abbey, East Tennessee State, Florida Gulf Coast, Gardner-Webb, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Morehead State, Murray State, Stetson, USC Upstate, UT Martin, Tennessee Tech
Defending champion: Kennesaw State (26-over 878) by 22 strokes over Campbell; Mercer's Andrew An, Armstrong Atlantic's Chris Wolfe and Central Arkansas' Gideon Pienaar (two-over 215)
Skinny: Seven Atlantic Sun conference rivals face off in the second annual event.
WOMEN
Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
University of Georgia GC, Athens, Ga.
March 27-29
Host: Georgia
Field: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Coastal Carolina, Florida State, Georgia, Kansas, Kent State, Kentucky, LSU, Michigan State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Virginia, Wake Forest
Defending champion: Georgia (36-over 900) in playoff over Purdue; Purdue's Maria Hernandez and Christel Boeljon (two-over 218)
Skinny: Another stout field in this 37-year-old event; five of the top eight teams and 11 of the top 25 in the latest Golf World/NGCA coaches' poll are competing
Mountain View Collegiate
Mountain View GC, Tucson, Ariz. (Par 72, 6,263 yards)
March 28-29
Host: Colorado
Field: Boise State, Colorado, Colorado State, Fresno State, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas State, Louisville, Michigan, MIssouri, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Oregon State, San Jose State, Texas Tech, UNLV, Washington State
Defending champion: Indiana (16-over 880) by nine strokes over San Jose State; Indiana's Lauren Harling (one-under 215) by one stroke over San Jose State's Erica Moston
Skinny: Bad news for the Hoosiers: in the tournaments 10 years, no school has ever repeated as the team champions. In fact, no team have won the title more than once.
John Kirk/Panther Intercollegiate
Eagles Landing CC, Stockbridge, Ga. (Par 72, 6,047 yards)
March 30-31
Host: Georgia State
Field: Augusta State, Campbell, Chattanooga, East Tennessee State, Elon, Furman, Georgia State, Jacksonville State, James Madison, Maryland, Miami, UNC Greensboro, Western Carolina
Defending champion: Georgia State (29-over 613) in playoff over Jacksonville State; Mississippi State's Suzanne Stanley (one-over 147) by two strokes over East Tennessee State's Maria Ringdahl and Miami's Maria Ronderos
Skinny: Last year's victory by the Panthers was only the second time in 15 years that the host school has won the event. The tournament expands to 54 holes for the fist time since 2002.
Anteater Invitational
Dove Canyon CC, Dove Canyon, Calif.
March 30-April 1
Host: UC Irvine
Field: Cal Poly, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, CSU Northridge, CSU San Marcos, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Long Beach State, Nevada, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State, San Francisco
Skinny: Tournament returns after one-year hiatus.
My look at the top five teams in the country right now
MEN
1. Georgia (Last week's syllabus: 1)The Bulldogs responded well to the head-to-head competition they had with Oklahoma State in winning the Linger Longer Invitational last weekend by two strokes.
Next event: U.S. Collegiate, GC of Georgia, Alpharetta, Ga., April 5-7
2. Oklahoma State (2)Conversely, the Cowboys inability to close out a tournament is beginning to become worrisome for fans in Stillwater. There's no question about their talent, though, as evidenced by Trent Whitekiller, playing as an individual, taking medalist honors at the Linger Longer.
Next event: Morris Williams Intercollegiate, University of Texas GC, Austin, Texas, March 30-31
3. Indiana (NR)The Hoosiers got to the finals of the Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship after winning the Big Ten Match Play in February. If they can get to the Elite Eight at nationals, you've got to like their chances.
Next event: U.S. Collegiate, GC of Georgia, Alpharetta, Ga., April 5-7
4. Washington (NR)The Huskies' runaway win at this week's Duck Invitational gives them three team titles and seven top-five finishes in eight starts. Three individual wins from junior Nick Taylor, most ever by a UW player in a single season, puts him in the thick of the player-of-the-year race.
Next event: U.S. Collegiate, GC of Georgia, Alpharetta, Ga., April 5-7
5. Stanford (3)Sophomore Steve Ziegler, medalist at the USC Collegiate, continued to have a hot hand, finishing T-10 in the Callaway Match Play qualifier.
Next event: U.S. Collegiate, GC of Georgia, Alpharetta, Ga., April 5-7
WOMEN
1. UCLA (1)Why have the Bruins been able to win five times in seven starts? Well, UCLA's average drop score (75.73) is almost two strokes lower than the next best school (Virginia, 77.66).
Next event: Ping/ASU Invitational, Karsten Course at ASU, Tempe, Ariz., April 3-5
2. Arizona State (2)A bit of a surprise that the Sun Devils stumbled in the final round at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational last weekend, falling to Purdue, but nothing to worry about for ASU fans.
Next event: Ping/ASU Invitational, Karsten Course at ASU, Tempe, Ariz., April 3-5
3. USC (3)The Trojans are in the top-10 in six statistical categories (first-round scoring average, last-round average, par 3, 4 and 5 scoring and birdies). The last one, they're second in the country with 254 birdies on the year.
Next event: Ping/ASU Invitational, Karsten Course at ASU, Tempe, Ariz., April 3-5
4. Purdue (NR)The Boilermakers didn't just win the Betsy Rawls title, but they did it in impressive fashion, breaking the tournament's 54-hole scoring record (set in 1983) by 18 strokes.
Next event: Liz Murphey Collegiate, University of Georgia GC, Athens, Ga., March 27-29
5. Oklahoma State (4)The Cowgirls have the second lowest adjusted scoring average in the country (72.51) while playing a schedule that currently ranks the second toughest in Division I.
Next event: Liz Murphey Collegiate, University of Georgia GC, Athens, Ga., March 27-29
STAT OF THE WEEK
71.66
Career stroke average of Clemson's Kyle Stanley through 85 rounds. The junior from Gig Harbor, Wash., who is playing in the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational this week thanks to his victory at the Southern Amateur last summer, remains second on the Tigers' all-time scoring list, just shy of D.J. Trahan's 71.49 mark. He has dropped the career average .06 strokes during the 2008-09 season.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
* N.C. State sophomore Matt Hill returns to Bulls Bay GC this week to defend his individual title at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate. If he is successful, the 20-year-old from Brights Grove, Ontario, will have three straight victories this spring (having won the General Hackler and Schenkel E-Z-Go titles in his last two starts) and four wins during the 2008-09 season. If this were to happen, I think he becomes the front-runner for men's national player of the year. Consider that his worst finish in seven starts to date is a T-14 and he currently has a 70.32 average. With the possible exception of Washington's Nick Taylor, Hill is the hottest player in men's golf as we blog. I don't see him cooling down this week either.
* Stanford men's coach Conrad Ray told me in a recent e-mail exchange that he's hopeful Joseph Bramlett will return before the spring but that progress on the junior's injured wrist has been slow. On the Cardinal's team blog, Bramlett noted in mid-March that he still wasn't practicing. "I’m trying to stay patient, as everyone has reminded me, and hopefully come April and May this will pay off," he wrote.
More interesting, and insightful, was Bramlett's thoughts about what he's been going through of late: "It has been frustrating at times, however with the physical limitations that have been placed on me I have tried to grow in other ways. I’ve found things in my game that I can work on without a club and hopefully make my transition back into playing a little bit easier and faster. I definitely learned a lot about returning after an injury last year and although there is nothing enjoyable about not being able to play, I am extremely motivated and excited to get the chance to play again. It’s amazing how many people take this game for granted and my appreciation and love for the game has definitely grown."
Talk about a mature young man. You can't help but feel for him as he's spent his second straight spring unable to do the thing he loves.
* Conspicuous by his absence at the Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship was Alabama freshman Bud Cauley, who had been in the line-up for the Crimson Tide in their previous six tournaments. According to coach Jay Seawell, Cauley is suffering from a bone bruise in his right wrist. He is undergoing regular treatment for the injury, says Seawell, who expects him to be able to play at the U.S. Collegiate April 5-7.
TOURNAMENTS ON TAP
MEN
Furman Intercollegiate
Furman University GC, Greenville, S.C. (Par 72, 6,944 yards)
March 27-29
Host: Furman
Field: Appalachian State, Charleston Southern, Davidson, East Carolina, Elon, Francis Marion, Furman, Marshall, North Florida, Old Dominion, Presbyterian, Rhode Island, Samford, Temple, Troy, Virginia Tech, Western Carolina, Winthrop, Wofford
Defending champion: Chattanooga (10-over 874) by three strokes over Clemson; Chattanooga's Jonathan Hodge (three-under 213) by one stroke over Vanderbilt's Jon Curran
Skinny: Past individual champions include Curtis Strange (Wake Forest, 1974), Jay Haas (Wake Forest, 1976), Mark Calcavecchia (Florida, 1979), Brad Faxon (Furman, 1983) and David Duval (Georgia Tech, 1991)
FAU Spring Break Championship
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Gleneagles CC, Delray Beach, Fla.
March 27-29
Host: Florida Atlantic
Field: Eastern Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Illinois, Iowa, Marquette, Memphis, Michigan, Missouri, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, St. John's, Wisconsin
Defending champion: New Event
Skinny: Inaugural tournament has a pretty solid field with Illinois (No. 6 in the latest Golf World/Nike Golf coaches' poll) and several Golfstat top-50 programs; also has six of Golfstat's top 50 individual players in the field
Western Intercollegiate
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Pasatiempo GC, Santa Cruz, Calif.
March 29-31
Host: San Jose State
Field: Brown, California, Colorado, Denver, Fresno State, Kansas, Long Beach State, Mercer, Michigan State, Nevada, Oregon, Oregon State, Pacific, San Jose State, Santa Clara, St. Mary's, UC Santa Barbara, Wyoming
Defending champion: St. Mary's (40-over 880) by one stroke over Michigan State and UC Irvine; Michigan State's Jack Newman (four-under 214) by two strokes over St. Mary's Michael McRae
Skinny: Tournament celebrates its 63rd playing and maintains its tradition of being played on this Alister Mackenzie gem. Going to take a lot of work for St. Mary's (No. 158 in the Golfstat ranking) to defend its team title
Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Bulls Bay GC, Awendaw, S.C.
March 29-31
Host: Bulls Bay GC
Field: Augusta State, UCF, Charleston, Chattanooga, Clemson, Georgia State, Kentucky, LSU, Maryland, North Carolina, N.C. State, South Carolina, USC Aiken, Virginia, Wake Forest
Defending champion: N.C. State (14-under 838) by 12 strokes over Clemson and South Carolina; N.C. State's Matt Hill (nine-under 204) by two strokes over Virginia Tech's Jurrian vander Vaart
Skinny: With the Wolfpack's victory here a year ago, they have finished in the top five in eight of their last 13 tournaments.
Diet Pepsi Shocker Classic
Wichita CC, Wichita, Kan. (Par 71, 6,814 yards)
March 30-31
Host: Wichita State
Field: Bowling Green State, Colorado State, Drake, Iowa State, Kansas State, Liberty, Missouri-Kansas City, Nebraska, Northeastern State, Northern Colorado, Oklahoma Christian, Oklahoma City, South Dakota State, South Florida, Texas-Arlington, UTEP, Western Illinois, Wichita State
Defending champion: Wichita State (three-over 855) by nine strokes over SMU; UT Arlington's Kevin Carrigan (seven-under 206) by four strokes over SMU's Kelly Kraft
Skinny: NAIA's Oklahoma City still holds the record for low single round team score in this event (seven-under 271 in 1999)
Morris Williams Intercollegiate
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
University of Texas GC, Austin, Texas (Par 71, 7,412 yards)
March 30-31
Host: Texas
Field: Air Force, Arkansas, Baylor, BYU, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, Rice, SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tulsa, UNLV, USC
Defending champion: Texas (16-over 868) by six strokes over Oklahoma State; Texas' Bobby Hudson (five-under 208) by four strokes over Texas' Charlie Holland
Skinny: Hudson's final-round 65 last year set a new course record at University of Texas GC; the course will host one of the six men's regionals in May
Anteater Invitational
El Niguel CC, Laguna Niguel, Calif. (Par 72, 7,016 yards)
March 30-31
Host: UC Irvine
Field: Arizona, Cal Poly, CSU Northridge, Loyola Marymount, Portland, Sacramento State, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UTEP, Weber State
Defending champion: Santa Clara (seven-under 857) by four strokes over UC Irvine; Santa Clara's Scott Travers (eight-under 208) on third playoff hole over Loyola Marymount's Brian Locke
Skinny: Tournament, celebrating its 29th playing, moves to El Niguel after being played at Santa Ana CC a year ago.
Larry Nelson Collegiate Invitational
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Woodlands at Chateau Elan, Braselton, Ga. (Par 72, 6,750 yards)
March 30-31
Host: Kennesaw State
Field: Belmont, Belmont-Abbey, East Tennessee State, Florida Gulf Coast, Gardner-Webb, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Morehead State, Murray State, Stetson, USC Upstate, UT Martin, Tennessee Tech
Defending champion: Kennesaw State (26-over 878) by 22 strokes over Campbell; Mercer's Andrew An, Armstrong Atlantic's Chris Wolfe and Central Arkansas' Gideon Pienaar (two-over 215)
Skinny: Seven Atlantic Sun conference rivals face off in the second annual event.
WOMEN
Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
University of Georgia GC, Athens, Ga.
March 27-29
Host: Georgia
Field: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Coastal Carolina, Florida State, Georgia, Kansas, Kent State, Kentucky, LSU, Michigan State, Mississippi, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Virginia, Wake Forest
Defending champion: Georgia (36-over 900) in playoff over Purdue; Purdue's Maria Hernandez and Christel Boeljon (two-over 218)
Skinny: Another stout field in this 37-year-old event; five of the top eight teams and 11 of the top 25 in the latest Golf World/NGCA coaches' poll are competing
Mountain View Collegiate
Mountain View GC, Tucson, Ariz. (Par 72, 6,263 yards)
March 28-29
Host: Colorado
Field: Boise State, Colorado, Colorado State, Fresno State, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas State, Louisville, Michigan, MIssouri, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Oregon State, San Jose State, Texas Tech, UNLV, Washington State
Defending champion: Indiana (16-over 880) by nine strokes over San Jose State; Indiana's Lauren Harling (one-under 215) by one stroke over San Jose State's Erica Moston
Skinny: Bad news for the Hoosiers: in the tournaments 10 years, no school has ever repeated as the team champions. In fact, no team have won the title more than once.
John Kirk/Panther Intercollegiate
Eagles Landing CC, Stockbridge, Ga. (Par 72, 6,047 yards)
March 30-31
Host: Georgia State
Field: Augusta State, Campbell, Chattanooga, East Tennessee State, Elon, Furman, Georgia State, Jacksonville State, James Madison, Maryland, Miami, UNC Greensboro, Western Carolina
Defending champion: Georgia State (29-over 613) in playoff over Jacksonville State; Mississippi State's Suzanne Stanley (one-over 147) by two strokes over East Tennessee State's Maria Ringdahl and Miami's Maria Ronderos
Skinny: Last year's victory by the Panthers was only the second time in 15 years that the host school has won the event. The tournament expands to 54 holes for the fist time since 2002.
Anteater Invitational
Dove Canyon CC, Dove Canyon, Calif.
March 30-April 1
Host: UC Irvine
Field: Cal Poly, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, CSU Northridge, CSU San Marcos, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Long Beach State, Nevada, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State, San Francisco
Skinny: Tournament returns after one-year hiatus.
A prediction on who will win the NCAA men's hoops title
With Elite Eights, Final Fours and bracket mania coming to men's college golf later this spring, it seems appropriate to bring back something I explored the past two years when I was struggling with my picks for the men's NCAA basketball tournament. With the men's hoops down to 16 teams, could we predict how the rest of tournament would play out based on how good their men’s golf teams are?
I've always prefaced this by saying the premise is a little outlandish, but is it any more preposterous than somebody picking games based on their favorite colors? Or those who simply flip a coin for each game? Two years ago, this system had USC winning the men's hoops championship, not Florida, although it did successful have the Gators and UCLA get to the Final Four. Last year, I picked UCLA rather than Kansas ... and admittedly had none of the Final Four teams right. Nevertheless, I march on.
Just to remember the ground rules: I go through this year’s brackets from the Sweet 16 on, picking each of the remaining games based strictly on how schools’ golf teams have done head-to-head in tournaments they’ve played against each other to see if this might be my new method to March Madness. In the event of ties, or the fact the teams haven’t faced each other, I’ll use their overall win-loss records on the season (versus all opponents), the better percentage advancing.
MIDWEST REGION
Sweet 16
Louisville vs. Arizona
With the two teams not having played in the same tournament this season, we go off their overall records:
The Cardinals have won the Cardinal Intercollegiate in September and have seven top-five finishes in nine starts with an overall record of 106-35-1 (.750).
The Wildcats have not won this season but have four top-five finishes in eight starts, posting an overall record of 82-45 (.646).
Winner: Louisville
Michigan State vs. Kansas
The Spartans have one win (Spartan Classic) and seven top-five finishes in eight starts with an overall record of 70-19-3 (.777).
The Jayhawks have not won this season, but have three top-five finishes in seven starts with an overall record of 49-43 (.533).
Winner: Michigan State
Elite 8
Louisville vs. Michigan State
The Cardinals and Spartans have been in the same field once this season, at the UNC Greensboro Bridgestone Collegiate in October. Louisville finished fourth while Michigan State was second, resulting in ...
Winner: Michigan State
WEST REGION
Sweet 16
Connecticut vs. Purdue
The Huskies have not won this season and have only two top-10 finishes in nine starts with an overall record of 22-115-2 (.165).
The Boilermakers have one win (Rutherford Invitational) but it is their lone top-five finish in eight starts; overall record of 42-56 (.429).
Winner: Purdue
Memphis vs. Missouri
The Memphis Tigers have not won this season and have only one top-five finish in seven starts with an overall record of 40-62-3 (.395).
The Missouri Tigers have not won this season but have two top-five finishes in seven starts, posting an overall record of 54-49-1 (.524).
Winner: Missouri
Elite 8
Purdue vs. Missouri
The Boilermakers and Tigers have played in three tournaments together, the Rutherford Intercollegiate, Wolf Run Intercollegiate and Windon Memorial. Purdue finished first, eighth and sixth, respectively, while Missouri was fifth, ninth and eighth, giving the former a 3-0 head-to-head mark.
Winner: Purdue
EAST REGION
Sweet 16
Pittsburgh vs. Xavier
The Panthers don't have a varsity men's golf team so the Musketeers win by default.
Winner: Xavier
Duke vs. Villanova
The Blue Devils have one win (UNC Greensboro Bridgestone Collegiate) and two top-five finishes in seven starts with an overall record of 40-56 (.417).
The Wildcats have not won this season and have only one top-five finish in six starts; overall record of 35-57-1 (.381).
Winner: Duke
Elite 8
Xavier vs. Duke
The Musketeers have five top-six finishes in eight starts, giving them an overall record of 62-54-1 (.534), which pushes them past the Blue Devils' .417 winning percentage.
Winner: Xavier
SOUTH REGION
Sweet 16
North Carolina vs. Gonzaga
The Tar Heels have not won this season and have only one top-five finish; overall record of 38-49 (.437).
The Bulldogs have not won this season and have no top-five finishes; overall record of 14-66 (.175).
Winner: North Carolina
Oklahoma vs. Syracuse
The Sooners have one win (MacDonald Cup) and three top-five finishes in eight starts; overall record of 54-55-3 (.496).
The Orange don’t have a varsity men’s golf team (Note to my wife: sorry, but I can't do anything about this).
Winner: Oklahoma
Elite 8
North Carolina vs. Oklahoma
The two schools both competed last weekend at the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational. With a seventh-place finish for the Tar Heels, compared to a 16th-place showing for the Sooners, the victory goes to ...
Winner: North Carolina
FINAL FOUR
Michigan State vs. Purdue
Amazingly, these Big Ten rivals have yet to play in the same stroke-play tournament. Both competed in the Big Ten Match Play Championship in February, but they didn't face each other; MSU finished third while Purdue was sixth. Going by overall winning percentages also gives you the same outcome.
Winner: Michigan State
Xavier vs. North Carolina
The two schools haven't played in the same tournament this season either, so going by their above winning percentage the other school in the NCAA final will be ...
Winner: Xavier
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Michigan State vs. Xavier
In the battle for the national title the two schools have played together in one tournament this season--the Wolverine Invitational, appropriately enough since the hoops Final Four will be played only a half-hour from Ann Arbor in Detroit. The Spartans shot a four-under 848 to grab fourth place in the 16-team field while the Musketeers could do no better than a 19-over 871, tying them for 10th.
And there you have it … the winner of the 2009 NCAA men’s basketball tournament will be the Michigan State Spartans.
At least, that is, if their golf team has anything to say about it.
I've always prefaced this by saying the premise is a little outlandish, but is it any more preposterous than somebody picking games based on their favorite colors? Or those who simply flip a coin for each game? Two years ago, this system had USC winning the men's hoops championship, not Florida, although it did successful have the Gators and UCLA get to the Final Four. Last year, I picked UCLA rather than Kansas ... and admittedly had none of the Final Four teams right. Nevertheless, I march on.
Just to remember the ground rules: I go through this year’s brackets from the Sweet 16 on, picking each of the remaining games based strictly on how schools’ golf teams have done head-to-head in tournaments they’ve played against each other to see if this might be my new method to March Madness. In the event of ties, or the fact the teams haven’t faced each other, I’ll use their overall win-loss records on the season (versus all opponents), the better percentage advancing.
MIDWEST REGION
Sweet 16
Louisville vs. Arizona
With the two teams not having played in the same tournament this season, we go off their overall records:
The Cardinals have won the Cardinal Intercollegiate in September and have seven top-five finishes in nine starts with an overall record of 106-35-1 (.750).
The Wildcats have not won this season but have four top-five finishes in eight starts, posting an overall record of 82-45 (.646).
Winner: Louisville
Michigan State vs. Kansas
The Spartans have one win (Spartan Classic) and seven top-five finishes in eight starts with an overall record of 70-19-3 (.777).
The Jayhawks have not won this season, but have three top-five finishes in seven starts with an overall record of 49-43 (.533).
Winner: Michigan State
Elite 8
Louisville vs. Michigan StateThe Cardinals and Spartans have been in the same field once this season, at the UNC Greensboro Bridgestone Collegiate in October. Louisville finished fourth while Michigan State was second, resulting in ...
Winner: Michigan State
WEST REGION
Sweet 16
Connecticut vs. Purdue
The Huskies have not won this season and have only two top-10 finishes in nine starts with an overall record of 22-115-2 (.165).
The Boilermakers have one win (Rutherford Invitational) but it is their lone top-five finish in eight starts; overall record of 42-56 (.429).
Winner: Purdue
Memphis vs. Missouri
The Memphis Tigers have not won this season and have only one top-five finish in seven starts with an overall record of 40-62-3 (.395).
The Missouri Tigers have not won this season but have two top-five finishes in seven starts, posting an overall record of 54-49-1 (.524).
Winner: Missouri
Elite 8
Purdue vs. MissouriThe Boilermakers and Tigers have played in three tournaments together, the Rutherford Intercollegiate, Wolf Run Intercollegiate and Windon Memorial. Purdue finished first, eighth and sixth, respectively, while Missouri was fifth, ninth and eighth, giving the former a 3-0 head-to-head mark.
Winner: Purdue
EAST REGION
Sweet 16
Pittsburgh vs. Xavier
The Panthers don't have a varsity men's golf team so the Musketeers win by default.
Winner: Xavier
Duke vs. Villanova
The Blue Devils have one win (UNC Greensboro Bridgestone Collegiate) and two top-five finishes in seven starts with an overall record of 40-56 (.417).
The Wildcats have not won this season and have only one top-five finish in six starts; overall record of 35-57-1 (.381).
Winner: Duke
Elite 8
Xavier vs. DukeThe Musketeers have five top-six finishes in eight starts, giving them an overall record of 62-54-1 (.534), which pushes them past the Blue Devils' .417 winning percentage.
Winner: Xavier
SOUTH REGION
Sweet 16
North Carolina vs. Gonzaga
The Tar Heels have not won this season and have only one top-five finish; overall record of 38-49 (.437).
The Bulldogs have not won this season and have no top-five finishes; overall record of 14-66 (.175).
Winner: North Carolina
Oklahoma vs. Syracuse
The Sooners have one win (MacDonald Cup) and three top-five finishes in eight starts; overall record of 54-55-3 (.496).
The Orange don’t have a varsity men’s golf team (Note to my wife: sorry, but I can't do anything about this).
Winner: Oklahoma
Elite 8
North Carolina vs. OklahomaThe two schools both competed last weekend at the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational. With a seventh-place finish for the Tar Heels, compared to a 16th-place showing for the Sooners, the victory goes to ...
Winner: North Carolina
FINAL FOUR
Michigan State vs. PurdueAmazingly, these Big Ten rivals have yet to play in the same stroke-play tournament. Both competed in the Big Ten Match Play Championship in February, but they didn't face each other; MSU finished third while Purdue was sixth. Going by overall winning percentages also gives you the same outcome.
Winner: Michigan State
Xavier vs. North CarolinaThe two schools haven't played in the same tournament this season either, so going by their above winning percentage the other school in the NCAA final will be ...
Winner: Xavier
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Michigan State vs. XavierIn the battle for the national title the two schools have played together in one tournament this season--the Wolverine Invitational, appropriately enough since the hoops Final Four will be played only a half-hour from Ann Arbor in Detroit. The Spartans shot a four-under 848 to grab fourth place in the 16-team field while the Musketeers could do no better than a 19-over 871, tying them for 10th.
And there you have it … the winner of the 2009 NCAA men’s basketball tournament will be the Michigan State Spartans.
At least, that is, if their golf team has anything to say about it.
Callaway event foreshadows potential NCAA thrills
I love the fact that Middle Tennessee State won the GCAA's Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship today, knocking off Indiana in the final round at The Farms GC in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., 4-1. ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.
As a precursor to what we might see at the NCAA Championship in June, it showed how the new format--stoke-play qualifying to cut to eight teams, then match play until you crown a champion--could lead to an exciting (and unpredictable) championship in a few months.
Here are a couple of the reasons why I'm happy with the outcome:
* Middle Tennessee State was the No. 7 seed after stroke-play qualifying, then "upset" San Diego State, Florida State and the Hoosiers to claim the title. This validates the notion that so long as a school qualified for the "Elite Eight" they've got a chance at winning the NCAA title.
* We've got a small, underdog school that comes away with the title. Can you imagine if this happened at nationals? It would be like Villanova taking the hoops title over Georgetown in 1985 ... a classic David vs. Goliath story with the drama that actually might get people talking about college golf who don't ordinary pay much attention to the sport.
Of course, I can here some critics of the match-play format (read: my Golfweek counterparts) pointing out how a "true" champion is far less likely to be crowned this way, and that match play won't identify the "best" team in college golf. My counter to this is that the 72-hole stroke play format didn't always do that either.
Do we really think Minnesota was the best team in college golf in 2002? With all due respect to Brad James' title team, the Golden Gophers rode a gigantic wave of emotion that year at Ohio State's Scarlet Course (recall that the school had announced that the men's golf program was going to be cut) that helped them knock off the school that actually had the "best" team, Georgia Tech, to win the national title. Same thing in 2004, where California beat the year's "best" team (UCLA) to win the national championship. Once again, it was a group of individuals, riding a wave of emotion, that came together and got the job done.
Those were great stories and some of the most entertaining NCAAs we've had in the past decade. We can get more of this, I think, with the match-play format we're about to experience this spring at Toledo's Inverness Club.
Photo courtesy of the GCAA
As a precursor to what we might see at the NCAA Championship in June, it showed how the new format--stoke-play qualifying to cut to eight teams, then match play until you crown a champion--could lead to an exciting (and unpredictable) championship in a few months.Here are a couple of the reasons why I'm happy with the outcome:
* Middle Tennessee State was the No. 7 seed after stroke-play qualifying, then "upset" San Diego State, Florida State and the Hoosiers to claim the title. This validates the notion that so long as a school qualified for the "Elite Eight" they've got a chance at winning the NCAA title.
* We've got a small, underdog school that comes away with the title. Can you imagine if this happened at nationals? It would be like Villanova taking the hoops title over Georgetown in 1985 ... a classic David vs. Goliath story with the drama that actually might get people talking about college golf who don't ordinary pay much attention to the sport.
Of course, I can here some critics of the match-play format (read: my Golfweek counterparts) pointing out how a "true" champion is far less likely to be crowned this way, and that match play won't identify the "best" team in college golf. My counter to this is that the 72-hole stroke play format didn't always do that either.
Do we really think Minnesota was the best team in college golf in 2002? With all due respect to Brad James' title team, the Golden Gophers rode a gigantic wave of emotion that year at Ohio State's Scarlet Course (recall that the school had announced that the men's golf program was going to be cut) that helped them knock off the school that actually had the "best" team, Georgia Tech, to win the national title. Same thing in 2004, where California beat the year's "best" team (UCLA) to win the national championship. Once again, it was a group of individuals, riding a wave of emotion, that came together and got the job done.
Those were great stories and some of the most entertaining NCAAs we've had in the past decade. We can get more of this, I think, with the match-play format we're about to experience this spring at Toledo's Inverness Club.
Photo courtesy of the GCAA
Purdue's Hernandez wins 11th career title
For the issue of Golf World that's closing today, I named Purdue's Maria Hernandez the women's college player of the week after her victory at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational yesterday. In the item on the senior from Pamplona, Spain, who turns 23 tomorrow, it notes how this was her second BRLI title, her third individual win of the 2008-09 season and the 11th in her career. Upon reading this in a galley, a colleague of mine came up to be and noted: "She might be the best player that I've never really heard of."
OK, so diehard college fans know all about her, but my colleague's comment pointed toward the fact that despite being a two-time Big Ten player of the year, Hernandez' accomplishments have really gone underappreciated, thanks in part to some of the other people in the Class of 2009 that have grabbed headlines in the past four years. Here's a look at some of her stats:
Year Starts Avg. Top 5s/10s % counted rds.
2005-06 12 74.2 5/6 92.1
2006-07 13 73.2 6/7 94.7
2007-08 11 71.9 5/7 96.8
2008-09 8 73.0 4/4 100
Career 44 73.14 20/24 95.4
Stop to appreciate that Hernandez' 11 career wins is the same number as Duke's Amanda Blumenherst. By year's end she's likely to be named first-team All-American for the third straight year (no Purdue player had ever earned the honor prior to Hernandez). Not only is she the Boilermakers' top golfer, but she was named the school's overall female athlete of the year in 2008. Not much more you can ask out of a player than the effort Hernandez has given in West Lafayette.
OK, so diehard college fans know all about her, but my colleague's comment pointed toward the fact that despite being a two-time Big Ten player of the year, Hernandez' accomplishments have really gone underappreciated, thanks in part to some of the other people in the Class of 2009 that have grabbed headlines in the past four years. Here's a look at some of her stats:Year Starts Avg. Top 5s/10s % counted rds.
2005-06 12 74.2 5/6 92.1
2006-07 13 73.2 6/7 94.7
2007-08 11 71.9 5/7 96.8
2008-09 8 73.0 4/4 100
Career 44 73.14 20/24 95.4
Stop to appreciate that Hernandez' 11 career wins is the same number as Duke's Amanda Blumenherst. By year's end she's likely to be named first-team All-American for the third straight year (no Purdue player had ever earned the honor prior to Hernandez). Not only is she the Boilermakers' top golfer, but she was named the school's overall female athlete of the year in 2008. Not much more you can ask out of a player than the effort Hernandez has given in West Lafayette.
This week's syllabus: March 20-26
FAB FIVE
My look at the top five teams in the country right now
MEN
1. Georgia (Last week's syllabus: 1)
The Bulldogs still posted a third-place finish in Las Vegas last week despite a opening-round 303 that essential cost them any real chance of a win. Anybody else taking note that Brian Harman has top-10 finishes in his two spring starts? That can only bode well for UGa.
Next event: Linger Longer Invitational, Reynolds Landing, Greensboro, Ga., March 20-21
2. Oklahoma State (3)
Which Cowboy team really resides in Stillwater? The one that shot the 18-under 270 (while Rickie Fowler shot an 80 no less!!) in the second round of the Southern Highlands Collegiate or the one that sandwiched that number with a 291 and 295 in the first and third rounds? I'm leaning toward the former but we'll see this weekend in Georgia.
Next event: Linger Longer Invitational, Reynolds Landing, Greensboro, Ga., March 20-21
3. Stanford (2)
I'd make the Cardinal my clear favorite at the Match Play this week if not for the fact that they've been off for a month. That said, I still think they're the ones to watch at The Farms.
Next event: Callaway Match Play Championship, The Farms GC, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., March 22-24
4. USC (4)
Fifth-place showing against a stacked field in Las Vegas without Jamie (Hoop Dreams) Lovemark was a good sign that the team at least hasn't lost a lot of confidence without the 2007 NCAA champ in the line-up. Still, I'm sure they'd like to see him back and healthy.
Next event: Morris Williams Intercollegiate, University of Texas GC, Austin, Texas, March 30-31
5. Clemson (5)
Conversely, seventh-place finish in Las Vegas probably was a disappointment for the Tigers, who then had to watch their hoops team lose to Michigan in the first round of the NCAA basketball tourney. (Sorry, had to get a plug in for the Wolverines.)
Next event: Hootie at Bulls Bay, Bulls Bay GC, Awendaw, S.C., March 29-31
WOMEN
1. UCLA (1)
The biggest question I've got a for a team with five victories in its first seven tournaments is whether it's peaking too early. You don't get that impression with the Bruins, though, because arguably their best player (Tiffany Joh) actually isn't playing all that great. Scary, but there's still room to improve in Westwood.
Next event: Ping/ASU Invitational, Karsten Course at ASU, Tempe, Ariz., April 3-5
2. Arizona State (2)
The Sun Devils are playing without their Pac-10 pals when they tee it up in Texas. If they play they way they're capable of, they could make the tournament a little ugly.
Next event: Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational, University of Texas GC, Austin, Texas, March 20-22
3. USC (3)
I get the feeling that a couple weeks off might be good for the Trojans, who looked like they're getting closer to having everything starting to click but aren't there just yet.
Next event: Ping/ASU Invitational, Karsten Course at ASU, Tempe, Ariz., April 3-5
4. Oklahoma State (4)
Except for living in fear that any day one of the five Cowgirls might get hurt (a la Duke), you've got to be kind of excited for this group and their prospects in the next couple of weeks. No one really expects them to knock off this year's West Coast wonders, so they have nothing really to lose.
Next event: Liz Murphey Collegiate, University of Georgia GC, Athens, Ga., March 27-29
5. Virginia (NR)
Very nice victory at the LSU Classic, as the Cavaliers post a school-record eight-under 856 total. All I know is the ACC Championship is shaping up to be the most exciting conference tourney of them all this spring.
Next event: Liz Murphey Collegiate, University of Georgia GC, Athens, Ga., March 27-29
STAT OF THE WEEK
80.4
Stroke average of Duke junior Alison Whitaker in the five rounds she has actually played this spring.
I wrote a feature about the Duke women's roller-coaster year in this week's issue of Golf World. It goes over all the odd various problems that the Blue Devils have had to deal with this season (Dan Brooks' health scare, Mina Harigae's departure, Whitaker's bad back, Amanda Blumenherst's so-so season). You can make an argument that the Blumenherst struggles are actually the most pressing current concern for Duke, but I truly feel that come the post-season we're going to see the woman who has won three straight national player of the year awards perform at her best. It's the Whitaker injury, then in my opinion, that most jeopardizes Duke's streak of 13 straight ACC titles.
In reporting the story, what I couldn't figure out was why Brooks didn't just keep Whitaker at home one tournament and simply play with four players. Essentially they're playing with four anyways because when Whitaker has played this spring, she has the aforementioned scoring average, with not one round better than a 77. She has only counted twice for Duke's team total. In hanging out with her and the team at the UCF Challenge a couple weeks ago, despite her insistence that she was getting better, there wasn't really any evidence to back that up. Why not let her rest at home and hopefully come back stronger come the ACC Championship? Just a thought.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
* You don't ever not want to win a golf tournament, but the fact that the Georgia men did not bring home the title at the Southern Highlands Collegiate last weekend was probably a good thing for coach Chris Haack's team. The Bulldogs looked so strong in their win at Isleworth to close the fall, then picked up right where they left off with a nice victory at Puerto Rico to start the spring. Another victory might have actually created a situation where the country's top-ranked school might have started getting too confident with the post-season approaching. This all sounds a bit cliche, but I've seen a few programs in recent years start to look a bit invincible in the spring only to get their comeuppance in May and June (Georgia Tech, 2002; UCLA, 2004; Georgia, 2007). The hungrier Georgia is come SECs, regionals and nationals, the more likely the team will be to fulfill its promise.
* I asked Arizona State women's coach Melissa Luellen the other day about how it appeared from afar that freshman Carlota Ciganda's transition to the college game has gone as smoothly as anyone could have expected, what with the 18-year-old Spaniard posting a 72.33 average in three starts with no finish worse than T-14. Her response was interesting:
"I mean, I don't want this to sound caliver but Carlota hasn't even played good yet. We're just kind of waiting for her to bust out. She's just that good." Luellen noted how at the Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge, Ciganda was 0 for 9 in up and downs but still finished third. Then, at the last day of the Arizona Invitational in Mexico, she had four three-putts. "She's played a lot of good holes," Luellen continued, "but she hasn't played great golf yet. So it will be really fun when that shows up."
I mention all this because I think if not this weekend in Austin then at ASU's home event the first week of April, we're going to see Ciganda have that break-out tournament that Luellen is talking about. I'm not trying to put pressure on the young lady. I just think I agree with Luellen in that we haven't seen her absolutely best yet.
* As I mention below, I don't think I'd hold my breath to see the Mercer men pull out the victory at the Linger Longer Invitational. Still, the host Bears have made some impressive inroads in the past few seasons. Two years ago the program was ranked No. 164 by Golfstat. Entering this weekend's play, Mercer stands at 86th, its highest ranking in school history. Any even more promising stat for second-year coach Andrew Tredway is that the freshmen class (Devin Patel and Andres Pumariega) rates No. 13 in the country this season. There are plenty of strong college programs in the state of Peach State (Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Georgia Southern) and the Bears are looking like they should be counted among them.
TOURNAMENTS ON TAP
MEN
Desert Shootout
Palm Valley GC, Goodyear, Ariz. (Par 71, 7,015 yards)
March 19-21
Host: Denver
Field: Air Force, Boise State, Cleveland State, Coastal Carolina, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri State, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Southern Utah, Tulsa, Utah Valley
Defending champion: New event (Ron Moore Invitational, usually played in the spring, was held last September)
Skinny: OK, so I have one day's worth of results to help me, but I'm picking Denver to win.
Linger Longer Invitational
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Reynolds Landing, Greensboro, Ga.
March 20-21
Host: Mercer/Kennesaw State
Field: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Eastern Michigan, Francis Marion, Georgia, Kennesaw State, Mercer, New Orleans, Oklahoma State, Purdue, St. John's, Wichita State, Winthrop
Defending champion: Mississippi (eight-under 856) by five strokes over Georgia; Memphis' Robbie Greenwell (eight-under 208) by three strokes over Georgia State's Joel Sjoholm
Skinny: With all due respect to the other 11 teams in this field, the tournament is really a two-team event between the Bulldogs and Cowboys.
Chris Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Forest Heights CC, Statesboro, Ga.
March 20-22
Host: Georgia Southern
Field: Auburn, Augusta State, Florida, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Iowa, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, North Carolina, N.C. State, North Florida, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia
Defending champion: Alabama (15-under 849) by seven strokes over Florida; South Carolina's George Bryan IV (eight-under 208) by one stroke over Alabama's Michael Thompson
Skinny: Conversley, this year's Schenkel has some depth--five of the top 25 teams in the latest Golf World/Nike Golf coaches' poll.
Callaway Match Play Championship
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
The Farms GC, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
March 21-23
Host: GCAA
Field: Arizona State, Alabama, Charlotte, Chattanooga, Duke, Florida State, Indiana, Louisville, Middle Tennessee State, San Diego, San Diego State, Stanford, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UC Irvine, UCLA
Defending champion: New event
Skinny: For those following head-to-head records and the ".500 rule", teams will gets wins and losses based on how they do in the 36-hole qualifying for the match-play brackets.
National Invitational Tournament
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Omni Tucson National, Tucson, Ariz. (Par 72, 7,0094 yards)
March 22-23
Host: Arizona
Field: Arizona, Baylor, California, Colorado State, Houston, Kent State, New Mexico, SMU, TCU, Texas, Tulsa, UNLV, UTEP, Wyoming
Defending champion: TCU (10-under 854) by three strokes over Kent State; Tulsa's Nicholas Geyger (eight-under 208) in playoff over Houston's Ben Moser and Kent State's David Markle
Skinny: Beware the Runnin' Rebels ... they stole a win back home in Vegas at Southern Highlands and have a little bit of momentum.
Mobile Bay Intercollegiate
Magnolia Grove GC, Mobile, Ala.
March 22-24
Host: South Alabama
Field: Akron, Arkansas State, Hartford, Illinois State, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Mississippi State, New Mexico State, Richmond, USF, Southern Mississippi, UT Arlington, Toledo, Troy, Xavier
Defending champion: Louisville (nine-over 873) by four strokes over Chattanooga; Louisville's Adam Rainaud (one-under 215) by two strokes over South Alabama's Daniel Burns and Louisville's Derek Fathauer
Skinny: Event moved from Heron Lakes CC a year ago.
Oregon Duck Invitational
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Eugene CC, Eugene, Ore.
March 23-24
Host: Oregon
Field: UAB, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Oregon State, Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, St. Mary's (Calif.), UC Davis, Utah, Washington, Washington State
Defending champion: San Diego State (nine-over 873) by 11 strokes over Oregon and Oregon State; Pacific's T.J. Bordeaux (six-under 210) by five strokes over Oregon's Joey Benedetti
Skinny: Tournament, in its 21st year, returns to Eugene CC after a year's absence. Host Ducks haven't won the event since 2002.
WOMEN
Betsy Rawls Longhorn Intercollegiate
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
University of Texas GC, Austin, Texas
March 20-22
Host: Texas
Field: Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, UCF, Chattanooga, Duke, Florida State, Furman, New Mexico, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Purdue, South Carolina, Texas, Texas A&M, Tulsa, Vanderbilt
Defending champion: New Mexico (47-over 623) by one over Florida; Arkansas' Stacy Lewis (seven-over 151) by one stroke over Florida's Jessica Yadloczky
Skinny: UT hosted the tournament for the first time in 1974 and renamed it to honor Rawls in 1977. Four top-15 schools in the most recent Golf World/NGCA coaches' poll are in the field.
Oregon Duck Invitational
Shadow Hills CC, Junction City, Ore.
March 23-24
Host: Oregon
Field: Illinois, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, Oregon State, Portland, Portland State, San Francisco, UC Davis, UC Riverside, Washington State, Wisconsin
Defending champion: Oregon (36-over 900) by four strokes over UC Davis; Oregon's Kendra Little (two-under 214) by four strokes over Washington State's Amy Eneroth
Skinny: Last time the event was played at Shadow Hills (2007), San Francisco prevailed by three strokes over Washington State. This is its 15th season.
Sacramento State Invitational
Valley Hi CC, Sacramento, Calif.
March 23-24
Host: Sacramento State
Field: CSU Bakersfield, CSU Northridge, CSU San Marcos, Chico State, Montana State, North Dakota, Sacramento State, Santa Clara, UC Davis
Defending champion: Denver (12-over 876) by 24 strokes over Oregon; Washington State's Amy Eneroth (even-par 216) by one stroke over UC Davis' Alice Kim and Oregon's Cathryn Bristow
Skinny: Host Hornets have five top-10s in six tournament starts.
BYU Dixie Classic
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Entrada at Snow Canyon, St. George, Utah
March 24-25
Host: BYU
Field: BYU, Colorado State, Denver, Florida, Idaho State, New Mexico State, North Texas, Northern Arizona, San Diego State, Southern Utah, Texas State, Utah Valley, Washington, Weber State, Wyoming
Defending champion: BYU (25-over 889) by five strokes over Nebraska; BYU's Juli Wightman-Erekson (one-under 215) by seven strokes over three others
Skinny: Which doesn't belong and why? Only team from east of the Mississippi River in the field is Florida.
My look at the top five teams in the country right now
MEN
1. Georgia (Last week's syllabus: 1)The Bulldogs still posted a third-place finish in Las Vegas last week despite a opening-round 303 that essential cost them any real chance of a win. Anybody else taking note that Brian Harman has top-10 finishes in his two spring starts? That can only bode well for UGa.
Next event: Linger Longer Invitational, Reynolds Landing, Greensboro, Ga., March 20-21
2. Oklahoma State (3)Which Cowboy team really resides in Stillwater? The one that shot the 18-under 270 (while Rickie Fowler shot an 80 no less!!) in the second round of the Southern Highlands Collegiate or the one that sandwiched that number with a 291 and 295 in the first and third rounds? I'm leaning toward the former but we'll see this weekend in Georgia.
Next event: Linger Longer Invitational, Reynolds Landing, Greensboro, Ga., March 20-21
3. Stanford (2)I'd make the Cardinal my clear favorite at the Match Play this week if not for the fact that they've been off for a month. That said, I still think they're the ones to watch at The Farms.
Next event: Callaway Match Play Championship, The Farms GC, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., March 22-24
4. USC (4)Fifth-place showing against a stacked field in Las Vegas without Jamie (Hoop Dreams) Lovemark was a good sign that the team at least hasn't lost a lot of confidence without the 2007 NCAA champ in the line-up. Still, I'm sure they'd like to see him back and healthy.
Next event: Morris Williams Intercollegiate, University of Texas GC, Austin, Texas, March 30-31
5. Clemson (5)Conversely, seventh-place finish in Las Vegas probably was a disappointment for the Tigers, who then had to watch their hoops team lose to Michigan in the first round of the NCAA basketball tourney. (Sorry, had to get a plug in for the Wolverines.)
Next event: Hootie at Bulls Bay, Bulls Bay GC, Awendaw, S.C., March 29-31
WOMEN
1. UCLA (1)The biggest question I've got a for a team with five victories in its first seven tournaments is whether it's peaking too early. You don't get that impression with the Bruins, though, because arguably their best player (Tiffany Joh) actually isn't playing all that great. Scary, but there's still room to improve in Westwood.
Next event: Ping/ASU Invitational, Karsten Course at ASU, Tempe, Ariz., April 3-5
2. Arizona State (2)The Sun Devils are playing without their Pac-10 pals when they tee it up in Texas. If they play they way they're capable of, they could make the tournament a little ugly.
Next event: Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational, University of Texas GC, Austin, Texas, March 20-22
3. USC (3)I get the feeling that a couple weeks off might be good for the Trojans, who looked like they're getting closer to having everything starting to click but aren't there just yet.
Next event: Ping/ASU Invitational, Karsten Course at ASU, Tempe, Ariz., April 3-5
4. Oklahoma State (4)Except for living in fear that any day one of the five Cowgirls might get hurt (a la Duke), you've got to be kind of excited for this group and their prospects in the next couple of weeks. No one really expects them to knock off this year's West Coast wonders, so they have nothing really to lose.
Next event: Liz Murphey Collegiate, University of Georgia GC, Athens, Ga., March 27-29
5. Virginia (NR)Very nice victory at the LSU Classic, as the Cavaliers post a school-record eight-under 856 total. All I know is the ACC Championship is shaping up to be the most exciting conference tourney of them all this spring.
Next event: Liz Murphey Collegiate, University of Georgia GC, Athens, Ga., March 27-29
STAT OF THE WEEK
80.4
Stroke average of Duke junior Alison Whitaker in the five rounds she has actually played this spring.
I wrote a feature about the Duke women's roller-coaster year in this week's issue of Golf World. It goes over all the odd various problems that the Blue Devils have had to deal with this season (Dan Brooks' health scare, Mina Harigae's departure, Whitaker's bad back, Amanda Blumenherst's so-so season). You can make an argument that the Blumenherst struggles are actually the most pressing current concern for Duke, but I truly feel that come the post-season we're going to see the woman who has won three straight national player of the year awards perform at her best. It's the Whitaker injury, then in my opinion, that most jeopardizes Duke's streak of 13 straight ACC titles. In reporting the story, what I couldn't figure out was why Brooks didn't just keep Whitaker at home one tournament and simply play with four players. Essentially they're playing with four anyways because when Whitaker has played this spring, she has the aforementioned scoring average, with not one round better than a 77. She has only counted twice for Duke's team total. In hanging out with her and the team at the UCF Challenge a couple weeks ago, despite her insistence that she was getting better, there wasn't really any evidence to back that up. Why not let her rest at home and hopefully come back stronger come the ACC Championship? Just a thought.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
* You don't ever not want to win a golf tournament, but the fact that the Georgia men did not bring home the title at the Southern Highlands Collegiate last weekend was probably a good thing for coach Chris Haack's team. The Bulldogs looked so strong in their win at Isleworth to close the fall, then picked up right where they left off with a nice victory at Puerto Rico to start the spring. Another victory might have actually created a situation where the country's top-ranked school might have started getting too confident with the post-season approaching. This all sounds a bit cliche, but I've seen a few programs in recent years start to look a bit invincible in the spring only to get their comeuppance in May and June (Georgia Tech, 2002; UCLA, 2004; Georgia, 2007). The hungrier Georgia is come SECs, regionals and nationals, the more likely the team will be to fulfill its promise.
* I asked Arizona State women's coach Melissa Luellen the other day about how it appeared from afar that freshman Carlota Ciganda's transition to the college game has gone as smoothly as anyone could have expected, what with the 18-year-old Spaniard posting a 72.33 average in three starts with no finish worse than T-14. Her response was interesting:
"I mean, I don't want this to sound caliver but Carlota hasn't even played good yet. We're just kind of waiting for her to bust out. She's just that good." Luellen noted how at the Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge, Ciganda was 0 for 9 in up and downs but still finished third. Then, at the last day of the Arizona Invitational in Mexico, she had four three-putts. "She's played a lot of good holes," Luellen continued, "but she hasn't played great golf yet. So it will be really fun when that shows up."
I mention all this because I think if not this weekend in Austin then at ASU's home event the first week of April, we're going to see Ciganda have that break-out tournament that Luellen is talking about. I'm not trying to put pressure on the young lady. I just think I agree with Luellen in that we haven't seen her absolutely best yet.
* As I mention below, I don't think I'd hold my breath to see the Mercer men pull out the victory at the Linger Longer Invitational. Still, the host Bears have made some impressive inroads in the past few seasons. Two years ago the program was ranked No. 164 by Golfstat. Entering this weekend's play, Mercer stands at 86th, its highest ranking in school history. Any even more promising stat for second-year coach Andrew Tredway is that the freshmen class (Devin Patel and Andres Pumariega) rates No. 13 in the country this season. There are plenty of strong college programs in the state of Peach State (Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State, Georgia Southern) and the Bears are looking like they should be counted among them.
TOURNAMENTS ON TAP
MEN
Desert Shootout
Palm Valley GC, Goodyear, Ariz. (Par 71, 7,015 yards)
March 19-21
Host: Denver
Field: Air Force, Boise State, Cleveland State, Coastal Carolina, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri State, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Southern Utah, Tulsa, Utah Valley
Defending champion: New event (Ron Moore Invitational, usually played in the spring, was held last September)
Skinny: OK, so I have one day's worth of results to help me, but I'm picking Denver to win.
Linger Longer Invitational
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Reynolds Landing, Greensboro, Ga.
March 20-21
Host: Mercer/Kennesaw State
Field: Cincinnati, Connecticut, Eastern Michigan, Francis Marion, Georgia, Kennesaw State, Mercer, New Orleans, Oklahoma State, Purdue, St. John's, Wichita State, Winthrop
Defending champion: Mississippi (eight-under 856) by five strokes over Georgia; Memphis' Robbie Greenwell (eight-under 208) by three strokes over Georgia State's Joel Sjoholm
Skinny: With all due respect to the other 11 teams in this field, the tournament is really a two-team event between the Bulldogs and Cowboys.
Chris Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Forest Heights CC, Statesboro, Ga.
March 20-22
Host: Georgia Southern
Field: Auburn, Augusta State, Florida, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Iowa, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, North Carolina, N.C. State, North Florida, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia
Defending champion: Alabama (15-under 849) by seven strokes over Florida; South Carolina's George Bryan IV (eight-under 208) by one stroke over Alabama's Michael Thompson
Skinny: Conversley, this year's Schenkel has some depth--five of the top 25 teams in the latest Golf World/Nike Golf coaches' poll.
Callaway Match Play Championship
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
The Farms GC, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
March 21-23
Host: GCAA
Field: Arizona State, Alabama, Charlotte, Chattanooga, Duke, Florida State, Indiana, Louisville, Middle Tennessee State, San Diego, San Diego State, Stanford, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UC Irvine, UCLA
Defending champion: New event
Skinny: For those following head-to-head records and the ".500 rule", teams will gets wins and losses based on how they do in the 36-hole qualifying for the match-play brackets.
National Invitational Tournament
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Omni Tucson National, Tucson, Ariz. (Par 72, 7,0094 yards)
March 22-23
Host: Arizona
Field: Arizona, Baylor, California, Colorado State, Houston, Kent State, New Mexico, SMU, TCU, Texas, Tulsa, UNLV, UTEP, Wyoming
Defending champion: TCU (10-under 854) by three strokes over Kent State; Tulsa's Nicholas Geyger (eight-under 208) in playoff over Houston's Ben Moser and Kent State's David Markle
Skinny: Beware the Runnin' Rebels ... they stole a win back home in Vegas at Southern Highlands and have a little bit of momentum.
Mobile Bay Intercollegiate
Magnolia Grove GC, Mobile, Ala.
March 22-24
Host: South Alabama
Field: Akron, Arkansas State, Hartford, Illinois State, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Mississippi State, New Mexico State, Richmond, USF, Southern Mississippi, UT Arlington, Toledo, Troy, Xavier
Defending champion: Louisville (nine-over 873) by four strokes over Chattanooga; Louisville's Adam Rainaud (one-under 215) by two strokes over South Alabama's Daniel Burns and Louisville's Derek Fathauer
Skinny: Event moved from Heron Lakes CC a year ago.
Oregon Duck Invitational
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Eugene CC, Eugene, Ore.
March 23-24
Host: Oregon
Field: UAB, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Oregon State, Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, St. Mary's (Calif.), UC Davis, Utah, Washington, Washington State
Defending champion: San Diego State (nine-over 873) by 11 strokes over Oregon and Oregon State; Pacific's T.J. Bordeaux (six-under 210) by five strokes over Oregon's Joey Benedetti
Skinny: Tournament, in its 21st year, returns to Eugene CC after a year's absence. Host Ducks haven't won the event since 2002.
WOMEN
Betsy Rawls Longhorn Intercollegiate
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
University of Texas GC, Austin, Texas
March 20-22
Host: Texas
Field: Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, UCF, Chattanooga, Duke, Florida State, Furman, New Mexico, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Purdue, South Carolina, Texas, Texas A&M, Tulsa, Vanderbilt
Defending champion: New Mexico (47-over 623) by one over Florida; Arkansas' Stacy Lewis (seven-over 151) by one stroke over Florida's Jessica Yadloczky
Skinny: UT hosted the tournament for the first time in 1974 and renamed it to honor Rawls in 1977. Four top-15 schools in the most recent Golf World/NGCA coaches' poll are in the field.
Oregon Duck Invitational
Shadow Hills CC, Junction City, Ore.
March 23-24
Host: Oregon
Field: Illinois, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, Oregon State, Portland, Portland State, San Francisco, UC Davis, UC Riverside, Washington State, Wisconsin
Defending champion: Oregon (36-over 900) by four strokes over UC Davis; Oregon's Kendra Little (two-under 214) by four strokes over Washington State's Amy Eneroth
Skinny: Last time the event was played at Shadow Hills (2007), San Francisco prevailed by three strokes over Washington State. This is its 15th season.
Sacramento State Invitational
Valley Hi CC, Sacramento, Calif.
March 23-24
Host: Sacramento State
Field: CSU Bakersfield, CSU Northridge, CSU San Marcos, Chico State, Montana State, North Dakota, Sacramento State, Santa Clara, UC Davis
Defending champion: Denver (12-over 876) by 24 strokes over Oregon; Washington State's Amy Eneroth (even-par 216) by one stroke over UC Davis' Alice Kim and Oregon's Cathryn Bristow
Skinny: Host Hornets have five top-10s in six tournament starts.
BYU Dixie Classic
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Entrada at Snow Canyon, St. George, Utah
March 24-25
Host: BYU
Field: BYU, Colorado State, Denver, Florida, Idaho State, New Mexico State, North Texas, Northern Arizona, San Diego State, Southern Utah, Texas State, Utah Valley, Washington, Weber State, Wyoming
Defending champion: BYU (25-over 889) by five strokes over Nebraska; BYU's Juli Wightman-Erekson (one-under 215) by seven strokes over three others
Skinny: Which doesn't belong and why? Only team from east of the Mississippi River in the field is Florida.
UNC picks Jan Mann as new women's coach
I was a bit surprised when I saw former North Carolina All-American Ashley Prange, rumored to be interested in replacing the retiring Sally Austin as the Tar Heel women's coach at season's end, in attendance last week at the UCF Challenge near Orlando. Coincidence? Perhaps, although given how far away Red Tail GC seemed like it was from civilization, I don't think she just happened to be in the neighborhood.
If she was there to help in any last minute lobbying for the job, her efforts went for naught. North Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour announced today that veteran coach Jan Mann had been selected for the position and will take over the program officially July 1.
Mann had served as the women's coach at UNC Wilmington from 1994 to 2002 before becoming the first coach for the newly created Virginia women's program. In four seasons in Charlottesville, her teams went to NCAA regionals three times and to the NCAA Championship in 2005.
"Jan is a proven head coach who did an outstanding job at building a fine program of student-athletes at Virginia and, before that, UNC Wilmington," Baddour said. "She has tremendous respect among her peers for her leadership ability and for her contribution to women's golf."
The choice of Mann is a surprise only in that when she stepped down from the UVa program in 2007 she appeared excited to get to spend more time with her four grandchildren, something that had become more and more of a challenge as the rigors of recruiting and overseeing a program increased. Apparently Chapel Hill's proximity to family and friends made this coaching job, in particular, appealing.
The irony of Mann being picked as the third person to coach the UNC women's golf team (succeeding Dot Gunnells, who coached from 1975 to 1993, and Austin) is that the woman who replaced her when she stepped down at Virginia, Kim Lewellen, is a former UNC player who many suspected might be lured back to Chapel Hill. To protect against losing their new coach, UVa athletic department officials recently signed Lewellen to a multi-year contract extension.
This week's syllabus: March 13-19
FAB FIVE
My look at the top five teams in the country right now
MEN
1. Georgia (Last week's syllabus: 1)
The Bulldogs were already riding a three-tournament win streak heading into Las Vegas, but gained even more momentum with a 5-0 sweep of Texas Tech in a one-day match-play event back in Athens earlier this week.
Next event: Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship, Southern Highlands GC, Las Vegas, March 13-15
2. Stanford (2)
While no Cardinal player has a stroke average lower than 72.5, five golfers (Steve Ziegler, Sihwan Kim, David Chung, Joseph Bramlett and Jordan Cox) have carded top-10 finishes.
Next event: Callaway Match Play Championship, The Farms GC, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., March 22-24
3. Oklahoma State (3)
The Cowboys continue to rotate players in the No. 5 spot in the line-up. This week in Las Vegas, redshirt freshman Bernhard Neumann gets the nod. Meanwhile, two-time AJGA player of the year Peter Uihlein has still played just one tournament for OSU so far in his freshman season.
Next event: Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship, Southern Highlands GC, Las Vegas, March 13-15
4. USC (4)
If all goes well, Las Vegas should be the last event that Jamie Lovemark will miss with his broken finger. Freshman Steve Lim, who's playing well back at home, takes his spot at Southern Highlands.
Next event: Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship, Southern Highlands GC, Las Vegas, March 13-15
5. Clemson (NR)
The Tigers had competed in UNLV's tournament for 19 straight years before missing the 2008 event. Their best finish? Third place in 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2004. Same line-up that finished second at Puerto RIco travels to Nevada.
Next event: Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship, Southern Highlands GC, Las Vegas, March 13-15
WOMEN
1. UCLA (1)
Every week it's a new Bruin that shines. At the UCF Challenge, it was freshman Stephanie Kono, who shot a final-round 66 to lift UCLA past ASU as well as claim medalist honors.
Next event: Ping/ASU Invitational, Karsten Course at ASU, Tempe, Ariz., April 3-5
2. Arizona State (2)
A T-10 finish from Azahara Munoz in her return to action at the UCF Challenge bodes well for the Sun Devils in the long run. Best thing for ASU fans? Munoz thinks she should have done better.
Next event: Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational, University of Texas GC, Austin, Texas, March 19-21
3. USC (3)
After shooting a course-record 65 at Red Tail GC, junior Belen Mozo only could muster a 74 in the final round of the UCF Challenge. Still, after struggled with her putting throughout the spring, the Spaniard's confidence is rising.
Next event: Ping/ASU Invitational, Karsten Course at ASU, Tempe, Ariz., April 3-5
4. Oklahoma State (NR)
In just their second start under new coach Annie Young, the Cowgirls hung tough while in the final group with UCLA and Arizona State at the UCF Challenge, eventually finishing in third place. That's five top-fives in six starts for OSU.
Next event: Liz Murphey Collegiate, University of Georgia GC, Athens, Ga., March 27-29
5. Wake Forest (4)
A month after opening their spring season with a runner-up finish at the Northrup Grumman, the Demon Deacons anxiously return to action this weekend in Louisiana. Coach Dianne Dailey says the strong showing in California only made the players work harder in practice.
Next event: LSU Golf Classic, University Club, Baton Rouge, La., March 13-15
STAT OF THE WEEK
7
The number of hours it reportedly took for some players to finish their rounds at the Ron Smith/USF Invitational last weekend at Lake Jovita. I kind of chuckle sometimes at how often my counterparts at Golfweek bang the drum about the problems of slow play in college golf, but the news out of Dade City, Fla., was so ridiculous that it's time they get somebody else to join their cause. Enough is enough fellas (and ladies too) ... it's time to pick up the pace.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
* Conspicuous by her absence at the UCF Challenge was UCLA senior Tiffany Joh, who despite being ranked 24th in the country by Golfstat failed to qualify for the Bruins' starting five that traveled to Red Tail GC outside Orlando and beat Arizona State by seven strokes for their fifth win of the season. "She's been fighting [her swing] a little bit," said Bruin coach Carrie Forsyth. Needless to say, those aren't the words you want to hear about your go-to senior captain.
Joh will miss UCLA's next tournament, the Ping/ASU Invitational, since she'll be playing at the Kraft Nabisco Championship that weekend. I'd be shocked, however, if you don't see her wearing Bruin Blue at the Pac-10 Championship in April and the rest of the postseason. Joh's got too much experience--and too much talent--not to be in the starting line-up during crunch time. I'd be similarly shocked if she didn't find her way up near the top of the leader board in each of the events that will close out her impressive career.
TOURNAMENTS ON TAP
MEN
Southern Highlands Collegiate
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Southern Highlands GC, Las Vegas (Par 72, 7,510 yards)
March 13-15
Host: UNLV
Field: Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, California, Charlotte, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, UNLV, USC
Defending champion: UNLV (five-over 869) by two strokes over Charlotte; USC's Rory Hie (three-under 213) in a playoff with Georgia's Hudson Swafford and Charlotte's Jonas Enander Hedin
Skinny: The tournament continues its tradition of having a standout field, including six of the top-10 teams in the latest Golf World/Nike Golf coaches' poll and 11 of the top 25.
Border Olympics
Laredo CC, Laredo, Texas (Par 72, 7,241 yards)
March 14-15
Host: Houston
Field: Arkansas, UALR, Baylor, Houston, Houston Baptist, Lamar, Louisville, New Mexico State, New Orleans, North Texas, Notre Dame, Rice, UT-Arlington, Texas State, Vanderbilt, Washington State
Defending champion: Arkansas (three-over 867) by five strokes over Lamar; Baylor's Colton Williams (nine-under 207) by seven strokes over Arkansas' Andrew Landry and UTEP's Roger Sloan
Skinny: If you like the hot hand, consider taking the Vanderbilt Commodores, who eeked out a one-stroke win at the Seminole Intercollegiate when Golf World Player of the Week Ryan Haselden made an eagle on the final hole.
Pinehurst Intercollegiate
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Pinehurst Resort (No. 8), Pinehurst, N.C.
March 15-17
Host: East Carolina
Field: Ball State, Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Marquette, Marhshall, Miami (OH), Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, Old Dominion, Penn State, Radford, Southern Mississippi, Toledo, VCU, Virginia Tech, Western Illinois, Wichita State
Defending champion: Indiana (one-over 865) by 24 strokes over Eastern Kentucky; Indiana's Seth Brandon (even-par 216) by one stroke over three others
Skinny: The folks in the Carolina sand hills can only hope that bad weather won't canceled this men's tournament like it did the women's Pinehurst event two weeks ago.
Barona Collegiate Cup
Barona Creek GC, Lakeside, Calif.
March 16-17
Host: San Diego State
Defending champion: Texas A&M (37-under 837) by 20 strokes over San Diego State; Texas A&M's Ignacio Elvira (12-under 204) by three strokes over Texas A&M's Andrea Pavan and San Diego State's David Palm
WOMEN
LSU Golf Classic
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
University Club, Baton Rouge, La.
March 13-15
Host: LSU
Field: Arkansas, College of Charleston, Colorado, Furman, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, North Carolina, N.C. State, UNC Wilmington, Notre Dame, South Carolina, TCU, Tulane, Virginia, Wake Forest
Defending champion: Florida State (20-over 884) by six strokes over LSU; Florida State's Caroline Westrup (eight-under 208) by four strokes over N.C. State's Lauren Doughtie
Skinny: The tournament is being held for the 28th year. Team scores between eight and 15 over have won the event three of the past four years. The last five individual winners, meanwhile, have shot under par for 54 holes.
Baylor Spring Invitational
(For live scoring, link here to Golfstat)
Twin Rivers GC, Waco, Texas (Par 72, 6,347 yards)
March 16-17
Host: Baylor
Field: Baylor, Colorado State, Illinois State, Iowa, Iowa State, McLennan CC, Missouri State, New Mexico State, North Texas SMU, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, UT-Pan American, UT-San Antonio, Wichita State
Defending champion: New event
Skinny: The Bears are hosting their first regular-season tournament in Waco since 2000
Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational
Kaneohe Klipper GC, Honolulu (Par 72, 5,907 yards)
March 16-18
Host: Hawaii
Field: Boise State, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas State, Lipsomb, Nevada, Northern Colorado, Texas A&M, UTEP
Defending champion: Oklahoma State (16-over 880) by 13 strokes over Arizona; Arizona's Alison Walshe (three-under 213) by five strokes over Oklahoma State's Pernilla Lindberg
Skinny: Field also includes two Japanese schools (Nagoya and Osaka Gakuin)
A rule Florida's Jessica Yadloczky won't soon forget
SORRENTO, FLA.--I'm not a betting man, but if I was I'd wager anyone an all-expenses paid trip to Bandon Dunes that Florida's Jessica Yadloczky will never forget Rule 18 for the rest of her life.
The sophomore from Caselberry, Fla., finished second yesterday at the UCF Challenge, one stroke behind UCLA freshman Stephanie Kono. During Sunday's opening round, however, Yadloczky received two penalty strokes on her second to last hole, Red Tail GC's par-4 eighth. Looking at a 40-foot birdie try, she put a mark behind her ball on the green as she tried to read the line of her putt, but didn't actually pick up her ball. In turn, a gust of wind proceeded to move the ball. Rather than play it from its new spot, Yadloczky picked up the ball and returned it to where her mark was, incurring a one-stoke penalty for moving her ball. When she putted, she got another one-stroke penalty for playing from the wrong spot (the Rules of Golf don't consider wind to be an outside agency, thus you are to play the ball as it lies rather than return the ball to its original position).
"I didn't think anything of it," said Yadloczky, who should have posted a course-record 64 but had to settle for a 66. "I thought you just replaced the ball where the mark was."
Not to pick on Yadloczky--who still broke her 54-hole career collegiate best by seven shots--but it's always a surprise when a player of her caliber (first-team All-SEC in 2008) isn't aware of a relatively common rule. Particularly too when her Gator coach, Jill Briles-Hinton, is among the best in the business at keeping her players on their toes regarding the rules of golf.
It looked like Yadloczky's mistake might be lost to posterity as she held a share of the lead even after shooting a final-round 73 for her seven-under 209 total. But Kono, who started the day in 12th place, made four birdies over the final seven holes, to shoot a 66 and steal away the title.
Kono's efforts also helped propel the Bruins to the team title, as UCLA shot a final-round 281 to easily make up its one-shot deficit on Arizona State entering the round and ultimately beat the Sun Devils by seven strokes.
Many happy returns for ASU
SORRENTO, FLA.--You couldn't get rid of the smile on the face of Arizona State senior Azahara Munoz as she walked around the practice range at Red Tail GC, preparing to play for the top-ranked Sun Devils in the UCF Challenge. While having only missed two tournaments this spring following surgery Jan. 22 to remove a cyst from her right wrist, the defending NCAA individual champion hadn't played in an event since the end of October, the longest stretch of time off from the game since she began playing in earnest.
"Originally, they thought it was only going to be four weeks, but it turned into six," Munoz said, the impatience in her voice rather obvious. "It's my last semester. I just don't want to miss anything."
The wrist remains sore, and Munoz continues to undergo ultrasound treatments to help regain mobility that has been inhibited by scar tissue. Still, except for the ice bag she carried after the round you wouldn't have noticed anything was amiss Sunday, the 21-year-old Spaniard posting an even-par 72 to place T-23 after 18 holes, six strokes back of leader Jessica Yadloczky of Florida. (In the team competition, UCLA's six-under 282 gave the Bruins a two-stroke lead over ASU through Day 1.)
"The last two weeks she's really made a lot of improvement," said ASU coach Melissa Luellen, Munoz' practice regime finally including full swings within the last 10 days. "She knows she can play through some of the pain. But it broke her heart not to travel to Mexico [for last week's Arizona Wildcat Invitational]."
It wasn't just her own return that Munoz was happy about. Accompanying the Sun Devils to Florida was Missy Farr-Kaye, the team's associate head coach who was traveling to her first tournament of the 2008-09 season after undergoing treatment last fall for a recurrence of breast cancer.
"The hair is coming back, although I've still got to wear a cap," Farr-Kaye said with a laugh, two weeks removed from having finished seven weeks of radiation therapy.
Farr-Kaye had first been diagnosed with cancer in 1998. Her sister, former ASU All-American Heather Farr, died from the disease in 1993.
"I'm not 100 percent just yet, but I'm feeling much better," Farr-Kaye said. "I'm very optimistic about the future."
Campus Insider continues
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