Updated Golfstat rankings came out yesterday. TCU men end the fall ranked 34th; women 31st. I'd say that exceeds expectations on both sides.
The men improved in each of their four events. The strong home-game outcome at Colonial propped up the Frogs in the rankings, but the performance at the Big 12 Match Play backed it up. (I'm still not sure if
Golfstat uses match-play results in its rankings model, which would have to make an estimation of stroke differential.) But given the loss of its highest-ranked player to the pros, TCU men get a big attaboy for their vast improvement over last year's performance.
The women got a deserved bump from their strong performance in Cabo. Lois Lau's consistently strong play has been key. She, Caitlyn Macnab, and Sofia Barroso Sá stack up against the top three of almost any school. The re-emergence of Trinity King as a player who can post a subpar score enables the Frogs to show flashes of greatness.
National signing day is a week from today. It will be
very interesting to see the golf signings given the number of seniors on the men's side, the non-renewal of Coach Montigel's contract, and silence from the AD's office about TCU's financial commitment to golf. Quality of signees may signal if something is happening behind the scenes.
Speaking of Coach M, congrats to him on being named to the Golf Coaches Association of America hall of fame yesterday. A well-deserved accolade; not many coaches in any sport can boast 8 conference titles and 7 coach of the year honors.