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TCU Golf

JogginFrog

Active Member
Was DeChambeau the reason the SMU golf team got probation?

Not really. Most of the NCAA-cited illegal contact with recruits came the summer after DeChambeau graduated from high school and related to the rising senior high-school class. It also involved a few hundred dollars in free/discounted merchandise and apparel to current players, which might have included DeChambeau.

The SMU golf coach, Josh Gregory, who had previously recruited Patrick Reed to Augusta State and won two national championships there, admitted to knowing and breaking the rules intentionally. Guy played fast and loose to go after top recruits but there was little financial value to players in what the NCAA turned up.

The probation hurt DeChambeau's amateur career, as he was prevented from defending his individual NCAA title and, deciding to turn pro early, forfeited his exemptions (as U.S. Amateur champion) into the next summer's U.S. and British opens. He then failed to gain full-time tour status through exemptions and had to go through the Web.com tour.

DeChambeau's mistake was trusting in a successful coach willing to chase every advantage, within and beyond the rules.

Gregory now is a golf teacher to pros, including Reed, but DeChambeau is, understandably, not a client.

SMU web site indicates that DeChambeau earned his physics degree but I couldn't turn up a specific story about his finishing after leaving school early.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Congrats to Angela Stanford on her T4 finish in at the Meijer LPGA in Grand Rapids yesterday. I'd tell you more, but lpga.com is down this a.m.

Edit: Angela made three front-nine birdies to get to -18 and was in the mix as the third-round leaders faded. Bogeys at 15 & 18 sandwiched around a birdie at 16 kept her from a runner-up finish. But that is Angela's second top-10 finish after four missed cuts in a row, so great to see her playing well and putting well again.
 
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JogginFrog

Active Member
How hard is it to make it in golf's minor leagues? Hard.

Paul Barjon's last eight rounds on the Mackenzie (Canadian) Tour, the PGA Tour's third-tier tour: 67-68-68-69-69-69-68-67. His total winnings from the resulting T15 and T14 finishes: 6,700 CAD, or just a tick above $5,000 USD.

Chelso Barrett matched Barjon's first-round score in each of the past two tourneys but over-par second rounds resulted in missed cuts.

Here's hoping they keep fighting the good fight, like Brooks Koepka did in Asia and elsewhere for a few years.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Tom Hoge is on fire at the Greenbrier. At -5 through 15 holes, he's one shot out of the first-round lead. Follow scores here.

Meanwhile, rising senior Stefano Mazzoli, who received honorable-mention All-America honors last month, tees it up for the International squad tomorrow in the Arnold Palmer Cup in France. Follow progress here or on Golf Channel.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Hoge finished at -4 but J.J. Henry did him one better with a 5-under 65. Both in the top 10 after round 1.

Mazzoli is one down in his match in France with 4 to play.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Henry dropped back a bit today with an even-par round of 70, but Hoge had continued his attack. He is now T4 at -10 through 13 holes; two back of co-leaders Simpson and Lahiri, who have finished their rounds.

PGA Tour Radio just mentioned Hoge and Henry as being proud TCU alumni.

(And yes, I just admitted to listening to golf on radio. But y'all suspected that anyway.)
 

Mean Purple

Active Member
Henry dropped back a bit today with an even-par round of 70, but Hoge had continued his attack. He is now T4 at -10 through 13 holes; two back of co-leaders Simpson and Lahiri, who have finished their rounds.

PGA Tour Radio just mentioned Hoge and Henry as being proud TCU alumni.

(And yes, I just admitted to listening to golf on radio. But y'all suspected that anyway.)
Joggin,
I listen to that channel all the time.

And thanks for the updates. I was wondering how they were doing. It was cool to see the interview with JJ last night.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Stefano Mazzoli had a very good day at the Arnold Palmer Cup in Evian France.

First, he spent the day in Evian, France.

Second, in the a.m. mixed fourball round, he and partner Dewi Weber (U Miami, ranked 28th among college women) knocked off #1 Collin Morikawa and #3 Andrea Lee. Tight match, with neither team more than 1 up at any point. Stefano and his partner won the last two holes to win 1 up. Their -4 round was the second-best in relation to par of the 24 teams playing.

Third, in afternoon fourball, 42nd-ranked Mazzoli teamed with #15 Lorenzo Scalise (Tennessee) to beat #3 Matthew Wolf (Ok St.) and 2017 NCAA champ Braden Thornberry (Ole Miss), 4&3. The Italians were a scorching -11 through 15 holes, best in relation to par among 24 teams.

Beating two of the top-three men, plus last year's national champ on the same day = a very good day.
 
I knew Kelly Kraft's caddie when he was a kid in Denton. His dad and I played on a men's baseball team for a couple years. He could be a little [ Finebaum ] at times but he was pretty dang funny for a little kid. Always good to see him get some air time even if Kraft went to SMEW.
 
Btw, Harold Varner III is in the final pairing for tomorrow. If you don't know who he is, I recommend you learn more about him. I don't know if he'll ever progress to being one of the game's best but he will have a huge hand in maintaining the the popularity of golf in the next 5-10 years. I'm pulling for him.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Mazzoli didn't have as much luck vs. Collin Morikawa today in singles as he did yesterday, but finishes 2-2 for the weekend; not bad given that the Americans nearly doubled up on the Internationals in total points.

His match yesterday afternoon with Scalise vs. Wolf/Thornberry was featured in this video:
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
A little late with this, but big congrats to rising TCU senior Hayden Springer on winning the 115th Trans-Mississippi Amateur Championship last weekend at Brookside Golf & Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.

Springer aced the 16th hole to grab the lead, then parred the last two for a one-shot win. The last four winners of the tournament have included Bryson DeChambeau, NCAA #1 Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris, and last week's web.com tourney winner Cameron Champ.

Full story here:
https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/4414936774703331064
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Other summer updates on current Frog men:

Incoming freshman Caden Christopherson birdied the last hole to win the Arizona State Junior Golf Championship at Talking Rock in Prescott:
https://jgaa.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/jgaa18/event/jgaa1818/contest/9/leaderboard.htm

At least five Frogs played in the British Amateur Championship, with top 64 of 288 entrants advancing to match play. David Ravetto and Stefano Mazzoli were the two who advanced, each bowing out in the Round of 64.
https://www.randa.org/Championships...p/SP-Results#/competition/1340841/leaderboard

Mazzoli followed that up with a T16 finish at the European Amateur Championship. Incoming freshman Alejandro Aguilera also made the cut in the elite-field event, finishing T54.
https://www.wagr.com/events/european-amateur-championship-44566

Edit: Christopherson is not listed on the current TCU roster. He was a Spring commit; thinking he may be a 2019 freshman.
 
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