TCU Golf 2018-2019

[JogginFrog]

TCU women will be on the course beginning at 7:30 for the Norman NCAA regional. The sixth-seeded Frogs will be playing with fourth and fifth seeds Arizona State and host Oklahoma.

Sabrina Iqbal will be playing alongside ASU's Olivia Mehaffey, who is in the top 20 of the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

Follow progress here: http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=17530

 

[Rose Bowl]

The girls shot +6 and are 13th 10 shots back. Will need to be way better the next two days if we want to move on to the championship round.

 

[gohornedfrogs]

Star-Telegram does a story on Springer's win, his first collegiate title:
https://www.star-telegram.com/sports/college/big-12/texas-christian-university/article229785954.html

Also, the Big 12 does a short interview with Hayden after interviewing the OSU coach. This video offers a good look at Hayden's swing. He has a quiet shoulder turn through impact, which probably sacrifices a little distance to gain accuracy. But he's a big guy, so he still generates plenty of speed.

Good observation on Springer’s swing mechanics. It’s a little different, but it appears to help him square up at impact.

I’m more interested to see if Hovland’s swing can handle golf at the PGA Tour level. Furyk, Bubba Watson, Ryan Moore, Miller Barber and a few others over the years were able to “own” unique moves like Hovland — but they were exceptions to the rule. He’ll have a lot of people try to convince him to change as soon as things go a little south.

 

[JogginFrog]

The TCU women have work to do after the first round of the Norman regional. The 6-seeded Frogs are in 13th place after round 1 of 3, which sounds terrible (only 6 teams advance), but the course (Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club) didn't produce a lot of separation among teams, and the Frogs are only 10 shots out of first.

In fact, the difference between TCU and 2nd-ranked UT (T3 at -1) was one hole, the 9th, which the Longhorns played in -5 (with a pair of hole-out eagles) and the Frogs played in +2.

A +6 team score is not unusual for this team (every player was within a shot or two of their season average), but they'll need to do better to advance--too many good teams.

On the plus side is Greta Bruner's individual play. In a field with 22 top-100 players, she is T6 at -2. She has been very good nearly all year, but she had a couple of shaky rounds late and is playing in the 3 slot this week. Great to see her have a good round.

Sabrina Iqbal had a typical solid round and is at even par (T24). If she finishes -2 or better this week, her scoring average will drop below Emmy Martin's school-record single-season scoring mark (72.9).

-4 Florida
-3 NC State
-1 Texas Tech
-1 Texas
-1 Ole Miss
+1 Mississippi State
+2 Purdue
+2 Arizona State
+3 Wake Forest
+3 Virginia Tech
+5 Texas A&M
+5 Oklahoma
+6 TCU
5 others at +11 or worse

 

[JogginFrog]

Good observation on Springer’s swing mechanics. It’s a little different, but it appears to help him square up at impact.

I’m more interested to see if Hovland’s swing can handle golf at the PGA Tour level. Furyk, Bubba Watson, Ryan Moore, Miller Barber and a few others over the years were able to “own” unique moves like Hovland — but they were exceptions to the rule. He’ll have a lot of people try to convince him to change as soon as things go a little south.

Were thinking of OSU teammate Matthew Wolff's swing rather than Hovland's? Wolff's swing coach is non-conformist power guru George Gankas, who has encouraged him not to change it. I like Wolff's strange move. Seems very repeatable; I only wonder how well it works in terms of precision wedge play.

 

[JogginFrog]

Another day with 3 good scores and 2 not-so-good scores for the Frogs in Norman. Unfortunately, four scores count. TCU is +14 (+12 on the fourth card), which has them in 12th place, 9 shots out of qualifying.

A final-day comeback is possible, but it would take something special (-6 or lower) to leapfrog 6 teams and advance to nationals.

Individually, Greta Bruner is in the mix to advance as an individual, should TCU not make it as a team. She birdied her final two holes to get to -3, which is T8 in the standings (a couple players still on the course). Top three individuals who are not on an advancing team qualify; as it stands now, she is fourth among individuals on teams outside the top 6.

Sabrina Iqbal had her second straight round of even par and is T22. She would need to go low tomorrow to advance, but she has the game to do that; the single-season scoring record is also still within reach for her.

 

[JogginFrog]

Hayden Springer nearly emerged from a 101-player field with one of 6 local qualifier spots for the U.S. Open. He overcame an early triple-bogey to post 1-under 71 in the qualifier at Coyote Ridge in Carrollton. That put him in a 4-for-3 playoff for the last qualifying spots. Unfortunately, Hayden was the odd man out in the playoff and thus became first alternate for sectional qualifying.
https://www.txga.org/US-Open-Local-Qualifying-Coyote-Ridge-GC-Leaderboard.html

 

[JogginFrog]

Day 3 at the Norman Regional looked a lot like the first two. Frogs finish 12th to close out their season. Favorites Texas, Wake Forest, Florida and Arizona State all advanced, along with Purdue and Ole Miss.

Individually, the Frogs had two top-20 finishers: Greta Bruner placed T15 at even par, Sabrina Iqbal T18 at +1.

The Frogs were led on the last day by graduating senior Annika Clark, who finished her TCU career with birdies on her final two holes for an even-par 72.

Today was Annika's 120th competitive stroke-play round for TCU--I think she was in the lineup for all but one tournament in her four-year career. In each year at TCU she posted a sub-75 scoring average with multiple top-10 event finishes and at least one sub-70 round. To get a sense of her consistency over time, here are her scoring averages by season:
74.9
74.3
74.8
74.5

Annika also won the Texas Women's State Amateur tournament while at TCU and earned All-Academic Big 12 honors multiple times. Congrats to Annika on a great TCU career and best wishes for the future.

 

[JogginFrog]

Tom Hoge posts a bogey-free 64 in round 1 of the Byron Nelson. He's currently T2, one back of the leader.

 

[JogginFrog]

A bit more on the TCU men's regional draw.

NCAA bids and seeding are based on the full year of golf. Today, Golfweek posted a spring-only ranking of men's collegiate golf teams to provide a measure of current form. TCU is 30th overall (full year) but 19th when considering spring only. Six of the top 10 teams in their regional rank at least 8 spots lower in the Spring than in the Fall:

Full-year ranking (Golfstat)
6 Texas
7 USC
18 Pepperdine
19 Clemson
30 TCU
31 Arkansas
42 Iowa
43 Marquette
54 San Jose State
55 Saint Mary’s

Spring-only ranking (Golfweek)
5 Texas
15 USC
19 TCU
26 Pepperdine
32 Clemson
42 Iowa
48 Saint Mary's
52 Arkansas
64 San Jose State
66 Marquette

There is reason for optimism, but TCU will still have to post a top-five score to advance. Earn it, Frogs!

 

[ShreveFrog]

Hoge fires a -7 in first round of the Nelson, 1 back of the leader (McCarthy). JJ gonna have to go low Friday after a +5. Romo also shot +5. Yes, Tony Romo.

 

[JogginFrog]

TCU announces its starting five for men's NCAA regional action, which begins play on Monday. In a bit of a surprise, Turner Maclean replaces Pierre Mazier in the lineup.

Maclean has been the odd man out among TCU's six seniors this spring, missing six of eight events since posting +24 at the Nike Invite at Colonial in the fall. Good to see him get a chance to make a meaningful contribution near the end of his TCU career. I get the impression that he is good at keeping the team loose, which has to help as the post-season pressure ramps up.

 

[ShreveFrog]

Hoge +4 today but made the cut at the Nelson.

JJ Henry and Tony Romo have shot identical scores of +5 and +3.

A South Korean named Sung Kang shot -10 today, -16 for the tournament, 4 shot lead.

 

[JogginFrog]

Golfweek had the following preview of the Austin Regional:

The host Texas Longhorns are perhaps the weakest of the No. 1 seeds, but playing at home at the University of Texas Golf Club nullifies that. Not only does the host teams always advance when they are a No. 1 seed, they usually win. But, overall this is one of the weaker regional locations and could open the door for a deeper seed to qualify for a trip to the national championship. How deep? No. 12 UMKC would be the ultimate of longshots, but Saint Mary’s (Calif.) and Sam Houston State could make a run. While a few underdogs will be doing their best to stay in contention, the middle seeds will need to be stingy with every shot.​

https://golfweek.com/2019/05/12/ncaa-mens-golf-previewing-2019-regionals/

Follow progress starting Monday morning here:
http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=17172

Course tour: https://www.utgolfclub.com/club/scripts/custom/custom.asp?NS=GOLF&PAGECFG=COURSETOUR&CID=314

 

[PO Frog]

Good observation on Springer’s swing mechanics. It’s a little different, but it appears to help him square up at impact.

I’m more interested to see if Hovland’s swing can handle golf at the PGA Tour level. Furyk, Bubba Watson, Ryan Moore, Miller Barber and a few others over the years were able to “own” unique moves like Hovland — but they were exceptions to the rule. He’ll have a lot of people try to convince him to change as soon as things go a little south.

Are you thinking of Wolff? Hovland looks pretty conventional.

 

[MTfrog5]

Looks like TCU played pretty good out there today. Finished -4 as a team and is currently in 3rd, two shots behind Texas and Pepperdine. Started on the back today, which based on the scoring from everyone seems to be the easier 9 of the two.

 

[JogginFrog]

TCU men are in 3rd place after one round of the NCAA Austin Regional. Solid start with key contributions from each of TCU's top three players. As MTFrog5 noted, the Frogs got a break by starting on the easier of the two nines.

Not a lot of surprises on the leaderboard. Second-seeded USC got off to a poor start and are seven shots outside of advancing (top 5 make nationals). But the Trojans have been on a bad run, so even that wasn't too surprising. The other top-five seeds are 1-4 on the leaderboard, with host Texas T1. There's a gap of 7 shots between 5th and 6th place, so there's a clear group of chasers with ground to make up.

Individually, TCU's David Ravetto had the outright lead for a while and is T2 at -4, a shot back of leader Pierceson Coody. Hayden Springer is T6 (-2) and Stefano Mazzoli T14 (E), with a couple of players still on the course.

-6 Texas
-6 Pepperdine
-4 TCU
-2 Arkansas
-1 Clemson
+6 USC
+6 Marquette
+ 7 San Jose State
6 teams at +11 or higher, some still on the course

 

[JogginFrog]

Golfweek recently named the Big 12 the nation's strongest conference in men's golf. Most of the conference teams are looking good in their respective regionals.

UT - T1st in Austin Regional
TCU - 3rd in Austin
OU - 2nd in Pullman Regional
OSU - 2nd in Louisville Regional
BU - T3 in Louisville
WVU - 5th in Louisville
ISU - 7th in Louisville (2 shots out of qualifying)
Tech - T7 in Myrtle Beach (1 shot out of qualifying)
KU - 11th in Stanford (still on the course but 9 shots out)

Would be quite possible to see seven Big 12 teams make nationals.

 

[MTfrog5]

TCU is currently free falling. In 6th at 3 over behind USC by 2 shots. 7 over for the day and only one golfer in thru 9 holes.

 

[MTfrog5]

8 shots back of USC (who started on the easier back 9). 1 and 2 players are both 5 over and scores are having to be used because the fourth player is 6 over.