• The KillerFrogs

TCU Golf 2020-2021

SnoSki

Full Member
Too bad that he got the late start, but glad you'll be there to watch. And I think most pros prefer the late-Thursday,-early-Friday combination to the other. Hope you'll post a bit about what you see.

As for the TCU guys, Barjon is off at 8:13, Springer at 8:57 and Hoge at 12:41 tomorrow (all Pacific).
I know from past conversations and the one time I caddied for him that he prefers the late Thursday for sure. Gives him a chance to see how aggressive he needs to be scoring-wise.

he got to play a practice round with Dustin Johnson yesterday which was a fun surprise!i have not heard the full story yet. Trying to not have any interactions with him this week til play concludes. (Pics came from his wife)

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JogginFrog

Active Member
Here's a link to the Golf Channel story on the Springers:


And The Firepit Collective did a follow-up podcast on the background to the original story, which was written before Hayden qualified for the U.S. Open. Worth a listen. Striking how personally impacted the journalists were by the faith and optimism of Hayden, Emma and their extended family.
https://firepitcollective.com/springer-podcast/
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Chris finished day 3 t-9 with former frog Aaron Hickman. He has shot rounds of 69-69-74. Sitting 4 off the lead going to final day.

So glad you mentioned Aaron Hickman, who hasn't been on my radar. Hickman helped the Frogs win 3 WAC titles during his tenure (graduated 2001). He's a regular on the mid-am circuit, and is the current Texas Mid-Am Match Play champ, spending a week last July running over the competition at Willow Brook, his home club in Tyler. (Won medalist in stroke play, then never saw the 18th hole in match play, winning his last 3 matches 6&4, 8&7 and 5&4.

He also had a top-5 last month at the Carlton Woods Mid-Am and won the North Texas Mid-Am in 2016.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Annika Clark with one of the more interesting front-nine, back-nine splits I've seen in a while. In the final round of the WAPT (third tier, pre-Symetra tour) event in Paris, Texas, last Friday, she shot 28-42 for a 1-over 70. That's -5 on the front; +6 on the back.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
The Olympic golf teams are taking shape, with the men's Official World Golf Ranking as of today used as the standard for selection, and the women's OWGR as of 6/28. The field is limited to 60 players, with max of 2 per country, or 4 if your country has 4 players in the top 15, which is the case for the USA for men and women and South Korea for women.

As a result, because of how many top players are from countries with other top players, if you are in the top 280 of the OWGR and are one of the top 2 players from your country, you qualify. And depending on how many players decline to participate (because no prize money, etc.), the invitees may go as deep as 350 in OWGR.

All that to say--two Frogs are on the current reserve list of potential Olympians, with Paul Barjon as the 5th-ranked Frenchman and Julien Brun as the 7th. Both are ranked inside the top 260 of OWGR.

Seeing that Tommy Fleetwood will likely get the nod for Great Britain as the 5th-ranked Brit, I went looking to see if any of the top French players were planning to skip Tokyo, but it looks like both Victor Perez (OWGR 35) and Antoine Rozner (OWGR 76) plan to play.

With Paris hosting the 2024 Olympics, I can see Barjon and Brun both working hard to improve their standing over the next few years.

For Barjon, too bad New Caledonia didn't establish a National Olympic Committee prior to 1996 like Aruba, Guam and other dependent states that compete in the Olympics. It is no longer eligible to do so.

Update: Olympic golf roster now finalized. Includes former Texas Tech player Hurly Long (world #263), who will represent Germany since Martin Kaymer declined to play. Also, South African Rory Sabbatini, who took Slovakian citizenship in 2018 expressly to compete in the Olympics (he's married to a Slovak) fulfilled his plan by making the field.
 
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Mean Purple

Active Member
The Olympic golf teams are taking shape, with the men's Official World Golf Ranking as of today used as the standard for selection, and the women's OWGR as of 6/28. The field is limited to 60 players, with max of 2 per country, or 4 if your country has 4 players in the top 15, which is the case for the USA for men and women and South Korea for women.

As a result, because of how many top players are from countries with other top players, if you are in the top 280 of the OWGR and are one of the top 2 players from your country, you qualify. And depending on how many players decline to participate (because no prize money, etc.), the invitees may go as deep as 350 in OWGR.

All that to say--two Frogs are on the current reserve list of potential Olympians, with Paul Barjon as the 5th-ranked Frenchman and Julien Brun as the 7th. Both are ranked inside the top 260 of OWGR.

Seeing that Tommy Fleetwood will likely get the nod for Great Britain as the 5th-ranked Brit, I went looking to see if any of the top French players were planning to skip Tokyo, but it looks like both Victor Perez (OWGR 35) and Antoine Rozner (OWGR 76) plan to play.

With Paris hosting the 2024 Olympics, I can see Barjon and Brun both working hard to improve their standing over the next few years.

For Barjon, too bad New Caledonia didn't establish a National Olympic Committee prior to 1996 like Aruba, Guam and other dependent states that compete in the Olympics. It is no longer eligible to do so.

Update: Olympic golf roster now finalized. Includes former Texas Tech player Hurly Long (world #263), who will represent Germany since Martin Kaymer declined to play. Also, South African Rory Sabbatini, who took Slovakian citizenship in 2018 expressly to compete in the Olympics (he's married to a Slovak) fulfilled his plan by making the field.
I think they should hold qualification rounds. Could use the US Open format or something akin to that and the trials (based on scoring, obviously).

Looks like Dustin Johnson has declined again? Don't get why he and others won't play.
 

Mean Purple

Active Member
Here's a link to the Golf Channel story on the Springers:


And The Firepit Collective did a follow-up podcast on the background to the original story, which was written before Hayden qualified for the U.S. Open. Worth a listen. Striking how personally impacted the journalists were by the faith and optimism of Hayden, Emma and their extended family.
https://firepitcollective.com/springer-podcast/

Know somebody posted this earlier, but I just realized that their piece is what golf channel ran when they showed the long form feature early last week.

 

JogginFrog

Active Member
I think they should hold qualification rounds. Could use the US Open format or something akin to that and the trials (based on scoring, obviously).

Looks like Dustin Johnson has declined again? Don't get why he and others won't play.

Correct--DJ declined to play. I suggested earlier that the lack of pay was the motive to skip. But for top players like DJ, I think it's more about time. Some of these guys have to put in a lot of appearances for their sponsors, and their schedules are packed.

Others, like Kaymer, played in Rio but are passing on Japan because the Covid protocols prevent them from seeing other events, socializing with other Olympians, etc.

I think the qualifying format is fine--the OWGR is already in place, it weights by field strength and recent play, and everyone knows where they stand in the lead-up. It also helps provide balance between country representation and quality of play.

I think it's interesting to watch some of the battles taking place in the last week. The U.S. Open didn't change the standings much, but the prior week's tournament moved Higgo onto the South African team.

This week, there are a couple of battles going on at the KPMG Women's PGA. The tightest is for the second spot on the Chinese team, where Xiyu Lin is ranked 68th and Yu Liu 71st.

The Japanese have a three-way battle going for the second spot, all ranked between 25th and 31st, but only one of them (Shibuno) is playing in Atlanta--the other two play the Japan LPGA exclusively, which has its own event this weekend.

The American team could change if Ally Ewing finishes top 5 and Jessica Korda is well back, or if Kupcho, Ernst or Olson win. And GBR has Reid, Hull and Hall all in the mix.

Several of those above posted top 20 finishes last week, and I wouldn't be surprised to see another good week from any of them--especially Ewing, Hull, Liu and J. Korda.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
To put another TCU lens on the Olympic golf discussion, perhaps the Frog most likely to earn a spot in an upcoming Olympics is incoming freshm...er...first-year player Caitlyn Macnab. Her strong play in South Africa amateur events earned her two starts this summer on the Ladies European Tour, and she posted top-20 finishes in both. Those two events have vaulted her into the top 1000 in the world rankings and places her 9th among South African women; but based on recent form, she's essentially already a top-5 player in RSA.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Actually looks like former frog Sanna Nuutinen is in representing Finland. I taught her while she was in school. Won the 2012 MWC championship. Great girl and works her butt off. Has become a good player on ladies European tour.

Great catch. Thanks for making note of our Olympic Frog!

Sanna is having a strong season on the Ladies European Tour, with three top 10s in four events. She is currently fifth on the LET Order of Merit.

Edit: A look at Sanna's swing. She won three times on the LET's second-tier tour to earn promotion to the bigger stage.
 
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Mean Purple

Active Member
Great catch. Thanks for making note of our Olympic Frog!

Sanna is having a strong season on the Ladies European Tour, with three top 10s in four events. She is currently fifth on the LET Order of Merit.

Edit: A look at Sanna's swing. She won three times on the LET's second-tier tour to earn promotion to the bigger stage.

Wonder if she will be at the LPGA's VOA next week in The Colony at the Tribute?

Also, next week is the LPGA Volunteers of America Classic. Thinking about going.
 

First Tee Frog

Active Member
Wonder if she will be at the LPGA's VOA next week in The Colony at the Tribute?

Also, next week is the LPGA Volunteers of America Classic. Thinking about going.


She is playing exclusively ladies European tour right now. Would think at some point she tries over here but she is making a pretty good spot for herself over there.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Two current Frogs and at least one former Frog took part in the Texas Women's Open earlier this month at Firewheel. Sabrina Iqbal finished T11 at -2; Annika Clark finished T23 at +2. Trinity King is still working to regain her form.

Meanwhile, Jennie Park finished T11 in the Southwestern Amateur in Scottsdale.

Beyond Caitlyn Macnab's LET top-10s, the best finish among TCU players so far this summer was by Lois Lau, who finished T6 in the LET Access Series' Montauban Ladies Open in France. Lois will tee it up against the second-tier Euro pros again this week in Belgium.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Julien Brun is first-round co-leader (-6) at the Open de Bretagne on the Challenge Tour. Post-round interview as well as an event preview vid for the event that mentions his familiarity with the course.

 
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