TCU Golf 2020-2021

[gohornedfrogs]

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 may be in the minority, but I'd much rather Olympic golf be amateurs only. Amateurs would be thrilled to represent their country and the Olympics wouldn't interfere with their schedule like it does the pros. I'd also rather it be a team event -- three or four players on each team. Winning a medal for your "country" seems like it would have greater meaning than winning one for an individual. A team event would also likely produce the best overall outcome of having the best player(s) on the podium.

I really think amateurs would appreciate and enjoy the entire Olympic experience more, too. The pros will go, do their business, and then have to leave to get prepared for the playoffs.

 

[Paul in uhh]

I may be in the minority, but I'd much rather Olympic golf be amateurs only. Amateurs would be thrilled to represent their country and the Olympics wouldn't interfere with their schedule like it does the pros. I'd also rather it be a team event -- three or four players on each team. Winning a medal for your "country" seems like it would have greater meaning than winning one for an individual. A team event would also likely produce the best overall outcome of having the best player(s) on the podium.

I really think amateurs would appreciate and enjoy the entire Olympic experience more, too. The pros will go, do their business, and then have to leave to get prepared for the playoffs.

Agreed. Amateurs only. Make it like the ncaa championships with stroke followed by match.

a USA v Britain match for the title would be compelling TV

 

[flyfishingfrog]

Agreed. Amateurs only. Make it like the ncaa championships with stroke followed by match.

a USA v Britain match for the title would be compelling TV

The Olympics overall were better when they were for amateurs

but then we ran into the same issues we are talking about with college athletics

 

[JogginFrog]

My issue on Olympic golf relates to the format and how cheap they are with the medals--just a single set of medals for men and women from a 72-hole tournament? Seems like most other Olympic sports have far more medals on offer.

I'd vote for 54-hole individual stroke-play tournament (medals awarded) to seed match play (top 8 teams) in men's, women's and mixed 2-ball and alt shot. You could get that done in 7-8 days with the same field and it would result in 8 sets of medals, with more of a team focus as @gohornedfrogs mentioned. Teams might need to decide whether to focus on a few events or try to run the board while risking fatigue over multiple 36-hole days.

 

[JogginFrog]

Julien Brun entered the final round of the Open de Bretagne (or Brittany Open, if you prefer English) tied for the lead and has since built a 3-shot cushion with 9 holes to play. A win would move Julien up to 2nd on the Challenge Tour's points list and put him in great shape for promotion to the top-tier European Tour next season. Follow progress here: https://www.europeantour.com/challenge-tour/open-de-bretagne-2021/

Third-round highlights:

 

[JogginFrog]

Meanwhile, Sanna Nuutinen with a final-round 64 on the Ladies European Tour event in Czechia, which looks good for a top-5 finish with players still on the course. The highlight: An albatross hole-in-one on the par-4 ninth hole. That's wrapping up your Olympic spot in style.


Update: Nuutinen finishes T6; her 64 was the low round of the tournament.

 

[JogginFrog]

Another story on Caitlyn Macnab's stellar summer, winning a pro event in RSA and posting a top-20 on the LET. Mentions her coming to TCU.

 

[JogginFrog]

As a TCU sophomore, Julien Brun won as an amateur in his first start on the European Challenge Tour (2012's Allianz Golf Open). He has since played 51 events on the second-tier Challenge Tour as a professional without a win--until today. Brun shoots a 1-under 69 for a two-shot win in Brittany. He banks 32,000 euros and jumps to second on the Order of Merit.

Brun was a three-time first-team All America who seemed a can't-miss prospect--but he endured some dark days since then. Some may not forgive his decision to pass up repping TCU in the NCAAs to play Colonial, but I'm glad to see his career getting back on track.

 

[JogginFrog]

Game story:



One reason I won't give Brun too much grief for skipping the NCAAs is that when he won on the Challenge Tour as a sophomore, he had the option of turning pro immediately and joining that tour. He opted to return and play two more seasons for TCU.

He won 6 more times for the Frogs in those two years, including the 2014 Big 12 Championship and NCAA San Antonio regional.

For those who didn't follow TCU golf when Brun played, it's hard to overstate how good his college career was. Three-time first-team All America, only Frog with an under-par career scoring average (-0.67) and the only one to win 3 times in a season--which he did three times. His career finish percentage of 87.2% is more than 10 points higher than the next-best mark, and his 101 par-or-better rounds is 31 more than the next-best mark.

 

[Eight]

The Olympics overall were better when they were for amateurs

but then we ran into the same issues we are talking about with college athletics

aside from a few team sports the overall quality has gotten better for us athletes in most individual sports since the rule change

track and field, wrestling, lifting, combat, swimming etc.....

 

[JogginFrog]

Three TCU women are playing U.S. Women's Am qualifiers today. In Mansfield, Jennie Park and Trinity King are among roughly 80 players competing for 6 spots. Scoring: https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/3076027

In NorCal, Sabrina Iqbal appears to be playing the qualifier at the Peninsula Club (per Twitter), but I don't see any leaderboard available.

Those who qualify at all sites should be listed here after the fact: https://www.usga.org/content/usga/h...021-us-womens-amateur-qualifying-results.html

Circling back to Olympics, the KPMG Women's PGA appears to have changed virtually nothing in the women's standings. For the U.S., Jessica Korda held off Austin Ernst and Ally Ewing for the last qualifying spot. For China, Xiyu Lin held her position with a T9 finish. For GBR, Charley Hull held her lead over Georgia Hall. And I think Japan's Mone Inami held her spot.

 

[JogginFrog]

TCU women's golf needs to get its mojo back. The qualifiers at Mansfield include two from SMU, two from DBU, one from University of North Texas, and a former Stanford lacrosse player. No Frogs within 3 shots.

Edit: Sabrina Iqbal finished 2 shots back of those who qualified in California.

 

[JogginFrog]

Brent Hamm is added to the TCU men's roster as a grad transfer with 2 years of eligibility remaining. He was the most talented player on Troy's roster and saw his stroke average improve each year...but he runs hot and cold. Last year he had tournaments of 70-84-71 and 69-79-64 -- the 64 setting a Troy team record for low round. Will be interesting to see how he fits into the mix next season.

 

[First Tee Frog]

Berzina continues his strong play this summer. Following up a 5th place finish at the state am by qualifying for the Texas state open today at hawk’s.

https://ntpga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/ntpga21/event/ntpga2166/contest/1/leaderboard.htm

 

[JogginFrog]

Berzina continues his strong play this summer. Following up a 5th place finish at the state am by qualifying for the Texas state open today at hawk’s.

https://ntpga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/ntpga21/event/ntpga2166/contest/1/leaderboard.htm

Great to see Chris having a strong summer. Hope he can become a mainstay in the lineup next season.

And a shout out to Andrew Presley, who played a season for the Frogs and also qualified. He's been chasing the dream on mini-tours for a while.

 

[First Tee Frog]

Great to see Chris having a strong summer. Hope he can become a mainstay in the lineup next season.

And a shout out to Andrew Presley, who played a season for the Frogs and also qualified. He's been chasing the dream on mini-tours for a while.

andrew had given it up and was working full time. Contacted me about a month ago and we started working. He is about to go back to playing full time. Don’t be shocked if he makes it through q school this year.

 

[JogginFrog]

andrew had given it up and was working full time. Contacted me about a month ago and we started working. He is about to go back to playing full time. Don’t be shocked if he makes it through q school this year.

Has to be encouraging as an instructor to see him post a strong round in a qualifier.

If he has given the OK to talk about it, I'd love to hear more about where you start and what you work on with a player like Andrew.

 

[First Tee Frog]

Has to be encouraging as an instructor to see him post a strong round in a qualifier.

If he has given the OK to talk about it, I'd love to hear more about where you start and what you work on with a player like Andrew.

that good a player you listen a whole lot. What does he think needs to change? What are his problematic shots? When he is playing his best what shot pattern does he like and how does that differ from when he is struggling. What have they tried in the past to change those things? Any injury or physical ailment issues to consider? Then you can start to form a plan. I hate talking heads (golf instructors) opining on PGA tour players and what they would change without having any insight into a players head. They might make the move you want to change on purpose because they don’t want to see a particular shot. It might cause another miss periodically but they prefer that to the opposite miss. You have to be flexible and know a ton more for that level of player because you have to be able to give them multiple options to accomplish what they want and be able to give them a good rationale for why that’s the right course of action in their case.

 

[JogginFrog]

Sanna Nuutinen having another great week on the Ladies European Tour. She is the co-leader through 36 holes at the LET event in the Netherlands--without a caddie!

 

[JogginFrog]

Angela Stanford kicks off her Volunteers of America Classic title defense with a 69 at Old American at The Colony. Not a bad start, but she played alongside Jin Young Ko, who shot 63 and leads the tournament. Ko might be a bit motivated after getting bumped from the world-#1 slot last week.

A bit of a surprise is that Stanford isn't the only Frog in the VOA field this week. 56-year-old Kris Tschetter, sho plays on The Legends Tour, gets a rare LPGA start ahead of the Women's Senior Open. Tschetter was a 3-time All-SWC player at TCU before a long pro career in which she earned more than $3 million and had a pair of runner-up finishes in majors. Caught a recent interview in which Kris talked about how TCU's lack of practice facilities led her Dad to spring for a junior membership at Shady Oaks--and how that led to her friendship with Ben Hogan and her book about him. Curious if anyone has read it.