• The KillerFrogs

TCU Golf 2021-2022

JogginFrog

Active Member
New thread for a new season.

The TCU men have posted a full schedule (11 events) for the upcoming year, which looks a lot like last year's.

Fall starts with the Carmel Cup on Sept. 3. Noticed in an old press release that the tournament was created by TCU alum and auto dealer Fin Ewing, which seems to be why the Frogs are a regular participant in the small field, along with host Texas Tech and Vanderbilt, where younger Ewings played collegiately.

The men will also host at Colonial, Oct. 4 & 5, and play other fall events in Carrollton, Atlanta, and Houston. Spring has them in Hawaii, La Quinta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Scottsdale. The Phoenix event is hosted by GCU at the GCU golf course. How did an upstart private Christian school in a bad part of Phoenix come by a golf course? They leased it from the city, along with the accompanying restaurant. Using them as part of the school's hospitality management program.

But before they tee it up for the Frogs, Chris Berzina and Troy transfer Brent Hamm tee it up tomorrow with a whopping 312 others in the stroke-play portion of the U.S. Amateur at Oakmont and Longue Vue Club--one round at each club with the top 64 advancing to match play. Chris starts at Longue Vue at 8:45 Central. Brent starts at Oakmont at 11:45. Scoring is here. Lots of other info is here.

The women have not released a schedule yet. They've been focused on the lineup, and this week announced their third transfer of the summer: Caroline Jordaan, who hasn't played a tournament in two years at the University of Denver. Lakewood, Colorado, native missed her first year with an injury and didn't crack the lineup last year. But if she wanted to get coaches' attention, she did it with her play this summer, finishing 3rd in the Colorado Women's match play, 2nd in the Colorado Women's stroke play, and posting top-15 finishes in the Colorado Women's Open and Sea Island Women's Amateur. If you're scrounging for transfer possibilities late in the summer, finding someone who posted three recent 54-hole scores in the 212-216 range is a pretty good find.
 
Oakmont is beating them up so far. Nobody under par. The other course — Longue Vue — is giving up some low scores. WVU senior Mark Goetz is one off lead at -6.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Oakmont is beating them up so far. Nobody under par. The other course — Longue Vue — is giving up some low scores. WVU senior Mark Goetz is one off lead at -6.

Funny seeing the 31 lowest scores all on the same course when half are playing the other. Grandson of a TCU great has to feel pretty good about posting 70 on the harder track, as does a certain Argentinian former Frog, who posted 71.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
I mentioned yesterday that Caroline Jordaan hadn't played for U. Denver in two years. She never posted a score as a starter, but she did have the opportunity to play as an individual in an April event in Albuquerque and made the most of it, finishing T8 in a 66-player field. Her 217 score beat or matched 4 of the 5 starters on a team that beat the Frogs by 15 at regionals. Seems like someone who will compete for playing time out of the gate, especially if the team begins play in Colorado as in seasons past.

Will be interesting to see the starting lineup when the season opens. Frogs have five returnees with a good number of starts (Iqbal, Pacheco, King, Lau and Nguyen). Of the four newcomers, Macnab is a shoo-in to make the lineup, and Jordaan and Niblett should both compete. Maybe Blake, too.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
It's quite a feat just to get to match play at the U.S. Am, as only about 20% of the field advances. Assuming the talent is evenly split between the two courses, and playing conditions tomorrow are similar to today's, my best guess for the cut is Even. That's based on the 32nd-best score at Longue Vue (-2) plus the 32nd-best score at Oakmont (likely +2 once the stragglers finish).

That means that it will take a special round tomorrow for either Chris Berzina (+1 at Long Vue) or Brent Hamm (+9 at Oakmont) to advance. Chris would need to match the best score today at Oakmont (-1); Brent would need to better the best score at Long Vue (-7).

Edit: Correction: 32nd-best at Oakmont was +4, which suggests that the cut for match play might fall at +2. That gives a glimmer of additional hope for Berzina and Hamm.
 
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It's quite a feat just to get to match play at the U.S. Am, as only about 20% of the field advances. Assuming the talent is evenly split between the two courses, and playing conditions tomorrow are similar to today's, my best guess for the cut is Even. That's based on the 32nd-best score at Longue Vue (-2) plus the 32nd-best score at Oakmont (likely +2 once the stragglers finish).

That means that it will take a special round tomorrow for either Chris Berzina (+1 at Long Vue) or Brent Hamm (+9 at Oakmont) to advance. Chris would need to match the best score today at Oakmont (-1); Brent would need to better the best score at Long Vue (-7).

Edit: Correction: 32nd-best at Oakmont was +4, which suggests that the cut for match play might fall at +2. That gives a glimmer of additional hope for Berzina and Hamm.
Play has been suspended for a few hours, but of the top 64, about 2/3 either haven't started their round at Oakmont, or have only played a few holes there. So the leaderboard heavily favors those who have already played at Longue Vue. I wouldn't be surprised to see some huge downward moves by the leaders who are on the course at Oakmont, even though it's playing a little softer. They'll have to finish tomorrow.

Unfortunately, Hamm is out at +8. That doesn't sound like a great showing, but it really is. To put it in perspective, your average local club "scratch" player would have shot at least 10 shots higher than that under those conditions, and I'm being generous. I've played dozens of rounds with former college players at Oakmont and they failed to break 82-83 many times. I played with a major champion there, in his prime, and he shot 78 during a casual round with no pressure. It's just damn hard.
 

Paul in uhh

Active Member
What makes ok
Play has been suspended for a few hours, but of the top 64, about 2/3 either haven't started their round at Oakmont, or have only played a few holes there. So the leaderboard heavily favors those who have already played at Longue Vue. I wouldn't be surprised to see some huge downward moves by the leaders who are on the course at Oakmont, even though it's playing a little softer. They'll have to finish tomorrow.

Unfortunately, Hamm is out at +8. That doesn't sound like a great showing, but it really is. To put it in perspective, your average local club "scratch" player would have shot at least 10 shots higher than that under those conditions, and I'm being generous. I've played dozens of rounds with former college players at Oakmont and they failed to break 82-83 many times. I played with a major champion there, in his prime, and he shot 78 during a casual round with no pressure. It's just damn hard.

what makes oakmont so hard?
 
What makes ok


what makes oakmont so hard?
Narrow fairways with deep bunkers that are placed where the better players "miss" their shots to start. It's often better to hit it waaaay off line than it is to hit a "decent" drive. But then the fun begins. The greens are hard as a rock, and faster than any you've ever played -- with severe undulations. A two putt is never a given on any green there and it grinds you down as the round goes on. And the greens are protected by deep bunkers (the one on #17 is 10 feet below the putting surface). Several of the greens slope from front to back, so you can hit a great shot that just rolls off the back of the green. And then there's a series of deep ditches that runs through the course that is filled with tall fescue. If you can play out of them, you'll advance it maybe 100 yards (most likely 50 yards). Or, you take a penalty drop into four inch rough (minimum). There are no trees on the course, either. They took all of them down in the mid-2000s. So not only is there nothing to stop the wind (the course sits on the top of a hill), but depth perception is very difficult.

Other than that, it's a walk-in-the-park.
 
Berzina had a rough going at Oakmont and finished at +8. He won't be making it to match play, but a good showing, anyway.

Cut is +3. Looks like 12 players will be playing off for the last spot in match play.

I'd be interested to see where they start the playoff. In my opinion, they should start on #12, a long, downhill par 5. Then #13 is a par 3. #14 is a short par 4. #12 Tee box is near the clubhouse, and the 14th green is near the clubhouse. It should be over by then.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Berzina finishes at +8, which is right in the middle of the field, scoring wise; but he won't advance. Looks like there's a 9-for-1 playoff for those finishing at +3.

Hamm finishes at +17. As suggested by his past results, he tends to check out once he is out of contention. He got the poor side of the draw, as scoring at Oakmont averaged 2 strokes higher for those who played it in Round 1 (pre-rain). Meanwhile, Longue Vue actually played a shade harder in Round 2--probably a result of guys checking out or taking chances in a bid to get some strokes back.

Those advancing to match play include:
- WVU's Mark Goetz, the #1 seed at -8, including a 68 at Oakmont (edit)
- 3 Oklahoma State players (Stark, Jin, Gupta); Stark shot 66-69 to place T4.
- SMU's Ollie Osborne, last year's runner-up, who needed every bit of his 69 at Oakmont in Round 2 to slide in at +2
- K-State's Cooper Schultz
- UT's Parker Coody and Mason Nome (edit - & Travis Vick)
- (edit) UT Arlington's Caleb Hicks
- Arky's Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, who made the Round of 16 last year.

Edit: @gohornedfrogs is correct -- it's a 12-for-1 playoff. Online scoring excluded a few names for a bit and I wondered if a few of the early finishers hadn't stuck around. I never understand that, even with long odds. KU's Luke Kluver is among those in the playoff.
 
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Berzina finishes at +8, which is right in the middle of the field, scoring wise; but he won't advance. Looks like there's a 9-for-1 playoff for those finishing at +3.

Hamm finishes at +17. As suggested by his past results, he tends to check out once he is out of contention. He got the poor side of the draw, as scoring at Oakmont averaged 2 strokes higher for those who played it in Round 1 (pre-rain). Meanwhile, Longue Vue actually played a shade harder in Round 2--probably a result of guys checking out or taking chances in a bid to get some strokes back.

Those advancing to match play include:
- WVU's Mark Goetz, the #1 seed at -8, including a 68 at Oakmont (edit)
- 3 Oklahoma State players (Stark, Jin, Gupta); Stark shot 66-69 to place T4.
- SMU's Ollie Osborne, last year's runner-up, who needed every bit of his 69 at Oakmont in Round 2 to slide in at +2
- K-State's Cooper Schultz
- UT's Parker Coody and Mason Nome
- Arky's Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, who made the Round of 16 last year.
The better Coody, Pierceson, currently ranked #2 amateur in the world, missed the cut at +4.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
I'd be interested to see where they start the playoff. In my opinion, they should start on #12, a long, downhill par 5. Then #13 is a par 3. #14 is a short par 4. #12 Tee box is near the clubhouse, and the 14th green is near the clubhouse. It should be over by then.

Playoff is starting on #15.

Edit: Well, it will -- weather delay.
 
Mark Goetz, WVU senior and #1 seed, and Brian Ma, Harvard (#2 seed) both lose in first round of match play. Just goes to show how hard this tournament is to win. The #1 seed beat his opponent by 11 shots the first two rounds.

Goetz was setting this up to be a good local story. He's from the Pittsburgh area. Tough to see him lose early.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Mark Goetz, WVU senior and #1 seed, and Brian Ma, Harvard (#2 seed) both lose in first round of match play. Just goes to show how hard this tournament is to win. The #1 seed beat his opponent by 11 shots the first two rounds.

Goetz was setting this up to be a good local story. He's from the Pittsburgh area. Tough to see him lose early.

Shocking collapse by Goetz, who was 3 up through 14.

Sam Houston State has two guys into the Round of 32, with both steamrolling their opponents -- Blunt closed out his match on 12; Holcomb on 14.

Also playing well were three kids who went deep into match play at the U.S. Junior Am a couple weeks back. Potter and Surratt both won and Sargent nearly beat OSU's Stark. Recent match play experience helps.
 
Castillo, Bridgeman, Townsend, Vick and Bling are the five highest ranked remaining players (now down to round 16). They are all top 50 world amateurs.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Castillo, Bridgeman, Townsend, Vick and Bling are the five highest ranked remaining players (now down to round 16). They are all top 50 world amateurs.

Most of the guys remaining have strong credentials. Gabrelcik and Townsend are also both in the WAGR top 50 but under the radar because they play at non Power 5 schools. A few others (Greaser, Piot, Steelman, Stark) are also in WAGR top 110.

The only players who seem to be punching way above their weight are Islas (ranked 823rd) and Blunt (2,055th). And they both look unlikely to advance to the quarters.

Edit: For those who care, Michigan State fifth-year senior Piot is the winner; first-ever winner from the state of Michigan. In the final, he beat Austin Greaser, an Ohioan who plays at North Carolina. Greaser was 3 up with 9 to play, but Piot won 4 holes in a row and closed out the match on the 35th hole.
 
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JogginFrog

Active Member
This news has been known for some time, but as of Sunday night, Paul Barjon officially earned his first PGA Tour card as one of the top 25 earners on the Korn Ferry Tour over the past two years. Paul is fully exempt for tour events in 2021-2022. Congrats to him!
 
This news has been known for some time, but as of Sunday night, Paul Barjon officially earned his first PGA Tour card as one of the top 25 earners on the Korn Ferry Tour over the past two years. Paul is fully exempt for tour events in 2021-2022. Congrats to him!

Awesome for Barjon. Getting to the Tour is really the hardest part. These guys leave a lot to fate when they are working their way there. Now he can focus on his craft while taking advantage of the numerous strategic advantages that card gives him.

And LOL at Zalatoris. The guy made it to #31 in the world without Tour privileges. That's a loophole the PGA TOUR needs to work on.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Julien Brun, currently 5th on the Challenge Tour's order of merit, is also assured of promotion (to the European Tour), but that won't be official until November. Meanwhile, at the Challenge Tour event in Denmark this week, he is at the top of the leaderboard early.
 
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