• The KillerFrogs

TCU Golf 2021-2022

JogginFrog

Active Member
Pretty incredible Celli didn’t crack the lineup to play the Big 12 tournament in May.
True. But I probably would have played it the same way if I had been setting the lineup.

TCU accommodated Celli's need to be available only for spring golf due to playing obligations in Europe. As a part-timer who sometimes didn't play well in qualifying, he got some special treatment--deservedly so, given his talent. It paid off with a T20 in Hawaii in the first spring event, but he didn't get a lot of support and the Frogs finished 14th of 19. Then came the sandstorm at La Quinta.

I felt bad for Celli at that point. He had just arrived, but his school was 35 wins under .500 and post-season was gone. I couldn't blame him for losing interest after that (T50, T27 in a weak field, T51). But at that point, there's no reason for special treatment, and with nothing at stake, you start the guys who are grinding in practice.
 

froggolf65

Active Member
True. But I probably would have played it the same way if I had been setting the lineup.

TCU accommodated Celli's need to be available only for spring golf due to playing obligations in Europe. As a part-timer who sometimes didn't play well in qualifying, he got some special treatment--deservedly so, given his talent. It paid off with a T20 in Hawaii in the first spring event, but he didn't get a lot of support and the Frogs finished 14th of 19. Then came the sandstorm at La Quinta.

I felt bad for Celli at that point. He had just arrived, but his school was 35 wins under .500 and post-season was gone. I couldn't blame him for losing interest after that (T50, T27 in a weak field, T51). But at that point, there's no reason for special treatment, and with nothing at stake, you start the guys who are grinding in practice.
So you think he lost interest in his individual game because the team was off to a bad start to the year?? LOL
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
So you think he lost interest in his individual game because the team was off to a bad start to the year?? LOL
Guy is a big-tournament player. He signed on with a school that hadn't missed the NCAA's in 30 years. He wasn't going to post enough rounds to qualify for NCAAs as an individual. But his teammates didn't hold up their end. So he knows he won't be going to regionals or nationals and he's stuck playing Omaha, Sac State, Cal Baptist and Valpo with nothing on the line. Won't move the needle on WAGR if he finishes T3 or T27. Guy could go Even over 54 holes at GCU in his sleep. And he did.

Take a look at his finishes before, after and during the season and give me a better explanation for his scores in March and April.

The only reason to give a guy special treatment at that point is fear that he'll transfer. Would be valid...but creates its own issues. With the mess they'd made, I think I'd be inclined to put everyone out in a qualifier for the last tournament and say, "Top 5 play, end of story."
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
I'll amend that last post. I'm not in touch with the team, and it's quite possible that Celli was working on things in his game that did not reflect in those March-April scores (which weren't bad, just not what he's capable of). This week I noticed that he seems to be in great physical shape. If you've seen photos of Celli from high school, you can see how he's not only grown into his frame but has trimmed up as well. I'd be interested to know what role the TCU S&C program has had and hear his thoughts on how his experience at TCU has advanced his game.

He drove the ball amazingly this week. I don't know if they track shots gained off the tee, but I bet he did well in that category.
 

froggolf65

Active Member
Very interesting the way you view golf and TCU golf. The simple answer I would have for his play in the spring is he is far away from home and not comfortable and wasn’t playing his best. Maybe working thru some technical aspects to get better and took a little while to click that paid off this summer. But I really don’t think he has a high value on TCU team golf or he wouldn’t have skipped the fall. I’ve never heard of one person who would be less motivated to play well individually because of team results.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
It's a mentally taxing sport, and I have seen lots of players be less engaged when the stakes are lowered (for whatever reason)--haven't you?

I'll take correction on stating it as an assumption rather than a possibility. Could've been another reason. I don't think it was that he was far from home and needed time, given that he posted five top-20 finishes in seven events as a freshman, including at the Big 12 Championships and the NCAA regionals. Did it again straight out of the gate this spring.

Then his performance tailed off. Celli likes and responds to pressure, as he said after he won the European Amateur Championship. But there wasn't as much at stake this spring, once it was obvious that the team wouldn't make the post-season. I think it's reasonable that he might not be as engaged on every shot as he would otherwise--or that he occasionally tried a carry or a recovery that he wouldn't otherwise. But I could be wrong.

Was missing the NCAAs his teammates' fault? I can accept Filippo having a share of the responsibility for being a part-timer. That's a weird deal, but it seemed to pay off last year.

Did you think Celli should've been in the lineup at the Big 12s? I took that as the intent of your earlier post. Apologies if I misunderstood. Coach M has taken shots for giving preference to Euros, but here was a case where a talented Euro sat out because (apparently) he didn't qualify. There wasn't anything in the previous months' results that suggested Celli ought to get a coach's pick--and he had played poorly on the course the previous fall in The Spirit International. So, it just didn't seem like a pick at the Big 12s was warranted.
 

froggolf65

Active Member
My opinion would be he was just in a stretch of bad form and was probably doing everything he could to play his way out of it. As far as should he have played conference, I have no idea. I do think it is another tough mark for the coaches though that a kid with this kind of talent was on the roster, shooting the scores he was and they couldn’t get better play from him to crack the conference lineup.
 

First Tee Frog

Active Member
My opinion would be he was just in a stretch of bad form and was probably doing everything he could to play his way out of it. As far as should he have played conference, I have no idea. I do think it is another tough mark for the coaches though that a kid with this kind of talent was on the roster, shooting the scores he was and they couldn’t get better play from him to crack the conference lineup.
The answer is he wasn’t playing very well and wasn’t working very hard to play well. Same answer for most of the team last year. It really isn’t that complicated an answer.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Lost in all of this is that Celli went from being a back-bencher on a mediocre college team to European Amateur champ and low amateur at The Open in three months…both of which are highly exceptional accomplishments.
For sure.

I was musing on the other thread about Celli's strokes-gained-off-the-tee stat. It seemed like he was long and down the middle on almost every hole over the weekend, even the holes with hard-right OB. I couldn't find SG stats on theopen.com or pgatour.com, but today found them on DataGolf.com. Here's how Celli matched up against the best players in the world this week:

+1.31 (5th) Off the Tee
+0.59 (47th) Overall
+0.38 (49th) Tee to Green
+0.21 (52nd) Putting
- 0.49 (70th) Approach
- 0.44 (71st) Around the Green

The ranks only include the 83 players who made the cut.

That a college player finished 72 holes in any category better than the "average" major-championship cut-maker is amazing. But to be more than 5 shots better (over 4 rounds) in driving blows me away. He was truly elite off the tee this week.

No other amateur was in the top 20 in any category.

Celli's putting stat is positive due to the 79-footer he holed at 13 on day 1. Without that, his putting SG would have been -0.11, which is still darn good in comparison to the best putters in the game.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Interested to see what T47 in the Open Championship does for Celli's WAGR rating. He was 124th back in January. He has risen to 76th based on his summer play, including his win at the European Amateur. I'm guessing he'll jump into the top 40.

Edit: Overestimated the bump. Celli moves up 15 spots; he is now the 61st-ranked amateur in the world. It's his highest career ranking.
 
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JogginFrog

Active Member
Tom Hoge playing a near-home game in Minnesota and getting quite a bit of coverage. He's in the top 10 mid-second round. Video clips of his play:


Edit: Hoge goes into the weekend at -7 (currently T4 with players still on the course). Paul Barjon also makes the cut at -3 (T20), and J.J. Henry finishes at Even to make it 3 Frogs advancing.

Edit 2:
Some video of J.J., including a near ace with a TCU mention:
 
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JogginFrog

Active Member
TCU alumna and UTA women's golf coach Catherine Matranga shows her team how to (almost) get it done in U.S. Women's Am qualifying. Catherine shoots 73 in Carrollton to make it into a 6-for-3 playoff. She ends up as second alternate. Two University of North Texas players among those advancing. No current Frogs were in the field. https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/3383412
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Not sure if it's good or bad that Golf Digest's Jerry Tarde published an imagined dialogue with Dan Jenkins hisownself. You who knew Jenkins can comment on the quality of the impersonation. The part about Norman on Sundays sounds about right.
 
Not sure if it's good or bad that Golf Digest's Jerry Tarde published an imagined dialogue with Dan Jenkins hisownself. You who knew Jenkins can comment on the quality of the impersonation. The part about Norman on Sundays sounds about right.
Meh. It was a decent attempt, but you can’t imitate Picasso.
 

JogginFrog

Active Member
Stefano Mazzoli closes the Roma Alps Open with a 63 to finish T2. He is 4th on that tour's Order of Merit. Alps Tour has one more event in late September before the finale the following week. Stefano may get some Challenge Tour starts in the interim.
 
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