TCU Golf 2024-2025

[JogginFrog]

And on the men's side, the TCU player left out of the starting five (Hudson Wilt) took out his frustration on the Pete Dye course, finishing solo 2nd at the Mountaineer Invitational. Not the first time this year that's happened.

Meanwhile, the Frogs have to count a pair of 80+ scores (there was some severe weather); they finished 6th in a relatively weak 18-team field, 46 shots behind Oklahoma State.

Joe Pagdin was T5 and Toby Wilt was T19.

 

[JogginFrog]

About a quarter of the way into the final round of the Big 12 Championships, the TCU women have pulled to the top of the leaderboard. But six teams are within 5 shots. I can't recall seeing such a tight pack at the top this far into a tournament.

 

[JogginFrog]

So close! The women's Big 12 Championship ended in a three-way tie, with TCU finishing one shot behind Oklahoma State, Arizona and Arizona State. Frogs battled all the way, despite Min-Gaultier having a rare off day, but they couldn't quite pull off the win.

Sofia Barroso Sá was TCU's best finisher at T10 in a tournament where only one player broke par.

On to the post-season, where TCU will likely be a 3 seed in regionals.

 

[JogginFrog]

TCU men, projected to finish 10th or worse at the Big 12 Championships, moved into third place at the halfway point of the 72-hole event at Southern Hills. A pair of 69s from Joe Pagdin and Hudson Wilt paced TCU to the second-lowest round of the day.

The Frogs (+20) sit well behind top-five teams Arizona State (+1) and Oklahoma State (+5), and seven teams lurk within 6 shots of TCU. But if the Frogs can stay in the top 5, they would play themselves off of the NCAA bubble (Golf Channel currently projects TCU as a 10 seed, and the last-teams-in are 11s).

Pagdin is in the top 10 individually, and Wilt picked a great time of year to get hot. If Jack Beauchamp, who carried the team through much of the fall, can figure out Southern Hills, TCU could continue to surprise.

Scoring: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/233986/scoring/team

Edit: Joe Pagdin with a sterling 67 in Round 3 to move within a shot of the lead, held by Jose Luis Ballester and two others. (No word on whether JLB relieved himself in the creek.) As a group, the Frogs dropped a spot to 4th, but gained grown on some of the chasing teams and now has Houston to chase in tomorrow's final round.

 

[JogginFrog]

The women's NCAA Championship selection show is today at Noon Central on Golf Channel. Brentley Romine projects TCU as a 3 seed in the Norman regional, which probably beats getting sent to Lubbock, where players would have to battle wind (and measles?).

 

[JogginFrog]

TCU women earn the third seed in the Lexington regional. The Frogs could not have gotten a better draw.

They played this course in the fall and played it well, winning the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational by 12 shots. On top of that, host Kentucky failed to make the field due to the .500 rule, so there's no home-course bump for an opponent.

The other teams among the top 5 seeds are all teams that TCU has seen a lot of this year: Florida State, USC, Vanderbilt and Kansas State. All good teams, and Florida State is among the best, but TCU beat the Seminoles once this spring.

In the fall trip to Keene Trace, Kirstin Angosta finished second and Sofia Barroso Sá finished third.

Play begins May 5; top five teams advance. If any Frogs were planning to attend the Kentucky Derby, you might want to extend the trip a few days and cheer on the women.

Full field: https://www.nbcsports.com/golf/news/ncaa-womens-regionals-full-fields-previews-for-all-six-sites

 

[JogginFrog]

Joe Pagdin eagled the 13th at Southern Hills to get to -1 for the Big 12 Championship. He's solo 2nd, three shots back of the leader, Oklahoma State's Preston Stout.

He's also keeping the Frogs afloat in the team standings, where teams in 4th-8th place are all within 4 shots of each other.

 

[JogginFrog]

TCU men got off to a terrible start today (+12 through 8 holes) but went -5 after that to finish 5th in the Big 12 Championship. The Frogs beat two top-25 teams (one by 19 shots).

Joe Pagdin made the all-conference team; he finished T7.

The finish should assure the Frogs of an NCAA invite; the selection show is next Wednesday at Noon Central. No chance of playing close to home; the nearest of the six regional sites is Auburn, AL.

 

[JogginFrog]

Congrats to Julien Brun on his election to the TCU Athletics Hall of Fame. His pro career hasn't been what his three-time first-team All-American college career portended, but he's still out there making a go of it. Since posting nine collegiate wins, he's won three times on the Euro Challenge Tour, the last two in 2021.

TCU Block T Association Announces 58th Hall of Fame Class - TCU Athletics

TCU Athletics and the TCU Block T Association has announced the 58th TCU Athletics Hall of Fame Class that will be inducted in the Fall of 2025. The newest class

gofrogs.com

 

[JogginFrog]

Men's NCAA selection show is today at Noon Central. Brentley Romine projects the Frogs as a 9 seed in the Auburn regional, where he also projects A&M (2) and SMU (4) to land. The Frogs moved up to 50th in the latest rankings.

Edit: Just as predicted, TCU gets the 9 seed in the Auburn regional, with A&M and SMU as the 2 & 4.

 

[JogginFrog]

TCU women are in 5th place after Round 1 of the Lexington Regional. That's a decent start (top 5 advance) but they'll need to keep pace over four three rounds.

The Golf Channel analysts both predicted the same teams to advance--seeds 1, 2, 3, 5 & 6. Those teams currently occupy the top five spots, with 4-seed Vandy 9th in the 12-team field.

Individually, Sofia Barroso Sá leads the Frogs. She is T3 at-2.

 

[JogginFrog]

On Day 2 of the Lexington Regional, the Frogs remained in 5th place and improved their score by two shots...but they lost ground to all of the other teams in the top 8. That puts them in a fight for tomorrow's final round. TCU trails third-place K-State by 6 and fourth-place USC by 4; Frogs lead sixth-place Vandy by 1 and seventh-place Miami by 3. Most likely, 3 of those teams will advance and 2 will go home.

Sofia Barroso Sá continued her terrific play with a 69 to get to -5. That puts her in solo fourth behind the players ranked #1 and #2 nationally and this year's ANWA winner. That's rare air.

The freshman have also done well--Min-Gaultier and McGovern are both +2 and could make the top 20.

Hoping the upperclass players can step up tomorrow and get the Frogs through to nationals.

 

[JogginFrog]

Frogs posted their best round of the tournament, but still found themselves 6 shots off the cut line with 3 holes to play. With a final flurry, they pulled back 5. But Vanderbilt survived a shaky finish to advance.

The Frogs had a good showing, but other teams played better. K-State and USC shot -10 and -9 in the final round and Vandy shot -11 after day 1. One of the best TCU women's golf seasons in memory comes to an early close.

Sofia Barroso Sá's outstanding career is far from done, though. The top player on a non-advancing team qualifies for the NCAA finals as an individual. Sofia (solo 4th) is currently that player, but Miami's Olivia Grønborg is a shot back with two holes left.

 

[Rose Bowl]

Frogs posted their best round of the tournament, but still found themselves 6 shots off the cut line with 3 holes to play. With a final flurry, they pulled back 5. But Vanderbilt survived a shaky finish to advance.

The Frogs had a good showing, but other teams played better. K-State and USC shot -10 and -9 in the final round and Vandy shot -11 after day 1. One of the best TCU women's golf seasons in memory comes to an early close.

Sofia Barroso Sá's outstanding career may not be done, though. The top player on a non-advancing team qualifies for the NCAA finals as an individual. Sofia (solo 4th) is currently that player, but Miami's Olivia Grønborg is a shot back with two holes left.

What a heartbreaking ending to the season. The ladies played well but just couldn’t get over the line.

 

[JogginFrog]

Sofia Barroso Sá finishes fourth and earns an individual invitation to nationals. She seems to thrive on tough course setups, so I won't be surprised if she plays well at La Costa.

 

[JogginFrog]

Seeing news that Charlie Woods failed to qualify for the U.S. Open made me wonder how current or past Frogs fared in local qualifying.

TCU's Charlie -- Wylie -- shot a 69 to finish as co-medalist of the local qualifier at Abilene Country Club. He was one of 4 in the field of 78 to advance to sectionals. (Fort Worth's John Peterson was another.) Also in Abilene, Scott Roden missed by 3 shots; Connor Henry by 9; J.J. Henry did not finish.

Chelso Barrett was one of 5 who advanced from a field of 84 in Pleasanton, CA.

Three more local qualifiers will be played in Texas in the next week, so perhaps more to come. If I missed anyone, please chime in--there's a ton of local qualifiers.

 

[JogginFrog]

TCU men had a good day at the Auburn regional yesterday. Today is not going as well--a double and a triple on the first hole, both from likely counters. I can't fathom playing a course at 7,607 yards, but that's where we are in competitive golf.

Scoring: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/236554/scoring/team

 

[Wexahu]

TCU men had a good day at the Auburn regional yesterday. Today is not going as well--a double and a triple on the first hole, both from likely counters. I can't fathom playing a course at 7,607 yards, but that's where we are in competitive golf.

Scoring: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/236554/scoring/team

When you can carry the ball 300+ yards, like a like of college kids can these days, 7,600 yards really isn’t that long. How many par 4s do you think they are hitting 4 and 5 iron into? My guess is not many, and maybe none.

 

[JogginFrog]

When you can carry the ball 300+ yards, like a like of college kids can these days, 7,600 yards really isn’t that long. How many par 4s do you think they are hitting 4 and 5 iron into? My guess is not many, and maybe none.

I didn't say I can't fathom them playing at 7,600 yards.

My swing was developed on persimmon and balata, and to chase speed I would have to rebuild it from scratch. I don't have the time or patience for that.

There's a course in town that plays over 8,000 from the tips. We're at altitude, so it's equivalent to 7,200 at sea level--not any great beast. I played it once from the two-up tees (7,007 yards), which still included a 620-yard par 5. I've got a 4-iron in for my third after two decent shots. College guy I played with got home in two.

 

[JogginFrog]

TCU men wrapped up their season yesterday, finishing 10th at the Auburn regional, 20 shots back of the final qualifying spot for nationals. When you're a 9 seed, it's a big hill to climb--you need to avoid counters over +4 and then a guy get hot. TCU got the former on day 1, which gave them hope, but day 2 started bad and got worse, and day 3 was playing out the string.

No individual finished in the top 30, but it was good for the younger guys to see an NCAA setup and experience post-season play. Something to build on.

The team had some moments this season; Joe Pagdin was a bright spot all spring. Will be interesting to see if anyone goes out or comes in via the portal over the summer. Hope the practice facility can open soon and give the Frogs a little recruiting momentum.