2016 NCAA Golf Championships

[Golfingdad]

I have been enthralled with the Golf Channel's coverage of the NCAA Championships for the last several years, and I imagine this year will be no different.  This year, they are hosting it at Eugene Country Club (just off the campus of the University of Oregon).  For those who haven't watched, here's a quick rundown of the format:

• Days 1-4 - 72 hole individual stroke play to determine the individual National Champion, as well as (and more importantly) the eight teams who will compete in the team match play finals.  Each team has 5 players competing and the 4 best scores for each day count towards the cumulative team total.
• Day 5 - Quarterfinals and Semifinals of the team match play.  5 singles matches.
• Day 6 - Team match play finals.

First the women, who started Friday, with the first day of TV coverage being yesterday, or the final day of the individual.  The individual championship is one thing (a Freshman from Duke ran away with it this year - winning by 7 or 8 shots), but the team fight for the final eight is the most intriguing.  It's so easy to make up or lose one, two, three strokes in a matter of minutes.   Yesterday there were 4 or 5 different teams holding down that 8th spot throughout the day, which ultimately went to home team Oregon after Oklahoma State and Arizona had chances on the last few holes to catch or pass them but fell short.  The final totals from yesterday:

Anybody who is watching, feel free to discuss it here (I'll probably disappear until late tonight because I'm recording it all and will watch later) ... and if you weren't planning on watching, I recommend you give it a try.  It's a lot of fun!  Here's a few random photos:

Individual champion, Virginia Elena Carta (will also be competing in team match play)

The #4 seeded Washington University team.

This was the pivotal moment in OK State missing out - that girl went bunker-bunker-bunker on her last hole, leading to a triple (I believe) and they fell 3 shots short.

[iacas]

And Haley Moore took the pin out on a 20-yard chip shot and probably couldn't even see the hole… when she had to hole it to tie Oregon and force a playoff.

D'oh! (She missed the hole anyway, but at that level, players hit the flagstick fairly often.)

[djfajt71]

51 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

 

This was the pivotal moment in OK State missing out - that girl went bunker-bunker-bunker on her last hole, leading to a triple (I believe) and they fell 3 shots short.

Did you notice when the Northwestern coach came up to say a couple of consoling words to the OK State golfer?  It almost looked like the golfer didn't realize what had just happened.  She came up and seemed to have a genuine smile on her face when the coach spoke to her.  The coach stepped back and the girl turned around and looked absolutely sick!  I may be wrong about whether she realized the situation, but I felt absolutely horrible for her!

[Golfingdad]

21 minutes ago, iacas said:

And Haley Moore took the pin out on a 20-yard chip shot and probably couldn't even see the hole… when she had to hole it to tie Oregon and force a playoff.

D'oh! (She missed the hole anyway, but at that level, players hit the flagstick fairly often.)

My DVR cut off at the top of the hour and this happened about a minute later so I never saw it.

12 minutes ago, djfajt71 said:

Did you notice when the Northwestern coach came up to say a couple of consoling words to the OK State golfer?  It almost looked like the golfer didn't realize what had just happened.  She came up and seemed to have a genuine smile on her face when the coach spoke to her.  The coach stepped back and the girl turned around and looked absolutely sick!  I may be wrong about whether she realized the situation, but I felt absolutely horrible for her!

No, but I saw a couple of minutes/seconds later when she was standing there holding the flag waiting for the others to finish and she had (I believe) definitely realized it at that point.  She had a zoned off stare and was trying really hard not to cry.  I felt horrible for her as well.  Not sadistically at all, its these exact moments that make this so compelling for me to watch.  They are so into winning and doing well for their team that the pressures they feel are palpable.

On that note, I think that a couple of the girls on Arizona's team, Haley Moore, in particular, and the blonde that was just a group ahead of her, need to mature a tad as far as keeping a steady head while playing goes.  After every poor shot down the stretch, they had a tough time controlling their anger.  Get that in check and they might play a little better. :)

[djfajt71]

9 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

No, but I saw a couple of minutes/seconds later when she was standing there holding the flag waiting for the others to finish and she had (I believe) definitely realized it at that point.  She had a zoned off stare and was trying really hard not to cry.  I felt horrible for her as well.  Not sadistically at all, its these exact moments that make this so compelling for me to watch.  They are so into winning and doing well for their team that the pressures they feel are palpable.

On that note, I think that a couple of the girls on Arizona's team, Haley Moore, in particular, and the blonde that was just a group ahead of her, need to mature a tad as far as keeping a steady head while playing goes.  After every poor shot down the stretch, they had a tough time controlling their anger.  Get that in check and they might play a little better. :)

I agree, I absolutely love watching the collegiate tourneys!  I love the team aspect and feeling the misery/elation as a unit.  I like the Ryder/Presidents cup for this reason as well, but the amateur angle really makes it so much more intriguing. 

[iacas]

Good to see two of the three women's teams with which Dave and I have an affiliation made the final 8. None look to make it farther, but oh well.  Making the match play rounds is great.

[MasonAsher2014]

I have a good friend on Stanford's team so I am keeping an eye on it and watching it every single day. Very fun to see on TV as I live this in real life every single weekend during my college's season.

[Groucho Valentine]

Have they finished their rounds yet?..

[MasonAsher2014]

30 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

Have they finished their rounds yet?..

Yes, it will be Stanford and Washington in the finals tomorrow.

[Golfingdad]

UCLA had a bit of a meltdown at the end there.  One girl was 3 up with 3 to play and lost 4 holes in a row ... the last one (I didn't get to actually see it, my dvr cut short) being on a long bunker hole out for birdie.

Washington started making a lot of clutch putts.  Which is the way I like to see it ... always like to see people win these things rather than lose them.

[Chilli Dipper]

The NBA game sucked, so I caught the end of the final match tonight. Fun stuff.

[RandallT]

Oregon v. Texas today (team matches) on Golf Channel at noon.

Is Beau ok to play today????

http://www.golfdigest.com/story/beau-hossler-sends-texas-to-ncaa-finals-while-swinging-one-handed

Quote

It was painful just to watch Texas junior Beau Hossler finish his NCAA semifinal match Tuesday at Eugene (Ore.) Country Club against USC’s Andrew Levitt. One can only imagine how painful it was for Hossler to actually play as he tried to secure the winning point to send his team to Wednesday’s NCAA finals while struggling with a left shoulder injury that appeared to get worse with each swing.

Somehow, Hossler managed to birdie the par-5 15th hole, chip-in for birdie on the par-3 16th hole and then get up-and-down for par on the par-4 17th hole from a bunker—using his putter for both shots—to beat Levitt, 2 and 1, and set up a championship-match showdown between the Longhorns and the host school, Oregon.

I watched a bit yesterday and saw the NCAA individual winner, Aaron Wise, in a tight match with an underdog, Dylan Meyer, from Illinois. Wise looked solid (love his swing!), but Meyer ended up beating him in the anchor match. Good thing Oregon had already closed out the match. Wise will be looking for redemption today.

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/oregon-ousts-illinois-hossler-texas-take-out-usc/?cid=rr_editorial_p3

Quote

Oregon, meanwhile, reached the final when redshirt junior Sulman Raza got up-and-down from the front bunker on the 18th to beat Illinois' Charlie Danielson, 1 up, and secure a 3 1/2-1 1/2 victory for the Ducks.

Playing his final college event, Danielson nearly kept his team alive with a birdie attempt on the final green that wrapped all the way around the hole but didn't fall.

Had it dropped, Danielson's teammate Dylan Meyer would have had the opportunity to send the Illini to Wednesday's final; playing in the anchor match, Meyer had just chipped in for birdie to go 1 up on Monday's individual champion Aaron Wise with one hole to play. But once Raza holed his par putt, Oregon won its third point, rendering the Meyer-Wise outcome moot.

 

[DeadMan]

I caught about an hour of this yesterday. There was some bad golf and some awful decision making on display. I don't mean bad golf like missing their target by 30 feet or something like that, I mean things like duffing a chip. That was surprising, considering that these guys are probably all plus golfers. The decision making was less surprising, but man it's stupid to fire at a flag when you're 130 yards out and your opponent already missed the green.

I did notice that Aaron Wise, the individual champ, uses AimPoint. But he probably needs to either read LSW, or read LSW again.

[RandallT]

1 hour ago, DeadMan said:

I caught about an hour of this yesterday. There was some bad golf and some awful decision making on display. I don't mean bad golf like missing their target by 30 feet or something like that, I mean things like duffing a chip. That was surprising, considering that these guys are probably all plus golfers. The decision making was less surprising, but man it's stupid to fire at a flag when you're 130 yards out and your opponent already missed the green.

I did notice that Aaron Wise, the individual champ, uses AimPoint. But he probably needs to either read LSW, or read LSW again.

Yah, I did see some video of one guy on Oregon who pretty much duffed two chips, from what I recalled them saying. I also heard them mention a couple dumb plays like the one you mentioned about shooting at the flag, when the other guy was dead and likely going to make bogey at best.

On Morning Drive today, while they were generally complimentary of the quality of play and the excitement level with these young guys, they criticized the slow play a bit. 

Finals being televised shortly, so I might catch a bit in the background.

[Golfingdad]

3 hours ago, RandallT said:

I watched a bit yesterday and saw the NCAA individual winner, Aaron Wise, in a tight match with an underdog, Dylan Meyer, from Illinois. Wise looked solid (love his swing!), but Meyer ended up beating him in the anchor match.

Actually, they never finished.  Meyer and Wise were waiting in the 18th fairway when Oregon won the match in front of them so their match became pointless and they picked up.  Meyer was 1up, though, so the odds were in his favor.  I was rooting for him too, considering that, based on his size and Tom Kite coke bottles, he just looked like a "David" to Wise's National Champion "goliath."

I don't know Hossler's prognosis but the guys on TGC last night were pretty much betting that it was something serious and he's going to be a no-go today.  Interesting that there are no subs allowed ... Texas will just be 1 point down with 4 matches remaining at the start of the day.  That's a bummer for Hossler, the Texas team, and the kid from Oregon who doesn't get to play today (whoever that ends up being).

[Chilli Dipper]

I was hoping for a South Carolina-Southern Cal final to decide once and for all who the real USC is, but oh well.

[DeadMan]

39 minutes ago, RandallT said:

On Morning Drive today, while they were generally complimentary of the quality of play and the excitement level with these young guys, they criticized the slow play a bit. 

Isn't college golf notorious for slow play? I saw Aaron Wise take at least 2 minutes, probably more like 3 minutes, over an par 3 tee shot. It was a somewhat complex shot (downhill, wind in his face), but man he took forever. Meanwhile, Meyer took about 15 seconds. It's pretty disheartening to see such slow play from such quality players.

[RandallT]

4 minutes ago, DeadMan said:

Isn't college golf notorious for slow play? I saw Aaron Wise take at least 2 minutes, probably more like 3 minutes, over an par 3 tee shot. It was a somewhat complex shot (downhill, wind in his face), but man he took forever. Meanwhile, Meyer took about 15 seconds. It's pretty disheartening to see such slow play from such quality players.

It may be - I'm not too familiar, but that does ring a bell that I've heard that.

I guess Golf Channel is showing an encore of yesterday's semi's, and the finals won't be for a few hours. It's not excruciating right now, but they're switching from group to group so it's hard to tell, frankly. They're probably chopping out the waits, since there are about 10 pairs on the course, I think.