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Post by bogeyman on Sept 25, 2023 8:04:53 GMT -6
What a gorgeous golf course. A few trees starting to turn. Slow start for the Cats. Cooper bogeyed his 3rd hole. Hoyeau has 3 bogeys and a birdie thru 4.
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Post by bogeyman on Sept 25, 2023 10:38:04 GMT -6
Golfstat is showing us T-7 at +1. Not sure that is near correct. Buisson's scores are not posted and he's not doing real well.
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Post by bogeyman on Sept 25, 2023 12:20:47 GMT -6
No bars in the mountains most times. Still don't know Buisson's score but we aren't doing well. 9th last time I looked. Zane did shoot 69.
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Post by texas48 on Sept 25, 2023 12:41:29 GMT -6
Looks like men finished first round at +8 for 12th place as a team. Housel leads the squad at -2. Radford leading all teams at -10 with one hole left for them.
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Post by bogeyman on Sept 26, 2023 8:34:08 GMT -6
Another beautiful, cool morning (61) in the mountains. Slow start for the Cats but birdies are starting to fall.
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Post by bogeyman on Sept 26, 2023 20:06:11 GMT -6
Back home now with time to reflect. My overall impression after seeing these young men play--we are very talented, sometimes not so smart but very, very good. They all hit the ball a mile so are capable of birdies on all holes. Our problem this tournament was putting and missing greens in the wrong places making it hard to get "up and down." RC and I have talked about course management and it certainly reared its head in each round. For example: the 12th hole was a 277 yd par 4 that every one of our guys could drive but the target was small, surrounded by bunkers, and very difficult to chip to. The play, in my mind, was a 5 or 6 iron off the tee and a short wedge shot onto the elevated green. Only one of our guys used that strategy and we piled up bogeys and double bogeys by attempting to drive the green. Our guys are birdie making machines, they just need to play smarter. I believe we'll get better and better and will be a force come conference tourney time.
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Post by rc on Sept 26, 2023 20:34:05 GMT -6
A wise evaluation. You remind me of Harvey Penick. The object of shot selection is always two-fold: setting up opportunities to score but also avoiding unnecessary risks. Risking a double bogey trying to get a birdie is not often the best play. Our guys can kill the ball off the tee, but this day and age, almost all good young golfers hit it long. The challenge is always managing your game and avoiding blow-ups. When you are young, the risk seems to be less threatening. I am sadly reminded of my own foolish mistakes, some of which lost important tourneys. I will never live down trying to cut a corner and hitting it OB, only to tee up a second try and hitting that OB trying a hero shot. That lost the AquaFest tourney years ago when a two-shot lead on the last day back nine vaporized. The famous Ben C. I was playing with in the lead twosome tried a hero shot two holes later, and double bogeyed, so the smart guy in third won, and the risk takers never forgot.
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Post by bogeyman on Sept 26, 2023 20:41:18 GMT -6
By the way--this was an awesome golf course in a gorgeous setting. It was set in a valley surrounded by mountains. Not a lot of elevation change but enough to let you know you weren't at Fairway Oaks. I believe coach Shaw hired a winner in Robby Pickett. He is very personable and has the confidence of the players. I had good conversations with each player and came away very proud of the young men in this program. Greg Hoyeau (from Paris, FR) expressed very high regards for ACU and said he is really enjoying the "laid back" atmosphere. One of the USGA officials asked me "how did ACU get such a quality coach in coach Shaw?" He knew about coach Shaw's work at Vanderbilt and was impressed with the foundation he laid there. Our golf program is in good hands.
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Post by rc on Sept 27, 2023 12:47:26 GMT -6
I agree with you, Coach Shaw is a very good coach. I do wish we could show more growth and improvement over time, and by this I mean our team members should be maturing rapidly into stronger players. Some have and others seem to not change much at all. I guess it is human for athletes to grow at their own pace. I keep waiting for that dominant player to mature.
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Post by bogeyman on Oct 3, 2023 19:39:00 GMT -6
Tourney #3 in the fall starts next Monday. This tourney is hosted by Wichita State and will be played at Sand Creek Station Golf Course in Newton, Kansas . This truly is one of the best public golf courses in the US. I played it regularly after it opened, winning my age group in several KGA seniors events. The challenge to this course depends on the wind (fall is a great time to play due to cool temps and less wind generally). The 4 par 5's average 595 yds (for those who don't follow golf, that is LONG). The 2nd hole (612 yds), the 4th hole (586 yds) and the 10th hole (646 yds, the longest hole in Kansas) all play into the prevailing south wind. If the wind is blowing 15 mph or more, those 3 holes are terribly hard. Most of the par 4's play downwind or cross wind. It will be a great test for our guys who really can hit the ball a long way. Accuracy will be a must. Sand hills and deep, links style rough will be a challenge.I'll be hosting 3 friends from Wichita next week in Myrtle Beach, all of whom call Sand Creek Station their home course.
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Post by rc on Oct 3, 2023 21:08:08 GMT -6
Bogey, what is the deal with NCAA golf scoring? Is it Spikemark or golfstat? (or both) I found a name for the tourney: Grier Jones Shocker Invitational
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Post by bogeyman on Oct 4, 2023 8:14:28 GMT -6
NCAA awarded the contract to Spikemark but they weren't ready technically to do the tourneys. Until they are, you should be able to find most tourneys on golfstat.com. As you know the ladies 1st tourney was on golfgenius.com. The safe way to find where the tourney will be on the net is to go to the host teams site and follow live stats from there. Our coaches are frustrated with Spikemark not being ready to go.
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Post by bogeyman on Oct 7, 2023 12:12:02 GMT -6
Big lineup change for the Cats going to Wichita. Brian Comegys and Charlie Jackson are trading places with Preston Cooper and Trenton Johnson. Brian has not been scoring well in qualifying rounds so this is a major story. He's got the game so maybe he has things figured out. I wouldn't be surprised if Charlie has played Sand Creek Station in tourneys before. Hoping for a good showing.
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Post by bogeyman on Oct 9, 2023 8:44:25 GMT -6
I won't be able to post today because I'm playing but I have checked out our teams before leaving. In Wichita (Newton, KS) State tourney ACU has yet to post but it will be a challenging day (about normal) with 11-15 mph winds on a sunny day. I see that the teams are playing the 10th hole at 565 yds instead of its full length of 648 yds. That's a huge break for the guys. Will be nice to see how our young team stacks up against perennial powerhouse Oklahoma St and conference rival UTA.
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Post by bogeyman on Oct 9, 2023 9:04:37 GMT -6
Zane starts well with birdies on 10 and 11. Buisson starts with a triple on quite possibly the easiest hole on the course, #9. I personally have birdied #9 more than any hole on the course (so it must be easy). Course management, 4 iron off the tee, wedge to the built up and well bunkered green.
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