So the regionals started today, and the Bucs are in Columbus (the one in Ohio) for the "Columbus Regional". After day 1, the Bucs are in second, behind second-ranked OK St. - which as most know is where we got Fred Warren. The Cowboys went -2, with the Buccos going +4, to lead the Dons by 2, and Clemson by 3. Most other teams bunched up just behind all those, with the exception of the Salukis, who are probably out of contention already. Without looking it up, I think top 5 go to nationals, and maybe some others depending on tiebreakers, etc.

Archie Davies was the only Buc to make par or better, with a 69 to be tied for 2nd individually. But of the top 4 ETSU players, nobody blew up, and all scored 73 or better, which is fantastic. They have early tee times, and begin teeing off for round 2 in just over 4 hours from now.

If we should be fortunate enough to advance, the finals are in AZ again, where we totally bombed last year after *killing* the regional in the far NW. Maybe that experience will pay off this year - if we make it there.

Would be nice if this was streamed on ESPN+ .. i'd like to have it on in the background during the day

And we finished round two at +6, making us +8 overall, dropping us into (for the moment) 5th place. Our top 4 guys were all 70-74, with Chartier low at 70. Davies bogeyed 3 of his first 5 holes but still managed a 74.

So.......for now, altho some teams not yet finished for the day:

1. Cowboys -7
2. Ga. Tech -6 (An astonishing -12 for the day!!)
3. Ohio St. +6
4. Clemson +7
5. ETSU +8
6. Arkansas +10
6. San Fran +10
8. Duke +11

The Hogs and the Wreck still on the course, but nearly finished. Nobody else closer than 5 more back.

[Edit: those scores and places all held as the round was completed by all the mentioned teams.]
[Further edit: for some reason they changed Ga. Tech's score to -13 for the day, making them tied with the Cowboys at -7.]

[And they've moved up the tee times for round three to beginning at 7 AM; first ETSU guy goes off at 7:30.]

In the closing holes, just above the cut line, at +10. First team out is currently Clemson at +13; and then Duke is at +14. Two of the Bucs are having bad days, and at least one of their scores has gotta count.

Update: And we make the cut by 4 strokes over the Dons and Clemson. (Altho technically they're still on the course so that margin could change, but unless somebody holes a couple out somehow, we're in.) Top 5 teams, in order, are:

1. Ok. St. -10
1. Ga. Tech -10
3. Ohio St. +4
4. Arkansas +7
5. ETSU +10

There's a note that says "Ties will be resolved", so somebody will end up being called the official #1.
Those -10 scores are just way impressive - but so was our regional win last year - to no good eventual outcome.

Chartier went -2 today, to end up tied for third. Davies ended up tied for 13th. Bucs had to count Ben Carberry's 75 today, the highest (counting) score among the top teams.

Buccos not doing too well near the end of their first round in AZ. Mats Ege is even thru about 13 holes, and he's the best on the team. The two worst are currently +7 and +8. Most of the top seeds haven't teed off yet, so team ranking doesn't mean much at the moment.............but for what's it's worth...........we're 5th from the bottom of those well into their rounds. Bucs just don't play well in the desert.

[Update: On a par-70 course, Ege shot a 72, all 3 other scores that will count were 75. Team tied for 5th from the bottom, at +17 (297). Not good. Other teams still on the course, so we may not be *quite* so bad, but it does appear we're out of the running already - not that we were likely to be contenders, anyway.]

Further update: Well, it was very hot out there, so many teams had trouble. But we're still tied for 19th. I believe the top 15 after 54 holes advance to a fourth round, so there's hope for that. Then..............if a team is fortunate to get to that, a further whittling down to 8 teams for match play commences. That's a LOT of golf for some guys.

Bucs faltering big-time, not even thru 9 holes. Already +15 for the day. (Yikes!!) And yes, we trail the whole field............

Right now in Scottsdale, it's 99 degrees with a 13 mph wind . But the humidity's only 7%, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Today's scores for the field are just staggering. Only two teams broke par, and they just happen to be the #1 and #2 teams in the country, the Sooners (-5!), and the Cowboys (-3). Without doing the math, looks like the average team score was something like +15 to +20. ETSU's was +28, meaning each of the counting scores averaged 77. In actuality, all 4 counting scores were 76-78.

The cream at the top are the #1, 3, 2, 5, and 6-ranked teams respectively. Vandy, the #3 team, is sitting in second. So ETSU sits in 27th place, out of the 30 teams, ahead of only South Florida, Utah, and the Saviors, who apparently need some serious saving tomorrow. As if we didn't also. We're at about 20 strokes out of the top 15, so unless a miracle or two happens, our goose in cooked in the Arizona sun. There's a 56-stroke differential between the Sooners and the Saviors. For only 36 holes. That's just incredible. Only the top 4 teams are less than +10. The fairways look nice, but the greens are brown(-ish) and fast. If you're off the fairways, it's just jail: desert scrub, including saguaro cacti, etc. Likely some Gila monsters in there.

Individually.....................Jack Tickle got to play a round (didn't count) today, in place of Chartier. Maybe the heat got to Chartier?? Just a guess. Or just "why not"? He shot 79 yesterday and Tickle did 80 today.

Need to place this tournament at the Ridges - or in Ireland somewhere. Crazy conditions.

(05-28-2022 11:24 PM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  Today's scores for the field are just staggering. Only two teams broke par, and they just happen to be the #1 and #2 teams in the country, the Sooners (-5!), and the Cowboys (-3). Without doing the math, looks like the average team score was something like +15 to +20. ETSU's was +28, meaning each of the counting scores averaged 77. In actuality, all 4 counting scores were 76-78.

The cream at the top are the #1, 3, 2, 5, and 6-ranked teams respectively. Vandy, the #3 team, is sitting in second. So ETSU sits in 27th place, out of the 30 teams, ahead of only South Florida, Utah, and the Saviors, who apparently need some serious saving tomorrow. As if we didn't also. We're at about 20 strokes out of the top 15, so unless a miracle or two happens, our goose in cooked in the Arizona sun. There's a 56-stroke differential between the Sooners and the Saviors. For only 36 holes. That's just incredible. Only the top 4 teams are less than +10. The fairways look nice, but the greens are brown(-ish) and fast. If you're off the fairways, it's just jail: desert scrub, including saguaro cacti, etc. Likely some Gila monsters in there.

Individually.....................Jack Tickle got to play a round (didn't count) today, in place of Chartier. Maybe the heat got to Chartier?? Just a guess. Or just "why not"? He shot 79 yesterday and Tickle did 80 today.

Need to place this tournament at the Ridges - or in Ireland somewhere. Crazy conditions.

You point our the wide talent level from top to bottom among these top 30 NCAA teams - WOW. And for the remaining NCAA teams not making the tourney - many of them must play my kind of golf just in order to put a team together. As for athletic grants, even partial grants for golf - seems this would be a sweet deal compared to, say, football and basketball.

Beginning early today, in the (relative) cool, the top teams were scorching the scorching course. At one point, the Sooners were -8 - on the day! They're now 'only' -5 shortly after making the turn. But generally the top teams are taking advantage of their early start times. Bucs just now teeing off, and it's currently a mere 83. Last night at 11 PM there it was still 89.

Well, even tho the guys are only on about holes 11-13, all hope is totally lost, and rather firmly. More details later. Next to the bottom - ahead of only the Saviors.

And indeed we finish next-to-last, a mere 72 strokes off the Sooners' pace. For 72 holes. And a mere 34 strokes off qualifying for the 4th round. 306 total, which is only 2 shots better than yesterday, and is *the worst* team score of the whole day.
The top three ranked teams finished 1-2-3 which is actually very unusual.

Jack Tickle shot an 80 - but got that score to count as Carberry blew up to an 82. Mats Ege is the only player who really had a good round, with a 72 to match his score the first day. So he ended +11, which tied for 62nd. Algot Kleen and Archie Davies tied for 116th.

I think we can conclude (as if we didn't know already) that guys from Scandinavia and Ireland have trouble in the desert. That's just the way it is. Still..............a fine season and one to be proud of to be in the top 30 in the country.

(05-29-2022 07:19 AM)Buc66 Wrote:  You point our the wide talent level from top to bottom among these top 30 NCAA teams - WOW. And for the remaining NCAA teams not making the tourney - many of them must play my kind of golf just in order to put a team together. As for athletic grants, even partial grants for golf - seems this would be a sweet deal compared to, say, football and basketball.

Yep. If you're a parent and want to have a kid or two that can make tons of money playing pro sports..........the odds are better with golf and tennis than football or hoops. It's still a grueling road to actually "make" it, though, as I'm sure you know. It takes uncommon talent, extreme dedication, and often a little luck, too.

And the disparity last year, for example, between #1 and #30 (after 54 holes) was quite a bit less: 'only' 63 strokes (UALR being #30, and Az. St. being #1). More germane..........only 3 teams (one being ETSU) were more than 50 strokes off Az. St.'s pace, whereas this year there were 8. The severity of the weather I think accounts for some of it, but I don't know how much.

I don't think the depth of the talent pool is as disparate as it is in say, women's hoops or women's softball - as I think we've discussed in the past - but it reminds one of that.