[Farm93]

With different courses favoring different styles of play and the variability of match play it is really hard to believe any individual player or two will be key to greater success in 2018.

The nature of golf, and the nature of match play, means that 20 programs can credibly enter May with a chance to win it all.  A good roster helps a lot, but luck matters too.

Stanford should be in that 2018 mix, but just advancing to match play is not a given.  Just look at Bama or UCLA here in 2017.

FWIW - That horn blasts 3 minutes later and Stanford advances to the finals, and I believe they beat Northwestern.
FWIW2 - Better that ASU wins this title than USC or UCLA IMHO.

[Farm93]

With different courses favoring different styles of play and the variability of match play it is really hard to believe any individual player or two will be key to greater success in 2018.

The nature of golf, and the nature of match play, means that 20 programs can credibly enter May with a chance to win it all.  A good roster helps a lot, but luck matters too.

Stanford should be in that 2018 mix, but just advancing to match play is not a given.  Just look at Bama or UCLA here in 2017.

FWIW - That horn blasts 3 minutes later and Stanford advances to the finals, and I believe they beat Northwestern.
FWIW2 - Better that ASU wins this title than USC or UCLA IMHO.