05-24-2018, 12:13 PM
I'd love to see us get to match play, and we did manage to outplay two top ten teams (LSU and Alabama) in the Regionals, but I hope no casual Stanford fans expect that Stanford should advance. It's just not a very talented team.
This course, however, favors us relative to many of the top 20 teams. It inflicts much heavier penalties on bad shots--doubles and triples--and doesn't offer up a lot of birdie chances. The team that can grind out a lot of pars and avoid the woods and the wrong parts of these greens has an advantage.
It also places a premium on reading speed; if someone kept a tally of three putts (and four putts), this course probably lapped the previous NCAA record.
The afternoon rounds could get especially wicked if the wind and heat go up.
It's a terrific test. (I amend my earlier nasty comments about Tom Fazio.) If we get into the final eight, it's a sign that we're a damn good team that just plays too many courses where intelligence, course management, patience/emotional control, and accuracy matter too little.
This course, however, favors us relative to many of the top 20 teams. It inflicts much heavier penalties on bad shots--doubles and triples--and doesn't offer up a lot of birdie chances. The team that can grind out a lot of pars and avoid the woods and the wrong parts of these greens has an advantage.
It also places a premium on reading speed; if someone kept a tally of three putts (and four putts), this course probably lapped the previous NCAA record.
The afternoon rounds could get especially wicked if the wind and heat go up.
It's a terrific test. (I amend my earlier nasty comments about Tom Fazio.) If we get into the final eight, it's a sign that we're a damn good team that just plays too many courses where intelligence, course management, patience/emotional control, and accuracy matter too little.