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RE: NCAA Women's Golf - 2006alum - 05-19-2018

Excellent! Let's hope we can keep the upward (or, strokewise, downward) momentum tomorrow!

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - Spiny_Norman - 05-19-2018

(05-19-2018, 11:44 AM)2006alum Wrote:  Speaking of which, do we know how they assign the order of the tee times? I had thought it was adjusted so the top teams went last and the worst teams went off first, but Alabama and UCLA, among the tournament leaders, were off in the first group today. Given that the course plays significantly worse as the day wears on, it would seem that getting off in one of the earlier groups would hold a major advantage - and, indeed, UCLA and Alabama currently sit nos. 1 and 2 overall...

Today was a really good day for the team. Andrea Lee's 69 was the 2nd best score of the day. Mika Liu seemed to have figured some things out after a horrible 1st round. Shannon Aubert seems to have returned to her reliable game.  And the team as a whole mostly avoided really bad holes. They are now in a position to be competitive. They won the day today. They need to go out and win the day tomorrow.

Here is a story about Round 1 and how the team showed its resilience. Apparently it was a big adjustment to get used to the speed of the greens - https://golfweek.com/2018/05/18/stanford-arizona-state-not-worried-despite-slow-starts-at-ncaa-championship/

Conditions will be different tomorrow. Forecast temperatures will be about 15 degrees cooler with the wind out of the north instead of the south.  There is a threat of rain and thunderstorms during play.  Rain today caused a delay long enough so that the final groups did not complete play. If they have to come out tomorrow morning to finish their round, that pushes everything back a bit tomorrow. Stanford is likely to play in the afternoon. For Round 3, I believe that teams 13-24 will play in the morning. Teams 1-12 (including Stanford) will play in the afternoon. But the officials won't post tee times until Round 2 is done.


2006alum, the pairings are set for tournaments like this one to be as fair as possible to all teams for Rounds 1 and 2. Each team plays once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Alabama and UCLA got to play early today when the better scores were posted. But they played in the afternoon on Friday for Round 1.
Observations:

Lance Ringler wrote a long article about the course setup and how it is playing for the women. Conclusion - tough but fair. 
https://golfweek.com/2018/05/19/ringler-karsten-creek-playing-tough-but-not-unfair-for-women/

The players do seem to have adjusted a bit. The average score today was about 1.4 shots less than yesterday.

From what I can tell, Arkansas, Baylor and Texas will be paired tomorrow. Stanford golf fans may remember that Dylan Kim was a frosh on Baylor in 2015 and knocked off Stanford's #1 player Lauren Kim in the match play final. Dylan Kim left Baylor afterward to play for Arkansas. Tomorrow, she will have to play in a group with a golfer from her former team. Wonder how awkward that might be.

And I stand corrected on completion of today's round. It may have been nearly dark when the last groups finished, but they did get everyone into the books for the 2nd round. 

Pairings are posted for the 3rd round and Stanford will play early! They are paired with Kent State and Duke, starting on #1 at 8:36 am central, 6:36 am pacific.

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - BigEasyCard - 05-20-2018

Cardinal at Even par in early going today.  Moved up to 8th, 9 strokes below the current cut of +32.

Geaux Cardinal!

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - 2006alum - 05-20-2018

Excellent play so far! Staying even through those rough first holes would position us really well to move up. The front six holes killed us the first two days, so escaping with par would be a brobdingnagian accomplishment.

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - oldalum - 05-20-2018

We're doing fine, and Albane has 4 birdies in the first 6 holes. We moved up to 8th mainly because Florida State moved down with a +7 on the back nine, but we're close to 6th place.
Mika Liu has another double bogey: bad holes have been her undoing on this course.

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - Hulk01 - 05-20-2018

Of possible interest:
UCLA's Bethany Wu, their well-regarded #4, is struggling again, as she did down the last weeks of the season.  If this continues, her weakness, combined with having one of the weakest #5's of any top 25 team, could end up killing the Bruins in match play.

Alabama has been having problems at #4, too.

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - oldalum - 05-20-2018

Our scoring #5 at nationals, Liu, has been struggling some in stroke play, but she should be fine in match play because her occasional bad holes won't hurt her as much as they do in stroke play.
Just as I wrote that, Liu got a quadruple bogey on 9, putting her at +9 for the front nine! Groan

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - d4cohn - 05-20-2018

(05-20-2018, 09:19 AM)oldalum Wrote:  Our scoring #5 at nationals, Liu, has been struggling some in stroke play, but she should be fine in match play because her occasional bad holes won't hurt her as much as they do in stroke play.
Just as I wrote that, Liu got a quadruple bogey on 9, putting her at +9 for the front nine! Groan

Yeah, unfortunately, Liu is third to last among the 132 players in the field after posting a second 85 in three rounds. As a team, currently in 7th place, but definitely still work to do tomorrow to ensure a spot in the quarterfinals.

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - Spiny_Norman - 05-20-2018

Stanford rode the back today of Albane Valenzuela who fired a fantastic 66. Andrea Lee also finished under par at 71. Shannon Aubert fought back from a rough start to shoot 75. She was 3 under on the final 8 holes.  Emily Wang struggled all day and shot 79 which had to count because Mika Liu shot 85.

As I write this, Stanford has moved up to 7th place, 4 shots ahead of 9th place Florida State. They have assured themselves a shot at making match play and controlling their fate. There will probably be half a dozen schools chasing them tomorrow, hoping for stumbles that will give them a chance to pass Stanford.  A rock solid round led by veterans Lee, Valenzuela and Aubert plus a better performance by Wang or Liu should seal the deal. But it could be a nail biter.

If you have access to the Golf Channel, you can follow the action live tomorrow beginning at 4 pm eastern/1 pm pacific.

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - oldalum - 05-20-2018

Note that the vaunted Bruins ("Hey, we're a Cal, too") from L.A. shot a +9 today (versus our +3)! Happy for them to get their confidence shaken a bit!

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - Spiny_Norman - 05-20-2018

Preview for the 4th round - Stanford is in 7th place and will be paired with 8th place Kent State and 9th place Florida State for the final round of stroke play.  The top 8 teams after tomorrow's round advance to match play.  Lurking just beyond FSU are two dangerous teams, Arkansas and Baylor.

7. Stanford +26
8. Kent State +27
=============
9. Florida State +30
10. Baylor +31
11. Arkansas +33

The coaches will be stressing to the players to focus on themselves and their game, not to be influenced by the scores of others. Their opponent is the golf course for one final day. 

To maximize the drama, Stanford, Kent State and Florida State will be the final pairing of the day. They will start on the back 9 beginning at 1:10 pm central/11:10 am pacific.  Good luck, ladies!

You also might enjoy reading this feature on Albane Valenzuela and the injury that she has been fighting through.

https://golfweek.com/2018/05/20/stanford-albane-valenzuela-fires-sunday-66-at-ncaa-championship-despite-spring-injury/

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - BigEasyCard - 05-21-2018

Stanford starts on 10 today. Mika Liu just made par on her first hole.

Geaux Cardinal!

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - oldalum - 05-21-2018

Baylor has joined the starting group of top 8, going -4 on the first few holes of the back 9, now just one behind us.

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - Spiny_Norman - 05-21-2018

If you have access to the Golf Channel, they are starting their coverage now (12 noon pacific) with a one hour studio show. There will be some live check-ins as well.

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - Hulk01 - 05-21-2018

The front is playing brutally today.  The teams starting on the back will look much better after nine holes.  If your team can get through 1-6 without major wounds, you're on to match play.

13 and 17 are the holes to watch for Stanford right now.  Both are par-plus-half holes.  If you see a lot of Stanford pars on those holes--a net +2--that's ideal.  And we want at birdie or two on 18;

Once to the front, holes five and six--same deal.

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - 2006alum - 05-21-2018

(05-21-2018, 12:31 PM)Hulk01 Wrote:  The front is playing brutally today.  The teams starting on the back will look much better after nine holes.  If your team can get through 1-6 without major wounds, you're on to match play.

13 and 17 are the holes to watch for Stanford right now.  Both are par-plus-half holes.  If you see a lot of Stanford pars on those holes--a net +2--that's ideal.  And we want at birdie or two on 18;

Once to the front, holes five and six--same deal.

Thanks for the analysis, Hulk. Could the rough front 9 be due to the afternoon weather conditions? I was surprised to see all the teams teeing off so late in the day, and I imagine it means everyone will have rough sledding on the front 9. Do we know why they didn't have teams start in the early AM as usual? Maybe it equalizes since everyone has to deal with wind and heat on the front 9, but it seemed surprising.

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - oldalum - 05-21-2018

(05-21-2018, 12:40 PM)2006alum Wrote:  Do we know why they didn't have teams start in the early AM as usual? 
I would guess that it's for TV.
Lee has birdied her first 3 holes! and we're at -3 as a team, tied with Baylor for best on the back 9 so far (and staying 5 ahead of them).

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - Hulk01 - 05-21-2018

Front nine is just much harder, period.  I think the current average for all players--no drop scores--is +12.3 on the front and +9.3 on the back.  It's unusual to see a front and back side vary that much in difficulty.

Later start is for television.  No one watching before 8 am Pacific time.  And the teams prefer a start that allows them to wake up around nine, breakfast, and get to the course for practice, if the organizers need anothe reason to start nearer to noon.

Arizona is in the midst of a hideous collapse.  Baylor and Arkansas are worth watching coming from behind the current top eight.

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - BostonCard - 05-21-2018

The team is -3 through an average of 4 holes.  Andrea Lee birdied the first three holes.

BC

RE: NCAA Women's Golf - Spiny_Norman - 05-21-2018

Yes, Golf Channel wants the round to be finishing around 7-8 pm in the east. So all teams are playing in the heat of the day.

But conditions are ideal for the players. Temps in the 80s. Barely enough wind to ripple the flags. The greens are softer after rain on and off the prior 2 days.

Stanford off to a strong start led by Andrea Lee's 3 straight birdies. She nearly holed her approach on 12 for an eagle.

Arizona on the other hand is trying to put the wheels back on after a disastrous start. They have had to count 3 double bogeys in the first 4 holes. Arizona has dropped close to the bubble.

The Golf Channel reporters also disclosed that Mika Liu has been fighting the flu which may explain her tournament struggles. She did not even play a practice round because of the illness. So far, so good today. She is -1 through 5 holes.