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OSUWG: Northrop-Grumman Regional Challenge
Ken via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
We are entering my favorite time of the year; the Spring season for Ohio State Golf! This week the Ohio State Women’s Golf (OSUWG) team teed it up at the Palos Verdes Golf Club (Palos Verdes, CA) for the Northrop-Grumman Regional Challenge. This is he 21st year that the Buckeyes have hosted this event. This is a three round (54 hole) event where the format is ‘play five count four’, where a school fields 5 players, and the low 4 scores for each round are counted. Each school may have a player play as an ‘individual’.
Participating schools are Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Duke, Florida, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, UNLV, UCLA, Southern Cal, Wake Forest, Washington and, of course, Ohio State. Of the 16 participating teams, 14 are ranked in Golfstat’s Top 50 (Ohio State is #50). This is a pretty strong field.
The course is 6,017 yards long and plays to a par 71.
The five players participating for the Buckeyes were: Katja Pogacar, Jessica Porvasnik, Rio Watanabe and Jaclyn Lee. Niki Schroeder competed as the Individual.
Overall
The Buckeyes finished in 11th place, with a team total of 909 (+57). From a team perspective, the 1st round (+17) and 3rd round (+15) played out about the same, but things didn’t click in the 2nd round (+25). Compared to the 1st and 3rd rounds, the Buckeyes just couldn’t get as many birdie putts to drop.
One of the positive notes from the event was the play of Jessica Porvasnik. Her score of 4 over par placed her in a tie for 13th place in the event. Her closing round of 68 (-3) moved her up 19 positions.
Not to read too much into this, but at last year’s NGRC, the Buckeyes finished in 15th place, so there was a significant improvement from last season. Also;
Below is the Buckeye round by round scoring:
Northrop-Grumman
Par 71 Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Total
Team 301 309 299 909
Katja Pogacar 74 79 73 226
Jessica Porvasnik 75 74 68 217
Rio Watanabe 76 84 81 241
Zoe-Beth Brake 82 79 85 246
Jaclyn Lee 76 77 77 230
Niki Schroeder (I) 78 83 76 237
First Round
Beginning play on the front 9 (holes #1-#9), the Buckeyes shot a team score of 301 (+17), placing them in 11th position. The Buckeyes were led by Katja Pogacar 74 (+3) and Jessica Porvasnik 75 (+4). Rio Watanabe 76 (+5) and Jaclyn Lee 76 (+5) also contributed to the team score. Zoe-Beth Brake tooled around the course in 82 (+9). In the Individual category, Niki Schroeder shot a 78 (+7).
Their opening round was kind of what you may expect for the first competitive (of this kind) round of the season. It was a mixture of some steady play and some up and down play. They shot a team score of 17 over par, which is actually not too bad. Two holes just killed their team score, the 147 yard par 3 8th hole was one of them. The four players who counted for team score played the hole in 5 over par. From the tee box, you see trees to the left, bunkers to the left, front, right-front and right-rear. All you see is sand. (Note: My home course has a similar looking par-3. You’re better off to say “to heck with it”, walk up to the green, throw your ball into the bunker and play from there. That will save you some aggravation.)
The other was the 344 yard par-4 10th hole. The team score on this hole was 5 over par (2 bogeys, 1 triple bogey). This hole doglegs left with a downhill tee shot and an uphill approach to a bunker guarded green. Part of the issue with holes like this is with the elevated green, you’re never really quite sure where (depth) the flag stick is. another problem is that, with the elevated green, your approach shots come in at a lower angle and tend to roll further than anticipated/desired. An approach shot to an elevated green is on of my least favorite shots. So, 10 of the 17 strokes over par for the round were piled up on two holes.
As you might also expect from the first round, the team score was comprised of a few bogeys (19), a good many pars (38) and a good number of birdies (11).
Katja had a fairly even keeled round by carding 3 birdies/6 bogeys enroute to her 73. Rio rolled along in her round with 1 birdie /6 bogeys. Jessica had a bit more color on her card by shooting 3 birdies/6 bogeys /1 double bogey.
Jaclyn had a roller coaster ride with 3 birdies / 1 bogey / 2 double bogeys / 1 triple bogey. She played 15 of her holes in 2 under par. That’s quite a round. Niki Schroeder jumped on the thrill ride by recording 2 birdies / 4 bogeys / 1 double / 1 triple. For you scoring at home, that’s 16 holes in 2 over par. That’s pretty good golf, too.
Second Round
For the 2nd round, the Buckeyes shot a team score of 309 (+25). This wasn’t that great, but 11 of the 16 teams shot worse in the second round than they did in the first round. The average team score in the first round was 296, in the second round it was 301. This dropped them to 12th position. The Buckeyes were led by Jessica Porvasnik’s 74 (+3) and Jaclyn Lee’s 77 (+6). Katja Pogacar and Zoe-Beth Brake also contributes to the team score by shooting 79’s (+8). Rio Watanabe shot an 84 (+13). In individual competition, Nike Schroeder shot an 83 (+12).
The Buckeyes opened play on the back nine and struggled a bit coming out of the gate. They shot 15 over on that side, and unlike their opening round, there weren’t any holes that stood out as problems. The team just couldn’t get anything going for them in Round 2. The five players competing for team score recorded 5 double bogeys and 1 birdie. That nearly reversed the scoring from Round 1 (2 double bogeys and 6 birdies).
Their back nine (holes #1 – #9) turned out to be much better, with the team shooting 10 over par for the side. For most of the team, it was pretty much a ho-hum round of pars interspersed with bogeys. However, Zoe-Beth Brake tuned things around at the break. After struggling to a 43 (+7) on her first nine holes, she recorded 3 birdies enroute to a closing 36 (+1). That is an impressive turnaround.
Speaking of impressive, Jaclyn Lee had the only “clean” (no double/triple bogeys) of the day. She carded 7 bogeys and 1 birdie for her 77. Meanwhile, Niki Schroeder’s 2nd nine was as impressive as Zoe-Beth’s. Niki (starting on hole #1) had a disastrous front nine of 45 (+10), punctuated b two triple bogeys. However, she rebounded with 5 straight pars to shoot a 38 (+2) on her back nine.
As you might guess, the team score was comprised of a few bogeys (23), a good many pars (42) but very few birdies (4).
Third Round
As difficult to score as the 2nd round was, the 3rd round was a good bit easier for everyone. The Buckeyes shot a 299 (+15), a good score which moved them up one position to 11th place. Here’s how the team score went for the Buckeyes: Jessica Porvasnik 68 (-3), Katja Pogacar 73 (+2), Jaclyn Lee 77 (+6) and Rio Watanabe 81 (+10) . Zoe-Beth Brake shot an 85 (+14). In Individual play, Niki Schroeder shot a 76 (+5).
Jessica, teeing off on #9, parred that hole, then absolutely blitzed the back nine, scoring 3 birdies for a 3-under 33, then played the front nine in even par. That is some outstanding golf. Katja carded 2 birdies in her round and Jaclyn 3 birdies, all on her front nine. Niki doubled bogeyed her opening hole (#18), which is never a good way to begin a round, then snapped back with 6 consecutive pars, double bogeyed #7, then played the next 8 holes in 1-under par. Oh, but for a couple of slip-ups..
The third round team score was comprised of a few bogeys (19), a good many pars (40) and a good number of birdies (10).
Thoughts
This tournament featured a decent opening round, a ‘meh’ 2nd round and a strong finishing round. There were a couple stumbles here and there, but overall there were enough good individual rounds for this team to build on for the balance of the season.
Sifting through the chaff, here is a “what happened” snap-shot. They played the par 3’s sort of OK, scoring an average of 3.50 strokes per hole, a total of +30 to par; ranking them 11th. I’m pretty sure we can thank the 205-yd 4th, since the Buckeyes were +13 on that hole alone. They played the par 4’s to an average of 4.31 per hole, +51 to par, ranking them 10th. However, the par 5’s were not helpful. They played the par 5’s to an average of 5.31 per hole , +14 to par, ranking 16th. The best team in this category (Duke) played the par 5’s well, -12 to par. That’s a lot of strokes to give up on holes that should offer birdie opportunities.
In terms of “to par” scoring, Ohio State recorded 139 pars (of 270 holes played). That ranked them in 13th in number of pars. They recorded 27 birdies, placing them 11th. They did not record any eagles this week.
The team did a good job of offsetting the “bad” (double/triple bogeys) with “good” (birdies) this event. For example, in their first round, the five ‘team’ players carded 12 birdies and 4 double bogeys /1 triple bogey. In their second round, they recorded only 3 birdies, but had 6 double bogeys, not a good mix. In the third round, they shot 11 birdies but 3 double bogeys and a triple bogey. They just couldn’t get any traction to move further up the leader board. direction.
Regardless, there were several periods of various team members being able to stabilize rounds with pars and at times to go low with numerous birdies. This will be a fun season. Please join me for the ride.
The team next tees it up February 21st – 22nd in Peoria, AZ for the Westbrook Spring Invitational.
Go Buckeyes!
The post OSUWG: Northrop-Grumman Regional Challenge appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...
Ken via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
We are entering my favorite time of the year; the Spring season for Ohio State Golf! This week the Ohio State Women’s Golf (OSUWG) team teed it up at the Palos Verdes Golf Club (Palos Verdes, CA) for the Northrop-Grumman Regional Challenge. This is he 21st year that the Buckeyes have hosted this event. This is a three round (54 hole) event where the format is ‘play five count four’, where a school fields 5 players, and the low 4 scores for each round are counted. Each school may have a player play as an ‘individual’.
Participating schools are Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Duke, Florida, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, UNLV, UCLA, Southern Cal, Wake Forest, Washington and, of course, Ohio State. Of the 16 participating teams, 14 are ranked in Golfstat’s Top 50 (Ohio State is #50). This is a pretty strong field.
The course is 6,017 yards long and plays to a par 71.
The five players participating for the Buckeyes were: Katja Pogacar, Jessica Porvasnik, Rio Watanabe and Jaclyn Lee. Niki Schroeder competed as the Individual.
Overall
The Buckeyes finished in 11th place, with a team total of 909 (+57). From a team perspective, the 1st round (+17) and 3rd round (+15) played out about the same, but things didn’t click in the 2nd round (+25). Compared to the 1st and 3rd rounds, the Buckeyes just couldn’t get as many birdie putts to drop.
One of the positive notes from the event was the play of Jessica Porvasnik. Her score of 4 over par placed her in a tie for 13th place in the event. Her closing round of 68 (-3) moved her up 19 positions.
Not to read too much into this, but at last year’s NGRC, the Buckeyes finished in 15th place, so there was a significant improvement from last season. Also;
- This year’s score of 909 is 16 strokes better than last year.
- This year’s low Buckeye scorer was Jessica Porvasnik who finished in 13th place. Last year’s best Buckeye finisher was Jan Chanpalangsri, who finished in a T-50 position.
- This year’s worst team round was the 2nd round when the Buckeyes shot a 309. Last year’s worst team round was… the 2nd round with a team score of 309.
Below is the Buckeye round by round scoring:
Northrop-Grumman
Par 71 Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Total
Team 301 309 299 909
Katja Pogacar 74 79 73 226
Jessica Porvasnik 75 74 68 217
Rio Watanabe 76 84 81 241
Zoe-Beth Brake 82 79 85 246
Jaclyn Lee 76 77 77 230
Niki Schroeder (I) 78 83 76 237
First Round
Beginning play on the front 9 (holes #1-#9), the Buckeyes shot a team score of 301 (+17), placing them in 11th position. The Buckeyes were led by Katja Pogacar 74 (+3) and Jessica Porvasnik 75 (+4). Rio Watanabe 76 (+5) and Jaclyn Lee 76 (+5) also contributed to the team score. Zoe-Beth Brake tooled around the course in 82 (+9). In the Individual category, Niki Schroeder shot a 78 (+7).
Their opening round was kind of what you may expect for the first competitive (of this kind) round of the season. It was a mixture of some steady play and some up and down play. They shot a team score of 17 over par, which is actually not too bad. Two holes just killed their team score, the 147 yard par 3 8th hole was one of them. The four players who counted for team score played the hole in 5 over par. From the tee box, you see trees to the left, bunkers to the left, front, right-front and right-rear. All you see is sand. (Note: My home course has a similar looking par-3. You’re better off to say “to heck with it”, walk up to the green, throw your ball into the bunker and play from there. That will save you some aggravation.)
The other was the 344 yard par-4 10th hole. The team score on this hole was 5 over par (2 bogeys, 1 triple bogey). This hole doglegs left with a downhill tee shot and an uphill approach to a bunker guarded green. Part of the issue with holes like this is with the elevated green, you’re never really quite sure where (depth) the flag stick is. another problem is that, with the elevated green, your approach shots come in at a lower angle and tend to roll further than anticipated/desired. An approach shot to an elevated green is on of my least favorite shots. So, 10 of the 17 strokes over par for the round were piled up on two holes.
As you might also expect from the first round, the team score was comprised of a few bogeys (19), a good many pars (38) and a good number of birdies (11).
Katja had a fairly even keeled round by carding 3 birdies/6 bogeys enroute to her 73. Rio rolled along in her round with 1 birdie /6 bogeys. Jessica had a bit more color on her card by shooting 3 birdies/6 bogeys /1 double bogey.
Jaclyn had a roller coaster ride with 3 birdies / 1 bogey / 2 double bogeys / 1 triple bogey. She played 15 of her holes in 2 under par. That’s quite a round. Niki Schroeder jumped on the thrill ride by recording 2 birdies / 4 bogeys / 1 double / 1 triple. For you scoring at home, that’s 16 holes in 2 over par. That’s pretty good golf, too.
Second Round
For the 2nd round, the Buckeyes shot a team score of 309 (+25). This wasn’t that great, but 11 of the 16 teams shot worse in the second round than they did in the first round. The average team score in the first round was 296, in the second round it was 301. This dropped them to 12th position. The Buckeyes were led by Jessica Porvasnik’s 74 (+3) and Jaclyn Lee’s 77 (+6). Katja Pogacar and Zoe-Beth Brake also contributes to the team score by shooting 79’s (+8). Rio Watanabe shot an 84 (+13). In individual competition, Nike Schroeder shot an 83 (+12).
The Buckeyes opened play on the back nine and struggled a bit coming out of the gate. They shot 15 over on that side, and unlike their opening round, there weren’t any holes that stood out as problems. The team just couldn’t get anything going for them in Round 2. The five players competing for team score recorded 5 double bogeys and 1 birdie. That nearly reversed the scoring from Round 1 (2 double bogeys and 6 birdies).
Their back nine (holes #1 – #9) turned out to be much better, with the team shooting 10 over par for the side. For most of the team, it was pretty much a ho-hum round of pars interspersed with bogeys. However, Zoe-Beth Brake tuned things around at the break. After struggling to a 43 (+7) on her first nine holes, she recorded 3 birdies enroute to a closing 36 (+1). That is an impressive turnaround.
Speaking of impressive, Jaclyn Lee had the only “clean” (no double/triple bogeys) of the day. She carded 7 bogeys and 1 birdie for her 77. Meanwhile, Niki Schroeder’s 2nd nine was as impressive as Zoe-Beth’s. Niki (starting on hole #1) had a disastrous front nine of 45 (+10), punctuated b two triple bogeys. However, she rebounded with 5 straight pars to shoot a 38 (+2) on her back nine.
As you might guess, the team score was comprised of a few bogeys (23), a good many pars (42) but very few birdies (4).
Third Round
As difficult to score as the 2nd round was, the 3rd round was a good bit easier for everyone. The Buckeyes shot a 299 (+15), a good score which moved them up one position to 11th place. Here’s how the team score went for the Buckeyes: Jessica Porvasnik 68 (-3), Katja Pogacar 73 (+2), Jaclyn Lee 77 (+6) and Rio Watanabe 81 (+10) . Zoe-Beth Brake shot an 85 (+14). In Individual play, Niki Schroeder shot a 76 (+5).
Jessica, teeing off on #9, parred that hole, then absolutely blitzed the back nine, scoring 3 birdies for a 3-under 33, then played the front nine in even par. That is some outstanding golf. Katja carded 2 birdies in her round and Jaclyn 3 birdies, all on her front nine. Niki doubled bogeyed her opening hole (#18), which is never a good way to begin a round, then snapped back with 6 consecutive pars, double bogeyed #7, then played the next 8 holes in 1-under par. Oh, but for a couple of slip-ups..
The third round team score was comprised of a few bogeys (19), a good many pars (40) and a good number of birdies (10).
Thoughts
This tournament featured a decent opening round, a ‘meh’ 2nd round and a strong finishing round. There were a couple stumbles here and there, but overall there were enough good individual rounds for this team to build on for the balance of the season.
Sifting through the chaff, here is a “what happened” snap-shot. They played the par 3’s sort of OK, scoring an average of 3.50 strokes per hole, a total of +30 to par; ranking them 11th. I’m pretty sure we can thank the 205-yd 4th, since the Buckeyes were +13 on that hole alone. They played the par 4’s to an average of 4.31 per hole, +51 to par, ranking them 10th. However, the par 5’s were not helpful. They played the par 5’s to an average of 5.31 per hole , +14 to par, ranking 16th. The best team in this category (Duke) played the par 5’s well, -12 to par. That’s a lot of strokes to give up on holes that should offer birdie opportunities.
In terms of “to par” scoring, Ohio State recorded 139 pars (of 270 holes played). That ranked them in 13th in number of pars. They recorded 27 birdies, placing them 11th. They did not record any eagles this week.
The team did a good job of offsetting the “bad” (double/triple bogeys) with “good” (birdies) this event. For example, in their first round, the five ‘team’ players carded 12 birdies and 4 double bogeys /1 triple bogey. In their second round, they recorded only 3 birdies, but had 6 double bogeys, not a good mix. In the third round, they shot 11 birdies but 3 double bogeys and a triple bogey. They just couldn’t get any traction to move further up the leader board. direction.
Regardless, there were several periods of various team members being able to stabilize rounds with pars and at times to go low with numerous birdies. This will be a fun season. Please join me for the ride.
The team next tees it up February 21st – 22nd in Peoria, AZ for the Westbrook Spring Invitational.
Go Buckeyes!
The post OSUWG: Northrop-Grumman Regional Challenge appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...