"This is a big deal not just for Augusta State but for the city of Augusta, Ga."

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It's a shame the NCAA golf championships aren't televised, because after reading Ron Balicki and Ryan Herrington's game stories and watching the Golfweek highlight reel, it looks like the match play format would make good television. Especially when Augusta State and it's well-spoken mix of American and European players knocks off big, bad Oklahoma State.
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"There are players that would not dare hit a putt until the coach looks at it from more than one angle and gets the coach’s approval. Give me a break!"

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Asher Wildman solicited views and now prints an email from Long Beach State coach Bill Poutre about slow play in college golf. Poutre says the problem starts with lack of enforcement by coaches hosting events and the coaches themselves...overcoaching during play.
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"Thoughtful setup equals more fun"

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Lance Rigler documents a small but nice example of shifting tees around and how some college golfers are finding it both fun and challenging.

The best examples might have been Nos. 16 and 17. Playing from the tips, the par-5 16th hole featured a back right hole location and gave players all they wanted today. It stretched over 680 yards and played to a 5.13 scoring average.

However, players were immediately rewarded with the par-4 17th, where a good drive could find the putting surface. What a swing of emotions that were produced in that two-hole stretch.

“The kids are saying this is a lot of fun,” said Vanderbilt coach Tom Shaw. “The setup today with some of the tees up and some of the tees back, it really makes them think.”

"All factors considered, Burgoon’s shot will go down as one of the best in college golf history."

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Check out Eric Soderstrom's NCAA game story on a thrilling win by Texas A&M. Sounds like the new match play format produced a classic. Just a shame it wasn't televised. At least Golfweek TV has video of the big finish.

Ryan Herrington also notes a subtle way that the new format produced more media attention that almost certainly would not have occurred under the old format.

Vagaries Of Match Play Warning: NCAA Men's Championships

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I've spared you the various stories over the last few weeks where college coaches whine about the new NCAA championship format because, well, I can only take so many ignorant comments about the "flukiness" or "vagaries" or "luck involved" with match play.

To review, from the Golfweek staff (you can also read their picks here):

Teams will play 54 holes of stroke play to determine the individual champion and the eight teams that advance will play match play. The quarterfinals and semifinals will take place Friday, with the championship match being held Saturday.

Personally, I think it's a more pure and logical way to find out who has the best team. Sure, the 54-holes to determine the individual winner isn't ideal and there is still a reliance on stroke play to determine the final 8. And oh yes and there's the motivation behind the move: to lure television.

Regardless, doesn't this have the potential for excitement and to deliver a more worthy team champion than a traditional stroke play event?

Ryan Herrington thinks so provided the weather doesn't become a story, and he also makes his picks for the week:

Think of how much grinding we're going to see in the final stroke-play round as the 30 teams try to earn a spot in the Elite Eight?

And if that doesn't seem compelling enough, think of how intense the head-to-head, school-versus-school showdowns will be as we narrow the field to four teams, then two and ultimately a national champion. Tell me you don't think a Georgia vs. Georgia Tech match-up in any round won't be interesting? What if UCLA must face USC to get to the championship match?

“Andrew played harder than some of the other boys wanted to play.”

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Thanks to readers Ari and John for these stories related to Andrew Giuliani suing Duke University over coach O.D. Vincent dismissing the senior from the golf team.

Ellis Henican in Newsday:

Late yesterday, his attorneys filed a federal lawsuit in North Carolina, contending the university has violated its obligations to him as a student-athlete and demanding he be invited back to Duke's state-of-the-art golf-training facility.

It's obviously been a tense few months on campus.
On Feb. 11, the lawsuit says, men's golf coach "O.D. Vincent announced to the team that he was unilaterally canceling Andrew's eligibility to participate in the University's Athletics Program immediately and indefinitely. Andrew and his teammates were shocked. Andrew had no prior notice of what was about to happen. At no time was Andrew ever given an opportunity to defend himself; instead he was summarily dismissed."
Dan Slater posts these details on the WSJ's blog. Unfortunately for Vincent, it reads like satire.
The suit claims that incidents of misconduct that Vincent cited in his reasons for expelling Giuliani were not appropriate reasons for expulsion, such as:
    •    On Feb. 2 Giuliani flipped his putter a few feet to his golf bag.
    •    On Feb. 3, Giuliani leaned over his driver and it broke, and “in O.D. Vincent’s telling, this became ‘throwing and breaking’ a club.”
    •    On Feb. 3, Giuliani walked ahead of his playing partner at Treyburn Golf Course and later that day “gunned the engine” of his car and “drove fast while leaving the golf course parking lot.”
    •    On Feb. 4, during a golf-team football game, “Andrew played harder than some of the other boys wanted to play.”
    •    On Feb. 10, while Giuliani was eating an apple, a teammate twice hit the golfer’s hand and knocked the fruit to the ground. After that same teammate “slammed a door hitting Andrew’s face,” Giuliani “tossed the apple at a teammate, glancing off the side of his face.”