OSUWG: Buckeyes 5th at Silverado Shotout
Ken via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
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(Team photo and tournament information courtesy of Ohio State Athletic Department.)
The OSUWG team has reason to smile after their final two rounds.
This week the
Ohio State Women’s Golf (OSUWG) team teed it up for the Silverado Showdown at Silverado Resort – North Course in Napa, CA. The course is 6,206 yards long and plays to a par of 72. It has a
USGA course rating of 70.2 and a slope of 128.
(By comparison, my “home” course has a slope/rating of 72/123. Not even close in difficulty. Don’t be fooled by the relatively close rating/slope, you need some context. The Silverado North course is a ‘resort’ course and the USGA rated it in its “as is” condition. However, for tournaments such as this, the course is set up much tougher than for daily resort visitor play – almost to the point of being a different course.)
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. This schedule is for one round to be played per day, over three consecutive days. Usually, the first two rounds are played on the same day. That makes for a grueling day.
The eighteen team field is comprised of: No. 15 California, No. 40 Colorado, Gonzaga, Long Beach State, No. 36 Louisville, No. 50 LSU, Minnesota, Nebraska, No. 43 New Mexico,
No. 44 Ohio State, No. 23 Oregon, Pepperdine, No. 17 San Diego State, San Francisco, San Jose State, No. 11 Stanford, UC Davis, Wisconsin. Half the field is ranked in Golfstat’s Top-50. This is a fairly stiff field.
The five players participating for the Buckeyes were:
Katja Pogacar,
Jessica Porvasnik, Rio Watanabe, Niki Schroeder and Jaclyn Lee.
Overall
Ohio State rode two strong rounds of +4 to par each to move into
5th place for the tournament. This was an interesting scoring dynamic for the three rounds, beginning in the opening round with all five Buckeyes shooting within one stroke of one another in the mid-70’s.
In the 2nd round, the upper class-men (non-freshmen) carried the team, scoring in the low-70’s, while the freshmen stayed in the mid-70’s. In the final round, the freshmen lead the way by scoring in the low-70’s while the upper class-men shot in the mid-70’s. This week was further proof that every one of these players can put together a team-leading round of golf.
Ohio State had no one in the Top 10 (Jaclyn Lee was T-18th), which indicated well balanced team scoring throughout the three rounds.
Below is the Buckeye round by round scoring:
Silverado Shootout Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Total
Team 301 292 292 885
Katja Pogacar 75 72 75 222
Jessica Porvasnik 76 73 75 224
Rio Watanabe 75 72 77 224
Niki Schroeder 75 77 72 224
Jaclyn Lee 76 75 70 221
13 4 4
1st Round
The Buckeyes opened play on hole #10 and shot a team score of 301 (+13) placing them in T-9th position. The Buckeyes were led by
Katja Pogacar, Rio Watanabe and
Niki Schroeder with all three shooting 75’s (+3).
Jessica Porvasnik and
Jaclyn Lee each shot 76’s (+4).
1st Round
Katja began her round slowly with 3 bogeys in her first 5 holes. She got her game on-line and played the finishing 13 holes in even par.
Jessica opened with a 38 (+2) on her first nine holes, then worked around 2 birdies/1 double bogey on her back nine holes for another steady 38.
Rio dropped 2 birdies/3 bogeys in her front nine of 37 (+1). She had her round to even par through 15 holes, but closed with 3 consecutive bogeys.
Niki had a “Tale of Two Cities” within her round. In her first nine holes, she had 5 consecutive bogeys, before closing with a birdie, for a 40 (+4). She rebounded with 2 birdies on the back side for a 35 (-1). Wow.
Jaclyn had a fairly uneventful
(which is generally good) round. She had 2 bogeys and 7 pars on each side – shooting a very steady 38-38. No muss, no fuss.
The first round comprised of 10 birdies, 55 pars, 24 bogeys and a single double bogey.
The Buckeyes played a pretty “average” opening round. The average score was 76.02, OSU’s (5 golfers) average score was 75.4. Their team score placed them in T-9th of 18 teams. This was a well balanced team effort; 3 players shot 75, 2 shot 76. That’s always good news. Everyone was “in the match”. There is one tenet of golf, especially for a three-round tournament;
never shoot your way out of a tournament. The Buckeyes were in the thick of it. Now, on to the 2nd round…
2nd Round
The plan is falling into place for the Buckeyes. They shot a team score of 292 (+4) which moved them up into T-7th place. The score was one of the better team efforts (3rd best) of the day and put them into a position to move up the leader-board, depending how the putts drop. The Buckeyes were led by and
Katja Pogacar 72 (E),
Rio Watanabe 72 (E) and
Jessica Porvasnik 73 (+1).
Jaclyn Lee shot a 75 (+3) to round out the team scoring, while
Niki Schroeder shot a 76 (+4).
Katja had a solid clean round of 3 birdies / 3 bogeys / 12 pars. Her game was on “fairways & greens” autopilot. Katja finished strongly by birdieing two of her last three holes. That always puts you in a good frame of mind for the upcoming round.
Jessica was in similar mode; 2 birdies / 3 bogeys / 13 pars made for a smooth round.
Rio was likewise in “fairways & greens” mode. She had 3 birdies / 3 bogeys / 12 pars. She had a four hole mid-round stretch (holes #8-#11) where she collected 3 birdies.
Niki had two solid nines of 38-39. She double bogeyed #8, then birdied #9 to end her front side with a flourish.
Jaclyn had a well played front nine (36 – even par) and a birdie on #17 stabilized her back nine of 39.
The team play was comprised of 12 birdies, 17 bogeys, 59 pars and only 2 double bogeys. This was a clean round for the Buckeyes.
A very good 2nd round. I love it when a plan comes together.
3rd Round
Ohio State tied for the best round of the day, their second consecutive 292 (+4) which moved them up two spots to 5th place. The Buckeyes had solid scores throughout the team scorecard, but for a triple bogey 8 on the par-5 5th hole. The Buckeyes were led by
Jaclyn Lee 70 (-2) and
Niki Schroeder 72 (E). ,
Katja Pogacar 75 (+3) and
Jessica Porvasnik 75 (+3) contributed to the team score.
Rio Watanabe’s 77 (+5) rounded out the scoring for Ohio State.
Jaclyn was -2 through her first five holes, then played even par over her closing 13 holes. Nothing but fairways and greens.
Jessica strung together 8 consecutive pars and added a birdie to her 4 bogeys for a steady round..
Niki was -2 after her first 5 holes, bogeyed her 7th hole, then played her next
12 holes in -1.
Katja was
-3 after her first 10 holes, but a closing 5 hole stretch, which included the triple bogey, undid her round. That was a shame, for she had a strong 17 holes of even par golf.
Rio had an unremarkable 39 (+3) on her back side, but closed with a strong 38 where she had a 6 hole stretch (2 birdies / 4 bogeys) of no pars.
The third round play was comprised of 13 birdies, 58 pars, 19 bogeys and 1 triple bogey.
Thoughts
This tournament featured a so-so opening round, then two rounds where the Buckeyes shot T-3 best then best scores of each round. For the second consecutive tournament, Ohio State shot their best round during their final round, so they are getting used to being “closers”. This is turning into a very dangerous team.
Sifting through the chaff, here is a “what happened” snap-shot. They played the par 3’s relatively “meh”, scoring an average of 3.23 strokes per hole, a total of +14 to par, ranking them 12th of the 18 teams. They played the par 4’s extremely well, to an average of 4.17 per hole, +26 to par, ranking them 2nd. In a pleasant turn, they again played the par 5’s very well; to an average of 4.92, -5 to par, ranking them 2nd. The Buckeyes mastered the par-4’s and par-5’s, but the damn par-3’s…
In terms of
team play “to par” scoring, Ohio State recorded 170 pars, ranking them 5th. Interestingly, this is their second tournament of 170 pars. Pars are are our friends.. They recorded 35 birdies, placing them T-4th, again for 2nd straight event. This is the fourth consecutive tournament where the Buckeyes have played quite well in terms of recording pars and
very well in birdie scoring. The Buckeyes are trending in the right direction.
Up Next
The team returns to Columbus for the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational on April 16th-17th at the OSU Golf Club Scarlet Course. After a week on the Left Coast, it’s good to get some home cookin’. I suggest that you make plans to take some time to take in this tournament.
Go Buckeyes!
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