2016-17 Illini Golf

#302      

Illinoise

Illinoise
Illinoise
The Illini don't all play together as a group. There will be five separate threesomes. Each group will have one player from Illinois, Oregon and Kent State.
 
#303      

Konnie

K
Western Suburbs
Konnie
I just received a note from Illinois’ Office of Athletics Development about Illini Men’s Golf at Rich Harvest Farms this Friday. Here is part of the note:

Join us, along with other loyal Illini fans, prior to tee off on Friday, May 26 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, IL for all things ILLINI. We will have a tent set up in the northwest corner of the NCAA Spectator Parking Lot starting at 12:00 PM with raffle items and Illini giveaways. Let's pack Rich Harvest Farms with Orange and Blue!

Who: All Illini Golf Fans
What: Illini Hub at NCAA Championships
When: Friday, May 26 12:00 PM
Where: 2330 Granart Rd, Sugar Grove, IL 60554
Why: To support our Fighting Illini Men's Golf team!
 
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#304      

WesterveltVictoryCigar

WesterveltVictoryCigar
WesterveltVictoryCigar
Preview from Golfweek:

Don’t forget about

Illinois: Pressure, what pressure? Head coach Mike Small’s teams have more match play appearances than any other team with five – including the last four. However, the Illini have a 4-5 won-loss record in match play. With a home crowd and not the bullseye on their back, the Illini could be in a prime position to win a title.



What to Expect
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#305      

icengineer

I
Southern Illinois
icengineer
We lost to Oregon last year when they played their home course. Let's turn the tables and be the ones to win it this year with a 'home course' advantage! :thumb:
 
#306      

WesterveltVictoryCigar

WesterveltVictoryCigar
WesterveltVictoryCigar
icengineer said:
We lost to Oregon last year when they played their home course. Let's turn the tables and be the ones to win it this year with a 'home course' advantage! :thumb:
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We don't have anything close to the same advantage. Home crowd probably, which might help some if we can get to match play, but this isn't a course 5 min from campus like Oregon's.

It is about as close as we'll ever get, though....
 
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#307      

bobbob

B
bobbob
WesterveltVictoryCigar said:
We don't have anything close to the same advantage. Home crowd probably, which might help some if we can get to match play, but this isn't a course 5 min from campus like Oregon's.
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Meh, per NCAA rules Oregon hadn't been playing the course.

Sure, you can claim that sleeping at home is an advantage, but you can also argue that keeping the same tournament routine by staying in a hotel is an advantage.

Basically, we really overblew the "home course" thing last year. Oregon was hot, and better to be hot than good.
 
#310      

Illinoise

Illinoise
Illinoise
WesterveltVictoryCigar said:
They didn't host any events that year, but they had played it every day for years prior.



No, we didn't "overblew" anything. They wouldn't have won it on any other course.
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This is going too far. An advantage to be sure, but you don't win the NCAA championship without being a great team with outstanding players. They clearly played their best golf of the year to finish the season. Knowing the golf course you are playing better than the other teams is only a slight advantage. They deserve what they got. Once these teams had played the stroke play portion, practice rounds before the event, and made it to match play they were all plenty familiar with the course.
 
#311      

WesterveltVictoryCigar

WesterveltVictoryCigar
WesterveltVictoryCigar
Illinoise said:
This is going too far. An advantage to be sure, but you don't win the NCAA championship without being a great team with outstanding players.
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They had one outstanding player, Aaron Wise. And since the switch to match play, no you don't have to have a "great team" to win. Especially when you get to play on your home course.

They clearly played their best golf of the year to finish the season.
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False. They finished in 6th place at the Pac 12 championships prior to the start of the NCAAs. They only won 1 tournament the whole year, and it was the first one of the season.

Knowing the golf course you are playing better than the other teams is only a slight advantage. They deserve what they got. Once these teams had played the stroke play portion, practice rounds before the event, and made it to match play they were all plenty familiar with the course.
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Disagree emphatically. They were a borderline top 25 team that would have had a tough time advancing anywhere else. And the course knowledge is huge. There's a big, big difference between playing a course 3-4 times vs hundreds of times. Not to mention hundreds of fans, cheerleaders and mascots cheering you on, being able to sleep in your own bed, etc.
 
#312      

Illinoise

Illinoise
Illinoise
Cheerleaders and mascots. Really. That may get you pumped up in a basketball or football game but that's not how golf works. They played great and good on em for doing it. I hope this is the year for the U if I boys to do it! I sure don't want to listen to any Duck come quackin in here complaining about how many times these guys played Rich Harvest when they take it down. No matter who's rooting for you, how many times you played the course or where you sleep... you still gotta golf your ball.
 
#313      

FeelYourPaign

FeelYourPaign
So Cal
FeelYourPaign
Illinoise said:
This is going too far. An advantage to be sure, but you don't win the NCAA championship without being a great team with outstanding players. They clearly played their best golf of the year to finish the season. Knowing the golf course you are playing better than the other teams is only a slight advantage. They deserve what they got. Once these teams had played the stroke play portion, practice rounds before the event, and made it to match play they were all plenty familiar with the course.
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I only partially agree with you, but one thing that I will say about this year is that the teams are only getting 1 practice round. That is today, Thursday, because the course was taken by the women through 6:00 pm yesterday. The match play teams will have 5 rounds under their belts in the 5 prior days, which is not bad. Short of hundreds of rounds, but not bad.
 
#314      

WesterveltVictoryCigar

WesterveltVictoryCigar
WesterveltVictoryCigar
Illinoise said:
Cheerleaders and mascots. Really. That may get you pumped up in a basketball or football game but that's not how golf works.
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Wow, what an ignorant statement. Did you even watch the finals last year? Ever watch (or attend) a Ryder Cup?

Team golf, especially match play is a completely different beast.

FeelYourPaign said:
I only partially agree with you, but one thing that I will say about this year is that the teams are only getting 1 practice round. That is today, Thursday, because the course was taken by the women through 6:00 pm yesterday. The match play teams will have 5 rounds under their belts in the 5 prior days, which is not bad. Short of hundreds of rounds, but not bad.
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Which is the same as it was last year, the women also played at Eugene CC prior to the men's event.
 
#315      

Illinoise

Illinoise
Illinoise
WesterveltVictoryCigar said:
Wow, what an ignorant statement. Did you even watch the finals last year? Ever watch (or attend) a Ryder Cup?

Team golf, especially match play is a completely different beast.



Which is the same as it was last year, the women also played at Eugene CC prior to the men's event.
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I played D1 college golf so I wouldn't consider myself ignorant but I am sure you are vastly more qualified to assess this. It's motivating to hear the support and motivating to shut them up. According to your logic, where the players in a Ryder cup are of very similar ability, the home team should never lose. Maybe we need more mascots on the course next time the Ryder Cup is at home. Where is the San Diego chicken these days? Get over your bitterness. It was nice for Oregon to get a little home cookin. It was also fantastic golf that they played at just the right time. It's like a 4 or 5 seed winning the NCAA basketball tournament. Doesn't mean they are the best team, just got hot at the right time.
 
#318      

CUtownie15

C
CUtownie15
Everybody is forgetting a huge issue with Oregon last year. After they beat Illinois, they faced Texas with a torn-laborum'd Beau Hossler (one of the top amateurs in the country). Having Texas need to win 3 of 4 after the WD is a little advantage too, and I'd put $ Texas would've won.
 
#319      

bobbob

B
bobbob
Oregon also had a freshman win against Illinois and Texas, a kid who did not get those "hundreds" of rounds at the course the years before.

Whatever, some people really believe it was the reason. I don't, and I never heard the team use that excuse. I don't think the more local course gives Illinois an advantage this year. I just hope they got the rough rounds out last week, play solid in stroke play, and a guy or two gets hot in match play.
 
#320      

WhiteRhino

WhiteRhino
WhiteRhino
Here's another thing that hasn't been mentioned about Oregon last year -- Sulman Raza, the guy who clinched both the Illinois and Texas matches for Oregon, was from Eugene, Oregon and the course was his home course that he grew up playing. You can't get more of a home advantage that that.

He was having a bad year this year and was only in their their starting line-up three times and low and behold he ended up winning their invitational on the same course. Imagine that!

http://golfweek.com/2017/03/28/sulman-raza-shines-as-oregon-wins-home-event/
 
#321      

IlliniJim20

I
IlliniJim20
Course knowledge is a huge advantage. PGA pros know courses for years, can remember exact shots for years, exactly where they want to place a tee shot, where to make their approach, breaks on the greens etc etc.

I caddied at a club for 10 years. Have not seen the course in probably 30 years, but I can still picture where the drives need to go, what to avoid. Yardages are fuzzy, and technology makes the strategy different,but you get the point.

Side note, the course I caddied at was where Jerry Rich, who created and developed Rich Harvest Farms, was a member. Pretty cool backstory to Rich Harvest

You still have to execute the shots, but course knowledge, particularly on the greens is a tremendous advantage.
 
#322      

WhiteRhino

WhiteRhino
WhiteRhino
“In 2013, we lost the national championship match to Alabama in Atlanta, and the number of people who came out for that last match from Tuscaloosa was incredible,” Small recalled. “The intensity and the focus they brought just wore on us. They could feel the passion of the crowd. And last year, we lost the semifinal match to Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. I’ve never seen anything like that before in college golf.”

http://www.golfchicagomagazine.com/publications/gc_may_17/NCAA.pdf
 
#325      

KBLEE

KBLEE
Montgomery, IL
KBLEE
The weather could get a bit dicey later this afternoon. I'm hoping they can get everything in. Tomorrow looks really good.