USC Women’s Golf Upset

You can bet the USC women’s golf team is talking about the format change the NCAA made this year to the championship. The Trojans were first after four rounds, which in the past would  mean they won the title. But the top 8 teams now go to match play and in the semifinals, Stanford defeated USC 3 and 2.

15 thoughts on “USC Women’s Golf Upset

  1. Could you please explain the reasons WHY the NCAA made the format change?

  2. All of the teams had to play by the very same format, Scott…..changed, or not….

  3. Nice attempt by Wolf to use golf terminology. He completely butchered it but nevertheless a fine attempt.

  4. Someone rubbed Scott’s head so he makes excuses for the loss. Otoh, if you are mean to him he rips ’em. Still, we got to play with the top 8. And Stanford looks like a giant Mexican hacienda and is filled with shemales. Get’em next time Trojans.

  5. Agree four rounds of 72 holes total is enough to crown a champion. The pros abide by that format. One bad afternoon doesn’t prove the worth of a team. A shame to lose to the Stanford flunkies who finished down the line in the real tournament behind the Trojans. Why not make it double elimination like baseball or softball, and go back to 54 holes for qualifiers.

    • Plus the individual title went to players from teams that didn’t qualify for the match play. Absolutely bizarre.

      • That’s inaccurate,Troy. The NCAA invites additional individuals, based upon performance, to compete for the individual title. All players on the qualified teams plus these individuals compete for the individual title.

        • OK, they use the 4 rounds to determine the top teams and the individual winner and then move on to the playoffs?

          • Exactly. It’s actually a good format, but very long. 7 rounds of golf for the top 2 teams.

  6. Not a particularly well informed post, Scott. The NCAA Men’s Championship has been run this way for the past few years. Perhaps they wanted the Women’s to be conducted in the same format. Plus, it is quite common in amateur events to have a medal play qualifier to narrow and seed the field. For example, the United States Amateur uses a 36 hole medal play to narrow to 64 individuals followed by match play. So, most of the top players are familiar with the format.

    Also, the mental approach to a qualifier is not the same as if the 72 holes were to determine the champion. Teams are not overly concerned with “winning” a qualifier nor does the team that is leading the qualifying portion of the event feel any stress. When it determines the champion, there may be a little choking involved, so just because a team wins the qualifier it doesn’t mean it would necessarily have finished first had it counted for more than seeding.

    The match play format is done to determine the best team, players 1 thru 5. In the medal play rounds, only the best 4 scores count toward the total and one or two hot players can carry the team. In match play, the players go head to head and each player counts equally. You may not like it but at least understand the reasoning behind it.

    To the casual golf fan, it may seem odd. To those of us that have played competitively, it is pretty normal. I watched the Men’s Championship a few years ago at Riviera and it was quite exciting to watch the various matches and see a young freshman from Texas named Jordan Spieth play the game. But, one needs to understand the format to appreciate it.

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