Vanderbilt coach Tom Shaw may do something he’s not comfortable with, but something he thinks is necessary for the good of his golf team.
His dilemma comes as a result of this season’s new .500 rule that requires teams to have an overall won-loss record of .500 or better against Division I schools to be eligible for postseason competition.
According to the latest
Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, Vandy has an overall record of 67-68-5. The problem is, it has only one tournament remaining on its schedule, this weekend’s Southeastern Conference Championship.
For the Commodores to come out with a .500 record, they need at least a sixth-place finish, no easy task considering 11 of the 12 SEC teams are ranked among the top 50, including four in the top 10, led by Georgia and Alabama.
Here’s where it could get interesting should Vandy place seventh or worse.
Shaw still has one day of competition remaining from the NCAA-allotted 24 playing dates and is considering staging a one-day, 36-hole tournament sometime prior to the NCAA Golf Committee’s May 5 announcement of the teams selected for regionals.
“It certainly is a possibility,” Shaw said. “I would really hate to thwart the system like that, but I feel I have to do what’s best for my players. I feel we are good enough based on the rankings (the Commodores are No. 43) to compete in regionals. I may just have to utilize all my options.”
Shaw also knows that at this late date, it will be very difficult to get teams to play, as most will have used up their 24 playing dates. He’s hoping there are some teams within Tennessee that still might have a day or two to spare.
“I know it will be very difficult if it comes to that,” Shaw said. “But I think I would have to try. I guess the bottom line is we need to go to the SEC and play well. Then we won’t have to worry about it. The thing is, with the caliber of competition within the SEC, even playing well might not be good enough. I’m just going to have to see what happens and make a decision after this weekend.”
VANDY NOT ALONE: The Commodores have plenty of company on the .500 bubble. No. 31 North Carolina State takes a 57-60 record into this weekend’s ACC Championship. But the Wolfpack have a buffer in that they still have the Cavalier Classic the following week and have been playing well lately.
No. 58 Arizona (79-80-2) needs at least a fifth-place finish in the Pac-10 Championship to finish the season at .500, and No. 59 Northwestern (60-59) needs decent showings at this week’s Boilermaker and the following week’s Big 10 Championship.
No. 55 Kentucky helped its cause at its own Bluegrass Invitational this week, finishing fourth and picking up 13 wins to stand at 83-65-1 heading into the SEC Championship. No. 54 Augusta State gained 10 wins with a third place at the Palisades Collegiate this week, but the Jags still are 58-67-4. With no conference ties, they will need to finish fourth or better at the April 26-27 Cavalier Classic.
No. 73 San Diego entered the week as a bubble team at 71-75, but took care of business by winning the eight-team West Coast Conference Championship and gaining an automatic regional spot .
For teams such as No. 51 Georgia State (43-77, Colonial Athletic Association), No. 64 Coastal Carolina (40-78, Big South) No. 67 Minnesota (41-78, Big Ten) and No. 72 Notre Dame (51-72, Big East), the only hope for postseason play will be victories in their conference championships. Now that’s pressure.
CAPTAIN “O”: Former University of Alabama golfer Marten Olander of Sweden has been named European coach for this year’s Palmer Cup. The annual Ryder Cup-style competition between top college players from Europe and the United States will be played June 26-27 at Glasgow Golf Club’s Gailes Links. The U.S. holds a 6-4-1 lead in the series.
Olander, who played eight years on the European PGA Tour and finished second at the 2003 Madrid Open, had an outstanding college career at Alabama, winning the Ben Hogan Award in 1993, which at that time honored the nation’s top collegiate student-golfer.
PAIR OF ACES: Saint Joseph’s freshman Jim Ridgway had quite a day April 12 during the first two rounds of the Princeton Invitational at Springdale (N.J.) Golf Club, scoring a pair of holes-in-one.
Playing in his first match this spring for the Hawks, Ridgway notched his first ace in the morning round at the 193-yard fifth hole. In the afternoon’s second round, he scored hole-in-one No. 2 at the 126-yard 13th hole. He shot 80-79 on the day, and went on to finish the tournament tied for 65th with a score of 23-over 233. In addition to his pair of aces, Ridgway also posted an eagle on the opening day.
A look aheadWhat: U.S. Intercollegiate, April 19-20, Stanford Golf Club, Palo Alto, Calif.
Why it’s important: This one features the Big 3 of the West Coast in No. 3 UCLA, No. 5 USC and No. 11 Stanford, the tournament host and defending NCAA champion. It’s also the final tune-up for the Pac-10 Championship for No. 20 Arizona State, No. 45 Oregon State, No. 50 Oregon, No. 57 California and No. 68 Washington. It’s especially important for Washington, which hopes to pad its current overall record of 62-54-3.
• • •
What: Boilermaker Invitational, April 19-20, Purdue Golf Complex (Kampen Course), West Lafayette, Ind.
Why it’s important: For one, it’s being played on the course that will serve as venue for the NCAA Division I Championship six weeks later. No. 4 Charlotte heads a field that also features No. 23 Michigan State, No. 24 Indiana and No. 38 Kent State. No. 59 Northwestern (60-59-0) tries to keep its head above the .500 mark before heading to the Big Ten Championship.
Posted: 4/18/2008
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