Post by philknj on Oct 4, 2022 16:29:05 GMT
I arrived at Springdale GC around 8:30 AM with a printout of the morning pairings ... seventy-one players representing twelve teams were going out at 9:00 AM (or a little after that) in a shotgun start. I took a walk up and down the packed range (Callaway practice balls) and spotted one exotic bag, a player from Georgetown (Angela Lee, I think) gaming Epon AF-705 or AF-706 irons.
The Princeton golf team has a garage-like shack left of the range where they can hit from. A guy in a tiger costume hit a couple of balls (good swing). Thanks to a Covid-19 outbreak, Princeton would not participate in the team scoring ... instead they had three players teeing it up as individuals: Catherine Rao (Fr.), Yanjun (Victoria) Liu (So.) and Caris Kim (Jr.). Sophie Zhang-Murphy (Fr.) hung around her teammates wearing an orange Tiger cap with black ears, but did not play ... don’t know why, but maybe there is a NCAA limit on how many players you can field as individuals. The three teammates in isolation were contacted via a smart phone propped up outside the shack.
The two Tiger newbies, Rao (T-7 during 2022 USWA medal qualifying) and Zhang-Murphy (four AJGA wins) -
I decided to follow the first group departing the 1st tee for nine holes, which was Rao, Bridget Ma (Harvard) and Ashley Yen (Yale), all freshmen. Then I would pick up the group following immediately after for holes 10 thru 18, which was Liu, Charissa Shang (Harvard) and Ami Gianchandani (Yale). I’ll bet the groups were set up so that the better players would start at the beginning of the golf course. Conversely, Holy Cross (awful) started at holes 16 thru 18. The course was par-71, 6109 yards.
Rao was milling about the 1st tee area moments away from her college debut and head coach Erika DeSanty said (half-joking), “Catherine, did you remember to say hello to everyone?” Rao replied, “Yes, I’m not that out-of-it.” I think DeSanty already knew what I was about to learn about Rao ... she is a little pepper pot with a high idling temp.
I chatted with a Springdale member who followed Rao for the first three or four holes. He speculated on the future of the golf course ... he thinks that when the lease with the school runs out in the 2030s, they’ll kick the club out, develop the land (maybe Graduate housing) and buy TPC Jasna Polana just down the road. There are a couple of stumbling blocks ... a stream running through the east side of the course presents environmental issues ... also the people living in private homes lining the west side of Springdale would be vocally opposed to removing the golf course.
On the gear front, not everyone had the most current stuff. Yen was gaming Srixon Z-585 irons covered with dings. Liu had a well-worn TaylorMade M2 Geocoustic driver ... how many distinct driver models has TM released since this one ... maybe ten?! Ami probably sprung for her current Mizuno Pro 223 irons ... had MP-18s before at Spring Lake in 2021.
I don’t know how Rao did so well at the USWA at Chambers Bay, but it could NOT have been from bombing her driver ... she was the shortest hitter in her threesome and was 30 yards behind the leader more than once. After four holes, she was +3 and looked steamed up. The guy in the tiger suit said something like, “Let’s go Catherine, it’s 32 more holes.” Huh?! I thought they were playing 18 today.
DeSanty and Princeton assistant coach Erynne Lee (ex-LPGA) took turns working on Rao’s head. At the par-4 9th, Rao dumped her approach shot into the front-right bunker ... “Oh, Catherine!”, she yelled to herself. Her short-sided sand shot cleared the lip but did not reach the green. Two more strokes and her first college nine was a 4-over 39.
I watched Rao tee off at #10 and then waited for the Ami/Liu/Shang group so I could follow them on the back nine. I had seen Ami play before and knew she was pretty good, but was curious to see what Liu could do. I call her Lefty Sung Hung, although swing is not similar ... has a steeply vertical takeaway, then abruptly flattens it out on the way down, like she’s throwing a frisbee. Liu was not a particular long driver, but many of her approaches were all over the stick and her four-foot putts were automatic.
Then came The Shot of the Day at the par-5 12th. It’s slightly uphill at 470 yards with a narrow path to the green between bunkers ... flag on the left. Liu went first and pulled out a wood with a large head ... NO WAY, this is the Ivy League ... how can a bookworm hit driver off the deck? Well, this one did and there was no dropkick in it ... she got ALL ball. She finished in the left bunker, splashed it out close and made the putt for birdie.
With less club, Ami and Shang reached the green in two. Ami two-putted from long range for birdie. Shang’s ball finished much closer to the flag ... that was a heckuva shot ... two-putted for birdie. I later learned that Shang was in a GolfWeek article on the top-15 freshmen to watch in 2022-23. Huh?! What is she doing at Harvard?! I noticed an Asian woman in a Harvard top nearby ... later learned it was Harvard asst. coach Naree Song.
Bespectacled Ami (The Yale Librarian) is playing her Covid/5th year. I don’t know what her plans are afterward. She has a great takeaway to the top with high hands and has some power, but a future LPGAer? I don’t think so ... but, might be able to do a little damage on the Epson Tour.
Liu ran into a snag hooking her ball into the right junk bordering the stream that runs along the par-4 14th hole. I helped look for it, but it was gone. Liu took a drop, knocked it stiff and made the par putt. That’s the kind of day she had ... closed out with a birdie at #18 for a five-under 66 first round, four shots clear of second place.
I had no food or water, so staying for the whole second round was out of the question. I hung around long enough to watch what appeared to be a couple of near aces at the par-3 13th (126 yards). I think it was Penn’s Debby Chang who turned to her coach afterward and said, “I never had a hole-in-one before.” I didn’t hear what he said, but I was thinking, “Me neither and I’ve been trying for 34 years.”
On the way out, I saw that someone had just finished filling in the written team scoreboard for one team, Yale. Ami had a 70, which was no surprise, but I was stunned to see two other 70s and a 72. I must have been watching the wrong players here in 2018, or this division has much better ones now. Nevertheless, this is still the Ivy League ... I’m reminded of what Butch & Sundance said in the movie when they couldn’t shake the all-star posse chasing them: “Who are those guys?”
Pics of Rao with mascot and on the par-3 5th green (white building is the old clubhouse).
Final scores:
results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=26839
The Princeton golf team has a garage-like shack left of the range where they can hit from. A guy in a tiger costume hit a couple of balls (good swing). Thanks to a Covid-19 outbreak, Princeton would not participate in the team scoring ... instead they had three players teeing it up as individuals: Catherine Rao (Fr.), Yanjun (Victoria) Liu (So.) and Caris Kim (Jr.). Sophie Zhang-Murphy (Fr.) hung around her teammates wearing an orange Tiger cap with black ears, but did not play ... don’t know why, but maybe there is a NCAA limit on how many players you can field as individuals. The three teammates in isolation were contacted via a smart phone propped up outside the shack.
The two Tiger newbies, Rao (T-7 during 2022 USWA medal qualifying) and Zhang-Murphy (four AJGA wins) -
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch8UGy_s0N9
I decided to follow the first group departing the 1st tee for nine holes, which was Rao, Bridget Ma (Harvard) and Ashley Yen (Yale), all freshmen. Then I would pick up the group following immediately after for holes 10 thru 18, which was Liu, Charissa Shang (Harvard) and Ami Gianchandani (Yale). I’ll bet the groups were set up so that the better players would start at the beginning of the golf course. Conversely, Holy Cross (awful) started at holes 16 thru 18. The course was par-71, 6109 yards.
Rao was milling about the 1st tee area moments away from her college debut and head coach Erika DeSanty said (half-joking), “Catherine, did you remember to say hello to everyone?” Rao replied, “Yes, I’m not that out-of-it.” I think DeSanty already knew what I was about to learn about Rao ... she is a little pepper pot with a high idling temp.
I chatted with a Springdale member who followed Rao for the first three or four holes. He speculated on the future of the golf course ... he thinks that when the lease with the school runs out in the 2030s, they’ll kick the club out, develop the land (maybe Graduate housing) and buy TPC Jasna Polana just down the road. There are a couple of stumbling blocks ... a stream running through the east side of the course presents environmental issues ... also the people living in private homes lining the west side of Springdale would be vocally opposed to removing the golf course.
On the gear front, not everyone had the most current stuff. Yen was gaming Srixon Z-585 irons covered with dings. Liu had a well-worn TaylorMade M2 Geocoustic driver ... how many distinct driver models has TM released since this one ... maybe ten?! Ami probably sprung for her current Mizuno Pro 223 irons ... had MP-18s before at Spring Lake in 2021.
I don’t know how Rao did so well at the USWA at Chambers Bay, but it could NOT have been from bombing her driver ... she was the shortest hitter in her threesome and was 30 yards behind the leader more than once. After four holes, she was +3 and looked steamed up. The guy in the tiger suit said something like, “Let’s go Catherine, it’s 32 more holes.” Huh?! I thought they were playing 18 today.
DeSanty and Princeton assistant coach Erynne Lee (ex-LPGA) took turns working on Rao’s head. At the par-4 9th, Rao dumped her approach shot into the front-right bunker ... “Oh, Catherine!”, she yelled to herself. Her short-sided sand shot cleared the lip but did not reach the green. Two more strokes and her first college nine was a 4-over 39.
I watched Rao tee off at #10 and then waited for the Ami/Liu/Shang group so I could follow them on the back nine. I had seen Ami play before and knew she was pretty good, but was curious to see what Liu could do. I call her Lefty Sung Hung, although swing is not similar ... has a steeply vertical takeaway, then abruptly flattens it out on the way down, like she’s throwing a frisbee. Liu was not a particular long driver, but many of her approaches were all over the stick and her four-foot putts were automatic.
Then came The Shot of the Day at the par-5 12th. It’s slightly uphill at 470 yards with a narrow path to the green between bunkers ... flag on the left. Liu went first and pulled out a wood with a large head ... NO WAY, this is the Ivy League ... how can a bookworm hit driver off the deck? Well, this one did and there was no dropkick in it ... she got ALL ball. She finished in the left bunker, splashed it out close and made the putt for birdie.
With less club, Ami and Shang reached the green in two. Ami two-putted from long range for birdie. Shang’s ball finished much closer to the flag ... that was a heckuva shot ... two-putted for birdie. I later learned that Shang was in a GolfWeek article on the top-15 freshmen to watch in 2022-23. Huh?! What is she doing at Harvard?! I noticed an Asian woman in a Harvard top nearby ... later learned it was Harvard asst. coach Naree Song.
Bespectacled Ami (The Yale Librarian) is playing her Covid/5th year. I don’t know what her plans are afterward. She has a great takeaway to the top with high hands and has some power, but a future LPGAer? I don’t think so ... but, might be able to do a little damage on the Epson Tour.
Liu ran into a snag hooking her ball into the right junk bordering the stream that runs along the par-4 14th hole. I helped look for it, but it was gone. Liu took a drop, knocked it stiff and made the par putt. That’s the kind of day she had ... closed out with a birdie at #18 for a five-under 66 first round, four shots clear of second place.
I had no food or water, so staying for the whole second round was out of the question. I hung around long enough to watch what appeared to be a couple of near aces at the par-3 13th (126 yards). I think it was Penn’s Debby Chang who turned to her coach afterward and said, “I never had a hole-in-one before.” I didn’t hear what he said, but I was thinking, “Me neither and I’ve been trying for 34 years.”
On the way out, I saw that someone had just finished filling in the written team scoreboard for one team, Yale. Ami had a 70, which was no surprise, but I was stunned to see two other 70s and a 72. I must have been watching the wrong players here in 2018, or this division has much better ones now. Nevertheless, this is still the Ivy League ... I’m reminded of what Butch & Sundance said in the movie when they couldn’t shake the all-star posse chasing them: “Who are those guys?”
Pics of Rao with mascot and on the par-3 5th green (white building is the old clubhouse).
Final scores:
results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=26839
Attachments:
