Tag: college

12 hours and 1,760 miles away after PGA Tour debut, this golfer teed it up in college event

“I probably slept two days straight after the adrenaline kicked out.”

Caden Fiononi’s body still aches. He’s taking a few days off from touching his golf clubs, and for good reason.

The senior at UNLV had a wild journey last week. He made his PGA Tour debut at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas, battling insane wind conditions in the second round resulting in a missed cut. About 12 hours later, he was about 1,760 miles away in Mississippi, running on less than two hours of sleep and set to tee it up for the Rebels in the Fallen Oak Collegiate.

While it would have been an easy choice for others to not scramble halfway across the country, Fioroni never wavered.

“Most selfish golfers, especially with rankings and PGA Tour (University), you would probably have sat it out,” Fioroni said. “But this is my last year, and I care a lot about this team. I care about the program, and I want them to succeed.”

Fioroni’s round finished close to 7 p.m. at TPC Summerlin on Friday evening, and he was exhausted. Before prepping for his PGA Tour debut, the UNLV men’s golf team returned from a college tournament in Dallas, so he was on the go non-stop.

There was a ton of prep time and grinding on the range, playing practice rounds with pros like Rickie Fowler picking up on tips and tricks. Add in Friday’s wind conditions, which he played his entire second round in, his tank was empty when is final putt dropped.

After talking with his father, however, Fioroni called UNLV coach Jean-Paul Hebert and asked whether he could play.

The next step was finding a flight. Southwest Airlines had one to New Orleans, Louisiana, but it was scheduled to leave at 7:50 PT. Thankfully, it was delayed an hour and a half, giving Fioroni time to make it to the airport.

He scurried home and threw together a bunch of clothes into a bag. “I didn’t really know what I threw in,” he said. And it was off to the airport.

He didn’t have a ticket when he got to the airport, but after going to the counter, he was able to get a seat on the flight.

A three-and-a-half hour flight later, Fioroni was wheels down in New Orleans, where Hebert was waiting at 3:30 a.m. CT to pick him up. Only there was a problem. His bag with his clothes in it didn’t come out on the baggage carousel.

He was still in the clothes he played his round in at TPC Summerlin, and that’s all he had.

“I waited another hour to talk to this lady that probably wanted to leave, too,” Fioroni said,” but she tried to help me out because the bag said it got there, and they didn’t know where it was.”

Eventually, the bag was secured, and Hebert and Fioroni got in the car and headed toward the hotel in Mississippi, where they arrived about 6 a.m. CT.

Less than two hours of sleep later, Fioroni was up again and ready to tee it up for the Rebels.

“I was really excited actually just be in my bed all day, the next day,” Fioroni said of his plans before flying to Mississippi. “So I just kind of tried pushing through it. And, you know, my body’s not, I mean, I’m trying to be in better shape, but I don’t know who can get used to that.”

Fioroni tied for 41st, shooting 7 over for the 54-hole tournament. He said the second round was one of the worst breaks he has ever gotten on a golf course (a plugged lie in a bunker that led to an opening double), “but I guess that’s just what golf does, right?”

“I thought it was the right thing, even though that, you know, I probably wasn’t giving myself the best chance to play my best in that college event, but I still helped the team,” Fioroni said, “which that was my kind of purpose.”

Fioroni teed off at 11:20 a.m. CT, a little more than 14 hours after his final putt dropped at a PGA Tour event in Las Vegas. A mad dash to the airport, flight and car ride later, he was teeing it up with his teammates.

It’s a week and stretch of golf he’ll never forget, but he knows testing himself will benefit him down the road, even if he’s not touching his clubs for a while.

“When I turn pro, not everything’s perfect,” Fioroni said. “And you’re gonna have to travel the day after a tournament and trying to play in something else. So that was my first time doing that.

“I probably slept two days straight after the adrenaline kicked out.”

Stanford’s Play For Her campaign continues raising money for breast cancer research

The fundraiser remains open until Friday, having raised nearly $160,000 for breast cancer research.

Anne Walker wanted to capitalize on the opportunity.

Three years ago, her Stanford women’s golf team had perhaps the most people paying attention to it as any women’s squad ever in college golf. With stars like Rose Zhang, Rachel Heck and others, the Cardinal were a focal point of the sport, and thousands of people were following their every movement.

Walker wanted to make sure the team wasn’t only putting a good product on the course and excelling at tournaments, but also making a difference where it truly mattered.

Enter the Play For Her campaign. The event was tied to the Stanford Intercollegiate, one of the longest-running tournaments in college golf. The goal? To support breast cancer research and helping try to eradicate the disease.

“That first year, you know, the whole goal is just to bring awareness to these young women that it’s not an old person’s disease, that it’s an every woman disease,” Walker said. “No matter how old you are. And the earlier intervention, the better the outcomes.”

Last year, Walker’s college coach and idol, Nancy McDaniel, was back in the hospital fighting cancer for the second time. That’s when Walker wanted to do more. Play For Her became a fundraiser, with all proceeds going to McDaniel’s oncologist, Dr. Hope Rugo, and her research at the University of California San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

They raised $290,000 for breast cancer research.

“It’s not so much on the therapies to prevent recurrence or battle it or imperative, but if we really want to move the needle, it’s on the research on the front end about prevention,” Walker said. “And less money gets given to that research just for a variety of reasons, and one of the best ways you can do that is to give directly to doctors.”

And this year, Stanford is again working to raise the bar for breast cancer research.

Last week, the Cardinal shared medalist honors with USC at the Stanford Intercollegiate, which is hosted by Dr. Condoleezza Rice, who lost her mother, Angelena, to breast cancer in 1985. This year, Play For Her honored Arizona State women’s coach Missy Farr-Kaye.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DBbzVNcvJ8t/?igsh=MWo3YnV6bTlhYnlw

Farr-Kaye’s sister, Heather, died of breast cancer at age 28, and Missy was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 30 and again at age 40. In November of 2020, at age 53, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. Her father battled colon cancer, too.

TaylorMade made a custom pink Play For Her bag that every player at the Stanford Intercollegiate signed for Farr-Kaye.

This year, the proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit Dr. Allison Kurian and the Stanford Breast Cancer Center. Her research in cancer genetics aims to identify women, like Heather Farr, more efficiently and accurately, at high risk of disease.

“That’s where her area focuses, in the hope that we can better identify genes, just through blood work that will tell us the young people or young women who are susceptible to this disease, and then, in turn, hopefully qualify them for better screening at a much earlier age, better and more screening,” Walker said.

The fundraiser remains open until Friday, having raised nearly $160,000 for breast cancer research.

What started as a college golf team and Walker wanting to capitalize on the attention their team was getting has in turn raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for breast cancer research. When the fundraiser closes Friday, Walker will go get the funds in the form of a check and turn them over to Dr. Kurian by Monday.

“She’s excited to list the Play For Her in her future papers that will have the research,” Walker said. “That’s really cool to think that our donation and all these women playing in the tournament and all the people affiliated will actually be listed as contributors to research as we move forward.”

If you’d like to donate to Play For Her, you can do so at this link.

Matt Thurmond, Ryan Hybl highlight Golf Coaches Association of America’s 2024 Hall of Fame class

The coaches will be inducted Dec. 10 in Las Vegas.

The Golf Coaches Association of America announced Tuesday its 2024 Hall of Fame Class.

Arizona State coach Matt Thurmond and Oklahoma coach Ryan Hybl will officially be inducted during the GCAA Hall of Fame Reception and Awards Dinner on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

Thurmond’s coaching career started as an assistant at his alma mater, BYU, in 1999. He then joined 2014 GCAA Hall of Famer O.D. Vincent’s staff at Washington the next season before being named head coach in June 2001. The Huskies made the NCAA Championship in each of Thurmond’s first five years, including a program-best third-place finish in 2005. That same year James Lepp won the individual NCAA title. Washington went on to make NCAAs seven times in his final 10 season in Seattle, making match play three times.

Thurmond was hired at Arizona State’s head coach on July 25, 2016. He has led the Sun Devils to 24 tournament wins, including the 2024 Pac-12 Championship and consecutive NCAA Regional titles in 2022 and 2023. Arizona State made match play at the NCAA Championship three times in six appearances since Thurmond arrived, including a runner-up finish in 2022. Thurmond has led 11 different Sun Devils to 18 All-America honors.

Matt Thurmond Chun An Yu
Arizona State men’s golf coach Matt Thurmond (left) with Chun An Yu. (Photo: Arizona State University)

After finishing his playing career at Georgia, Hybl joined 2012 GCAA Hall of Famer Chris Haack as an assistant coach in 2005. In his four seasons on staff (2005-09), the Bulldogs captured 18 team wins, featuring the 2006 and 2009 SEC Championship and 2008 NCAA East Regional, and made the NCAA Championship each year. 

Hybl was hired as head coach at Oklahoma on June 22, 2009, turning the program back into a national powerhouse. The Sooners have recorded the top 14 single-season scoring averages in program history and made 13 straight NCAA Championship appearances, culminating in a national championship in 2017. Hybl has coached a program-record 46 tournament wins, including three Big 12 Championships (2018, 2022, 2023) and four NCAA Regional titles (2015, 2018, 2022, 2024).

In 1980, the GCAA began inducting men’s college golf coaches into the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame. Since then, the hall has grown to include more than 160 members. To be selected to the Hall of Fame, a coach must be nominated by their peers and selected by the GCAA Hall of Fame Committee.

Mississippi State’s Avery Weed ties NCAA scoring record in relation to par with 61 at home event

Weed had three eagles and five birdies to etch her name in the history books.

We’re getting closer and closer to a new scoring record being set in women’s college golf.

On Monday, it was Mississippi State sophomore Avery Weed adding her name to the record books. At the Bulldogs’ home tournament, The Ally, Weed shot an opening round 11-under 61 at Old Waverly, tying the record for lowest round in relation to par in NCAA history.

And Weed did it with 10 pars on the card. The five birdies and three eagles, however, are what etched her name in history, giving her the lowest round in Mississippi State history by two shots and tying the low NCAA round in relation to par. She played Old Waverly’s four par 5s in 7 under.

Last fall, N.C. State’s Lauren Olivares Leon became the first woman in NCAA history to shoot 60, signing for an 11-under 60 in the opening round of the Cougar Classic at Yeamans Hall Club. She had 13 birdies and two bogeys in the round.

Earlier this year, Michigan’s Monet Chun signed for a 10-under 61. With Weed joining the club Monday, seven female golfers have now carded rounds of 61 or better in NCAA history.

On the men’s side, 19 golfers have reached 60, the latest being this fall.

She begins the second round Tuesday with a seven-shot lead, and Mississippi State trails by a stroke in the team competition to Vanderbilt.

College golf facilities: Northwestern Wildcats and Gleacher Golf Center

Take a look at the Gleacher Golf Center.

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Northwestern men’s and women’s golf teams have facilities that are among the best in the country.

The Luke Donald Outdoor Practice Facility has been open since 2006, but when conditions call for it, the Wildcats can move inside and still get better at the Gleacher Golf Center.

The facility has a 5,400 square-foot short-game and putting area with raised ceilings, and the putting green is nearly 3,000-square-feet. There are three bays with Swing Catalyst Force Plates and a TrackMan.

Another cool feature is the 19-foot by 8-foot digitally adjustable putting platform, which includes a 3D-modeled green that can be tilted at any angle and an overhead projector that utilizes augmented reality to display putting paths and drills

And for when practice is over, there’s a 1,200-square-foot student-athlete lounge.

Here’s a look at more college golf practice facilities.

Photos: Gleacher Golf Center

Top three in PGA Tour University Class of 2025 standings grouped together at Williams Cup

The race for a PGA Tour card is heating up.

It’s shaping up to be the tightest race for a PGA Tour card in the history of PGA Tour University.

In 2023, Ludvig Aberg dominated his competition en route to becoming the first college player to earn a PGA Tour card via PGA Tour U. Last year, after dealing with an injury in the fall, Michael Thorbjornsen also had a relatively straight path to earning his card.

This time, it’s all up for grabs.

The race for the top spot in the PGA Tour University Class of 2025 standings has numerous players in position to earn a PGA Tour card, which is awarded after the final stroke-play round of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship. And this week, the top three players in the standings got a first-hand look at their competition in North Carolina.

The Tar Heels men’s golf team is hosting the Williams Cup at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, North Carolina, featuring some of the top teams from across the country in one of the last events this fall.

Included on those teams are some of the top players, like the top four in the PGA Tour University standings.

And Nos. 1, 2 and 3 were grouped together Sunday in the first round.

Auburn’s Brendan Valdes, North Carolina’s David Ford and Arizona State’s Josele Ballester played their opening 18 holes together in the Williams Cup. As if the three of the top amateurs in the world didn’t have enough pressure to perform for their teams, there’s also the competition for guaranteed job security straight out of college.

Arizona State’s Preston Summerhays is also competing, sitting at No. 4 in the standings. He debuted at No. 1 when the Class of 2025 rankings were announced this summer. Also in the field is Louisville’s Sebastian Moss, who’s No. 8.

Florida’s Ian Gilligan, No. 11 in the standings, made the cut this week at the PGA Tour’s Shriners Children’s Open, or else he’d also be in the field at the Williams Cup.

With roughly seven months remaining until one of them earns his PGA Tour card, every tournament, round and stroke matters. And at the Williams Cup, the top three are paired together have a little extra pressure than being a counting score for their team Sunday.

This Division I program is reinstating its men’s golf program after more than 20 years

The band is getting back together.

With all the talk about the future of college golf and programs possibly getting cut, one is being reinstated after more than 20 years of being gone.

Eastern Washington announced its reinstating its men’s golf program for the 2025-26 season.

The Eagles made their debut in the 1960s playing in NAIA before moving to Division II in the 1980s. After a 10-year hiatus from 1982 to 1992, the men’s program returned, with the addition of the women’s team, and played through 2001-02. 

 Now, the men’s team is returning.

“As a regional comprehensive university, we felt it was important to sponsor a sport that strengthens our connection to our community and future prospective students at EWU,” said Tim Collins, the EWU Director of Athletics, in a release. “We have a great opportunity to build a roster featuring student-athletes from the Pacific Northwest and reconnect with our golf alumni as we rebuild the program alongside the women’s team which has been active for 32 years.”

Eastern Washington will compete in regional tournaments that fulfill NCAA Division I sport sponsorship requirements. 

College golf facilities: Michigan Wolverines and Weisfeld Family Golf Center

Take a look at the Weisfield Family Golf Center.

Playing golf in the northern parts of the United States can be challenging for most during the winter months.

For college golfers at Michigan, they don’t struggle with that because of the Weisfeld Family Golf Center. The facility opened in 2011 at a cost of $2.5 million, and it has only gotten better since then.

The on-campus facility is at the University of Michigan Golf Course, which is across the street from the Big House. The Weisfeld features two Trackman stations, a pair of GF Quad stations and the SAM Putt Lab.

The outdoor short game area, the Cilluffo Family Short Game Practice Area, was renovated recently. The five-acre area is at the northwest corner of the driving range at the Weisfeld Family Golf Center and features two large greens, several bunkers and subtle undulating fairways and rough areas.

And when Mother Nature turns the cooler on, players head inside to the Connie & Tony Ridder Short Game Practice Area.

Here’s a look at more college golf practice facilities.

Photos: Weisfeld Family Golf Center

Why winning 2024 Golfweek October Classic was ‘most rewarding victory’ for Washington-St. Louis women

“This has been my most rewarding victory in four years as head coach.”

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — Dave Reinhardt knows how big of an accomplishment his team pulled off Tuesday.

Entering the final round of the 2024 Golfweek October Classic trailing Emory by eight shots, Washington-St. Louis had no margin for error if it wanted to come from behind and steal the team title at arguably the strongest event in all of Division III golf.

When the final putt dropped on the 18th hole at Sandestin Resort’s Links Course, Reinhardt told his player Sydney Kuo they had won, and she screamed in celebration and sprinted off the green to join her teammates, who were doing the same on the other side of the pond.

Washington-St. Louis was stellar in the final round, shooting 4 under to finish at 4-over 868 for the tournament, two shots ahead of Carnegie Mellon and nine in front of Emory, which shot 13 over Tuesday to fall to third. The 4-under 284 Washington St. Louis shot in the final round was the second-best team total of the week.

Golfweek October Classic: Scores

“I kept telling the girls, focus and play your game,” Reinhardt said. “We had a big refresh for this season. I couldn’t be more proud of them.

“This has been my most rewarding victory in four years as head coach.”

Washington-St. Louis and Carnegie Mellon were the only teams to shoot under par on the Links Course in the final round, a new course for the women this year at the Golfweek October Classic.

The win was also significant for seventh-ranked Washington St. Louis, as the team topped the top two teams in the latest Mizuno WGCA Coaches Poll in Carnegie Mellon and Emory. The field featured seven of the top 10 teams in the country.

“This is one of the top tournaments in all of fall golf, if not the entire season,” Reinhardt said. “To come here and win this, it’s something we can use and build on as we head into spring.”

Kuo finished solo second in the individual standings, four shots behind Emory’s Zimo Lee, the only player in the field to shoot three consecutive rounds under par, finishing at 6-under 210 for the event.

Carnegie Mellon’s Cecilia Jia placed solo third at even par, and Pomona-Pitzer’s Rachel LeMay and Carnegie Mellon’s Emma Wong tied for fourth at 1 over.

Washington & Lee men call their shot, win 2024 Golfweek October Classic

“They were going to win, they said that when they got here.”

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — When Washington & Lee’s men’s golf team arrived at Sandestin Resort’s Raven Course, the players called their shot.

“They were going to win, they said that when they got here,” Washington & Lee coach Pete Gyscek said.

And win they did.

Washington & Lee captured the team title at the 2024 Golfweek October Classic on Tuesday, holding off a charge from Sewanee to top a loaded field that included a majority of the top teams in Division III golf. Washington & Lee finished at 30-under 822 for the 54-hole tournament, which is believed to be a record.

Golfweek October Classic: Scores

“I am proud of them,” Gyscek said. “They came down, and they did not let up just one thing. They played every hole aggressively. They said they were going to do that, and they played really well.”

Six teams finished under par, with Sewanee coming in at 23 under to claim second. LeTourneau was third at 6 under while Methodist, the 2023 champion, and Lynchburg tied for fourth at 5 under. Oglethorpe was the other team to finish in the red at 3 under.

At the preview for NCAAs, Washington & Lee placed second and was making a late charge for the win. Then, the next tournament with an even stronger field, they led going into the final round but ended up in second.

That was motivation for this week, and it started with the team captains.

“We have only seven players on our team and two freshmen in the lineup, which is always something different,” Gyscek said. “I’ve got two seniors who are the best leaders in the country. It’s as simple as that. Leadership, and they help the young kids.”

One of those seniors, Jonathan McEwen, was a part of a three-way tie for medalist honors at 11-under 202. Joining him was freshman teammate Elias Malakoff and Carnegie Mellon’s Justin Chan.

Sewanee’s Colin Edwards was solo fourth at 9 under while LeTourneau’s Corbin Barton came in fifth at 8 under.