Tag: William Holcomb V

With its star player back in the lineup, Sam Houston State is primed and ready for its NCAA Championship debut

Don’t be surprised if the Bearkats make a run this week.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Sam Houston State sat one stroke outside qualification for the NCAA Championship with just 18 holes left in the Stillwater Regional two weeks ago.

The Bearkats leader and star player, William Holcomb, was second on the individual leaderboard at the time, but was sitting in a hotel room by himself following the final-round action on his phone. The fifth-year senior was ruled out due to COVID-19 contact tracing, but that didn’t stop his teammates from rallying without him to punch their ticket to this week’s NCAA Championship, their first in program history.

“He told the guys, ‘Hey, give me a chance. Give me another chance,'” said head coach Brandt Kieschnick. “They gave him another chance to play.”

“I learned they’re a lot tougher than they seem sometimes and I guess, humblebrag, I made them tougher,” joked Holcomb after Thursday’s practice round at Grayhawk Golf Club. “It was awesome getting to see them go out and do that and getting updates from my dad and mom and wife. I was just sitting in the hotel, praying for them, pissed off. It was a roller coaster of emotions.”

“If I didn’t have COVID, I sure felt like I did after as emotionally spent as I was,” said Holcomb. “It was awesome to that, and it’s just a testament to coach and how he wants his program to be.”

Kieschnick and the ‘Kats have five pillars for the program: Humility, hard work, wisdom, discipline and team.

“We don’t need any maverick molecules. We’re all here for each other,” explained Kieschnick. “We play for each other.”

That’s not just coach speak, either. Those pillars are the foundation of Sam Houston’s program, and the belief in the message has manifested into one of the best stories of the year in college athletics.

“Part of our culture is being the same guy every day, and I felt like if everyone did that, we would be fine,” added Kieschnick. “So I just thought, ‘Hey, this is a really good opportunity to prove the things we talked about work and will get us through.’”

“You had to give those kids hope,” he continued. “You understand, I just told them that their best player isn’t playing. So you have to deal with that, and then you’ve got to give them some hope, ‘Hey, we can do this. This is how we’re gonna do it. And we can make one heck of a story.’”

But the story isn’t done yet. Far from.

Sam Houston’s confidence is at an all-time time entering Friday’s first round alongside Georgia Tech and Louisville, and why shouldn’t it be?

The Bearkats ended the season with a win at the Bayou City Collegiate, a second-place finish at their Bearkat Invitational and another win at the Southland Conference Championship before the Stillwater Regional.

“I look at some of their games, and I’m like, ‘How do I beat them every time?’ They’re really good players,” Holcomb said of his teammates. “I know every one of them can play at the highest level. So it’s just them believing it and getting to do it on the big stage.”

The stage is set, the lights are on and it’s Sam Houston’s time to shine.

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COVID-19 protocols force Sam Houston State to finish NCAA Stillwater Regional without star William Holcomb

COVID-19 contact tracing is keeping Sam Houston State’s star player on the sidelines when they need him most.

Sam Houston State entered this week’s Stillwater regional as the No. 8 seed. After 36 holes of play on Monday, the Bearkats found themselves in sixth place, one shot outside the top five and automatic qualification for next week’s NCAA Championship.

Due to COVID-19 protocols, Sam Houston State was forced to play their final round on Tuesday without their star senior, William Holcomb.

“This is truly heartbreaking for Will,” said head coach Brandt Kieschnick via a release. “He played phenomenal (on Monday) and has put us in this position. He has handled this like the champion he is. I had a great meeting with the rest of the guys and they are looking forward to this opportunity. We have a chance to do something really special today. All year long we have dealt with different scenarios we’ve never faced before, and this is just another challenge that has been placed before us. We have a great group of guys and I am fully confident in their ability to go out and perform at a championship level today.”

A release from Sam Houston State said Holcomb was ruled out due to contact tracing.

At the time of this post, the Stillwater regional is in a weather delay, with Sam Houston State in fifth place at 2 over, three shots clear of Auburn.

Much like the men this week, the women’s team found themselves in an unfortunate situation last week at the Baton Rouge regional. The event was decided without a single shot being hit due to the golf course being playable, but not at a “championship level.” The top-six seeds automatically advanced, leaving the Sam Houston State women on the outside looking in, though Hanna Alberto qualified as an individual.

Barstool Sports then rallied to put together the Let Them Play Classic, an event for teams and players who weren’t able to compete in Baton Rouge. The Bearkats will be sending four players to the tournament, held May 20-21 at Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, Arizona.

Bracket is set at North & South and it includes U.S. Am semifinalist William Holcomb V

William Holcomb V was one of 32 players who advanced to match play on Wednesday as the tournament resets for the remainder of the week.

It feels like William Holcomb V’s voice is still echoing through Pinehurst’s fairways from his U.S. Amateur run in August. The affable Texan, who just completed his fourth year at Sam Houston State University, bantered and joked his way to the semifinals at last year’s Am, eventually falling to John Augenstein. It was a memorable performance, and he’s back this week at the North & South for another go ’round.

Holcomb was one of 32 players who advanced to match play on Wednesday as the tournament resets for the remainder of the week. Holcomb backed up an opening 72 on Pinehurst No. 4 with a 68 on No. 2 Wednesday. He’s in the No. 24 seed and will take on North Carolina native Blake Taylor on Thursday.

Scoring: North & South Amateur

According to Pinehurst writer Alex Podlogar, not much has changed this week for Holcomb. He brought back Pinehurst caddie Keith Silva – with whom he shared many memorable jabs during U.S. Am week – and is staying with the same family who hosted him in August. He called Pinehurst No. 2 “my favorite golf course I’ve ever played.”

At the top of the bracket sits Travis Vick, who was among three players to land at 7 under for 36 holes. Vick, who debuted at the University of Texas this past season, birdied the third playoff hole for outright medalist honors and will now meet Tyler Wilkes, who birdied his first playoff hole just to earn himself at least one more round at Pinehurst.

From Vick on down, the men who made it to match play bring stout resumes to the table. In the second match out, Pinehurst native Jackson Van Paris takes on Matt McCarty of Scottsdale, Arizona. Van Paris opened with 66 on Pinehurst No. 4 but came back with a 72 on No. 2 to fall to the 16th seed.

Below that, Georgia junior Davis Thompson, the reigning Jones Cup champion and No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, takes on Belmont senior Evan Davis.

Defending North & South champion Cooper Dossey claimed the No. 5 seed and meets Kelly Chinn, a Duke commit from Great Falls, Virginia, on Thursday morning. Chinn, who is headed into his senior year of high school, was a semifinalist at the 2019 U.S. Junior.

Peter Fountain, recent winner of the North Carolina Amateur and an incoming freshman for North Carolina, takes on Jonathan Brightwell, a Charlotte, North Carolina native who recently announced he would transfer from North Carolina-Greensboro to Oklahoma for next college season. Interestingly, Fountain defeated Brightwell in sudden death for the North Carolina Amateur title.

On the bottom of the bracket, Jonathan Yaun, a Liberty sophomore from Minneola, Florida, meets Matthew Sharpstene, who owned opening-day headlines after a course-record 64 on Pinehurst No. 4. Sharpstene, who is transferring from West Virginia to Charlotte for next season, had a vastly different type of day in Round 2. He made his lone birdie on the second hole of Pinehurst No. 2 and sprinkled in six bogeys for a second-round 75. It still left him with the No. 22 seed.

A handful of notable names are headed home after the opening 36 holes. Chief among those who missed the match-play cut were Texas sophomore Cole Hammer, who was one outside the number to make the playoff, and Canon Claycomb, who is just days removed from winning the Rice Planters Amateur on June 25. Claycomb missed the cut by two shots.

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