HONOUR WILL SOFTEN BLOW OF LAST-ROUND SLUMP IN CHAMPIONSHIP
GRANT FORREST NAMED WEST COAST
CONFERENCE PLAYER OF YEAR
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Coli@scottishgolfview.com
Grant Forrest, the 2012 Scottish amateur champion from North Berwick and third-year student at San Diego University, California, has been named 2014 West Coast Conference Player of the Year following a US college golf season in which he won three individual titles, making four in all in the United States.
The honour will go some way towards softening the blow of losing the West Coast Conference individual championship he won last year.
In this year's 54-hole tournament at Gold Mountain Golf Club, Bremerton, Washington state, Forrest was well placed after two rounds with scores of 71 and 68 but he slumped to a final round of 79 for a two-over-par total of 218 which dropped him a joint eighth finish.
The title was won by the runaway margin of seven strokes by Byron Meth (Pacific) with scores of 66, 71 and 71 for eight-under 208.
England's Seb Crookall Nixon (San Francisco), a second-year student from Cockermouth, Cumbria, finished fourth on 216 with scores of 70, 74 and 72.
Brigham Young (874) won the team title ahead of Santa Clara (878) with San Francisco (879) third. San Diego finished only eighth of nine on the 890 mark.
The fact that San Diego had the best player in the conference in Grant Forrest but could finish second bottom of the championship team table tells its own story about the lack of support for the Scot.
Forrest and team-mate Alex Chiarella finished joint eighth on 218 but the three other members of the San Diego team finished T31, T35 and T35 in a field of only 45 players.
San Diego's talent scouts better get cracking for the 2014-2015 season to make the most of Forrest's last season in the States. But it may be too late to bridge the gap in talent if they do not already have stronger players recruited for next season.
ALISON KNOWLES: Four wins and two seconds.
ALISON KNOWLES WAITS FOR CALL
TO PLAY IN NCAA REGIONALS
Louisiana-Monroe second-year student Alison Knowles, from Mexborough, South Yorkshire, is waiting hear if she will get a place as an individual competitor rather than a team member in the NCAA Women's Regional Tournament, beginning on May 9.
The Louisiana-Monroe women's team as a whole did not qualify. They finished a disappointing sixth in the Sun Belt Conference Championship at Steelwood Country Club. That ended their season.
Alison Knowles added another top-10 finish to the season, finishing in seventh place with a 10-over 226.
“Finishing the season as we did was not a good indication of how we played all year,” said head coach Stacy Snider.
ULM ended the season with a strong record, including four tournament wins and two second place finishes. Knowles added to the team’s success with four individual wins of her own.
“Alison's four wins and two runner-ups is a pretty remarkable record,” said Snider, “but we were not playing our best golf towards the end of the season. Hopefully we will motivate the girls over the summer to work even harder.”
“In the meantime, I’ll be waiting for the call with the good news that Alison will be playing in May at the Regionals,” said Snider.
After being named Conference Carolinas Player of the Year, King University, Tennessee's top player Elizabeth Swallow, a second-year student from Berkshire, capped the week by winning the Conference Carolinas individual championship by two strokes at Browns Summit Golf Club, North Carolina.
Swallow led the Tornado to a fourth place finish in the Conference Carolinas Championships, which was shortened to two rounds due to rain.
Swallow held a share of the lead after shooting 75 in the tournament's first round on Sunday, and followed that with a round of 74 to take a two-shot lead on the field in what turned out to be the championship's second and final round on Monday. Swallow's total of 149 saw her finish two strokes clear of Limestone College's Hannah Luckett.
It was the English student's fourth win of the season in nine 2013-2014 tournaments.
Elizabeth has finished in the top-10 in every US college tournament she has played, which is quite a record.
Limestone (612) won the championship by 31-stroke margin from Mount Olive. King (648) finished fourth.
A bit like San Diego, King University have the best female individual player in the conference in Elizabeth Swallow ... but they finish miles behind the conference team champions.
Which puts the pressure on the King University talent scouts to recruit players who are good enough to support Elizabeth. As they say, one Swallow does not make a team ...
CONFERENCE PLAYER OF YEAR
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Coli@scottishgolfview.com
Grant Forrest, the 2012 Scottish amateur champion from North Berwick and third-year student at San Diego University, California, has been named 2014 West Coast Conference Player of the Year following a US college golf season in which he won three individual titles, making four in all in the United States.
The honour will go some way towards softening the blow of losing the West Coast Conference individual championship he won last year.
In this year's 54-hole tournament at Gold Mountain Golf Club, Bremerton, Washington state, Forrest was well placed after two rounds with scores of 71 and 68 but he slumped to a final round of 79 for a two-over-par total of 218 which dropped him a joint eighth finish.
The title was won by the runaway margin of seven strokes by Byron Meth (Pacific) with scores of 66, 71 and 71 for eight-under 208.
England's Seb Crookall Nixon (San Francisco), a second-year student from Cockermouth, Cumbria, finished fourth on 216 with scores of 70, 74 and 72.
Brigham Young (874) won the team title ahead of Santa Clara (878) with San Francisco (879) third. San Diego finished only eighth of nine on the 890 mark.
The fact that San Diego had the best player in the conference in Grant Forrest but could finish second bottom of the championship team table tells its own story about the lack of support for the Scot.
Forrest and team-mate Alex Chiarella finished joint eighth on 218 but the three other members of the San Diego team finished T31, T35 and T35 in a field of only 45 players.
San Diego's talent scouts better get cracking for the 2014-2015 season to make the most of Forrest's last season in the States. But it may be too late to bridge the gap in talent if they do not already have stronger players recruited for next season.
ALISON KNOWLES WAITS FOR CALL
TO PLAY IN NCAA REGIONALS
Louisiana-Monroe second-year student Alison Knowles, from Mexborough, South Yorkshire, is waiting hear if she will get a place as an individual competitor rather than a team member in the NCAA Women's Regional Tournament, beginning on May 9.
The Louisiana-Monroe women's team as a whole did not qualify. They finished a disappointing sixth in the Sun Belt Conference Championship at Steelwood Country Club. That ended their season.
Alison Knowles added another top-10 finish to the season, finishing in seventh place with a 10-over 226.
“Finishing the season as we did was not a good indication of how we played all year,” said head coach Stacy Snider.
ULM ended the season with a strong record, including four tournament wins and two second place finishes. Knowles added to the team’s success with four individual wins of her own.
“Alison's four wins and two runner-ups is a pretty remarkable record,” said Snider, “but we were not playing our best golf towards the end of the season. Hopefully we will motivate the girls over the summer to work even harder.”
“In the meantime, I’ll be waiting for the call with the good news that Alison will be playing in May at the Regionals,” said Snider.
ONE SWALLOW DOES NOT MAKE
A TEAM FOR KING UNIVERSITY!
After being named Conference Carolinas Player of the Year, King University, Tennessee's top player Elizabeth Swallow, a second-year student from Berkshire, capped the week by winning the Conference Carolinas individual championship by two strokes at Browns Summit Golf Club, North Carolina.
Swallow led the Tornado to a fourth place finish in the Conference Carolinas Championships, which was shortened to two rounds due to rain.
Swallow held a share of the lead after shooting 75 in the tournament's first round on Sunday, and followed that with a round of 74 to take a two-shot lead on the field in what turned out to be the championship's second and final round on Monday. Swallow's total of 149 saw her finish two strokes clear of Limestone College's Hannah Luckett.
It was the English student's fourth win of the season in nine 2013-2014 tournaments.
Elizabeth has finished in the top-10 in every US college tournament she has played, which is quite a record.
Limestone (612) won the championship by 31-stroke margin from Mount Olive. King (648) finished fourth.
A bit like San Diego, King University have the best female individual player in the conference in Elizabeth Swallow ... but they finish miles behind the conference team champions.
Which puts the pressure on the King University talent scouts to recruit players who are good enough to support Elizabeth. As they say, one Swallow does not make a team ...
Labels: US COLLEGES
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | 9:16:00 pm
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