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19 May 2012
13 May 2012
The Road to Riviera Stops to Think of Our Moms Today
Author: mattthurmond | Filed under: Article| Husky Golf Fans:
“My mom walked every tournament round she possibly could with me. She is always the first person to start looking for my ball when it is lost and she is always the last person to stop looking. Go Husky Moms!”
“My mom sacrificed her time to be at every junior tournament to support my dream. I always new my mom would support me even if I failed.”
“I have a lot of memories traveling to tournaments with my mom. My first year at Junior Worlds, we went to the Cheesecake Factory four nights in a row….found what we liked and stuck with it!”
“My mom rarely asks how I played, instead she asks if I am happy and healthy.”
“My ma would wake up at the crack of dawn to make be breakfast then she would drive me 130 miles to Spokane to play in one day junior tournaments. She did this my whole junior career every summer driving me all across the Pacific Northwest for junior events.”
“My golf game wouldn’t be where it is today without my Mom. For years I watched her engage in tasks as a perfectionist with the highest standards. She’d put in a full effort to do a great job for its own sake, not for some reward after. I’ve tried to approach my practice and my golf game in the same manner.”
“Among the many other things she did at every step in my career, my Mom told me I should smile more when I win.”
“At every tournament she came to, when I finished my round she’d say, ‘you were definitely the most handsome boy I saw out there today.’ ”
Matt Thurmond :: Sign-up- here. |
Asked for one quick comment on something their mothers did to influenc their golf careers and the boys said this:Husky Golf Fans:
Today was an incredible day at our practice facility at Washington National. Our two greens were lightning fast and firm. The rough was up, and Mt. Rainier gleamed in the distance. We came away with sunburns, several quality club throws, and sharpened wedge play.
I set up a 36 hole putting course, but after the Coach won the first tournament the guys demanded another tournament and this time a trio of the guys came out on top. So we played 72 holes of a putting tourney. We’ve been working hard on our strokes, speed control, and the way we see putts. I’m stressing that we need to putt with our eyes and really connect with the green and our line. I’m seeing improvement.
For almost a decade now our signature wedge training is a competition called WedgeMan. It’s a 100 shot challenge with a variety of shots and very demanding standards. The course was tough today and Pan edged Chris by just a point at 48 and 47. Ty had his best WedgeMan ever at 45. I set up a couple of tough holes that challenged their mental strength as much as their skill. I was especially happy with our bunker play today—a key skill for the course in Oklahoma.
We talked about the expected conditions of the course and some of the shots we’ll need to be ready for. I talked more shop, but those secrets can’t be put out there on the worldwide web!
The weekend should be a nice break after lots of practice and studying this week.
Matt Thurmond
Check out this link and make sure you join us on the Road to Riviera! On the site you’ll be able to sign-up for timely email updates as we prepare for Regionals in Oklahoma.
Here’s an example of our most-recent update:
| Husky Golf Fans: Husky golfers get access to many great facilities around Seattle to sharpen their skills. On Thursday, we were at Broadmoor CC – just a mile away from campus.
If the video will not play after clicking on it, go here to watch it on YouTube Previously, we announced where we will play for Regionals, and who the team will be. You can view the past updates here. |
The ASU Thunderbird Invitational reminded us of just how awesome our alumni have been, coming out to watch us play and continuing the support of our program. With a lot of former players living in the Phoenix area it was great to see so many Husky Legends out watching. Darren Wallace, Nick Taylor, Richard Lee and Brock Mackenzie all made it out to support. Darren, Nick and Richard were all a bit disappointed that the magic from the 2010 season at the ASU Karsten Course didn’t continue but we want to thank them for their support. Here is an update of a few alumni playing some good golf.
Taylor took down the field at this years All-American Tour Championship
Nick Taylor: Back in the headlines this week, Nick won the 2011-2012 All-American Tour Championship at Southern Dunes Golf Club in the Phoenix area. The event was a 64 man Match Play event and to go along with his pay check he receives an exemption into the Nationwide Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am May 17th-20th at The Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Here is the link to the All-American Tour Website.
It was great for the guys to spend some time with Richard this week and get a taste of life as a Tour Pro.
Richard Lee: After some time to relax Richard will be playing a few weeks in a row on Tour starting with the Valero Texas Open April 19-22 in San Antonio Texas. It was great to see Richie this week and we are looking forward to watching him play the next few weeks.
The Masters itself is a tradition for all golfers. Husky Golf has another tradition, our Masters Challenge. Each year we get together early in Masters week and select our teams and compete against each other to crown our Champion. After a blind draw for seeding, the entire field is selected in a Round Robin format. Each person adds their finishes of their top three players to create their score. And of course the Champion holds claim to the Green Jacket.
"Hey get off of my Green Jacket."
The Masters Challenge is steeped in a tradition of Great Champions.
Past Champions
Thurmond (2006)
John Wise (2007)
Wallace (2008)
Thurmond (2009)
Killmer (2010)
Williams (2011)
This years picking was pressure packed and not without some controversial selections. Phil Mickelson went 11th with players like Jason Day, Bubba Watson and Sergio Garcia being selected before Phil. Defending Champion Chris Williams is feeling confident once again selecting Lee Westwood before one of the top choices Rory McIlroy. Scott ‘Pro’ Alexander even selected Fred Couples in the 3rd round choosing off pure gut instinct ahead of players like Y.E. Yang, Martin Kaymer and Ian Poulter.
This year's selections and grades to the right.
As tradition has it, after the selections are made grades are given. Ty and Willy have gained the respect with their choices while Pan and Alex seem to be destined for ‘Cinderella’ performances.
DON’T FORGET: This week we are competing at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational in Phoenix. Updates for both the ASU Thunderbird and the Masters Challenge will come thru Twitter @UW_MGolf. Follow along.
The results weren’t the best so a few days after the US Intercollegiate hosted by Stanford here is the real story:
Willy working a wedge during the practice round
The view of the approach into the 12th hole. You've got to work it around the huge tree in the fairway.
Thursday was a great day of preparation. The course is a classic college venue with some interesting twists. Birdie holes are separated by difficult holes in an awesome California setting.
Round one was decent, led by Willy’s round of 68. We were only 8 shots behind the leaders Oregon. After a short practice session, we headed to San Fran to take in the sights.
Pan enjoyed China town saying it was fairly similar to the real thing.
The guys with Alcatraz in the background.
Of course some time for some salt water taffy and ...
our favorite past time ice cream!
The second round was rough. Wind and a few hour rain delay made conditions difficult and we just didn’t play well. We only made five birdies as a team and put us in a major hole going into the final round.
Pan explaining our poor performance in the second round.
The sun came out on the final round and we played better but it still left room for improvement. Pan didn’t have his ‘A’ game but finished with a solid round, Trevor gutted out a nice 69 and Willy had two eagles in route to another 68. We didn’t quite win the day but we finished on a much better note and look to ASU this week to get our last preparations for the post season.
Sunny skies didn't create sunny scores for Pan in the final round but he gutted out a 71.
Charlie on the 18th tee showed some terrific ball striking and is coming to form at the right time.
22 Mar 2012
Chris Williams Winning Course Record Scorecard From Bandon Trails
Author: mattthurmond | Filed under: Article
What a week! Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is a special place and this past tournament on Bandon Trails will make it no less memorable for the team. Each day had something special to remember:
We will always remember Thursday because of the horrific weather. Steady 25 mph winds and over an inch of rain made our practice round unforgettable. Nobody broke 80 and we counted our shots. We were the only team to play all 18 holes and it gave us an edge. Man was it awesome!
(A picture was suppose to be inserted but we didn’t want to frighten anyone with the horrible weather)
Friday will be remembered by the incredible contrast to the previous day. We woke up to beautiful sunny skies, a tiny breeze and I dare say warm temperatures. We played well and were led by Charlie Hughes’ round of 69. There is probably no better place for a golfer than a perfect day at Bandon Dunes.
The view from the back of number 1 on Friday. Absolutely perfect!
A great round of 69 for Charlie continued his great play from Bandon Dunes last year.
Saturday was another day of amazing weather. The guys competed great again. Willy tied the course record with a 67 and we were so pumped about the weather and just being at Bandon Dunes that we had to play another round. After the 2nd round finished up at Bandon Trails we hurried over to Old MacDonald. We tee’d off at 4:30 and two and a half hours later we had finished an amazing round on an amazing course. Risking fatigue was worth the experience at Old Mac.
Chris holds his finish on the 5th hole during his course record tying 67.
The view of the coast from the 8th tee at Old MacDonald.
Sunday, the final round will be remembered for Chris’ dominant, record breaking performance. For Chris, his final round 66 set a new course record, he won the event by 6 shots and the win gave him five for his career which is a Husky record. What a performance and to do it at Bandon Dunes will make it even more memorable!
Because of his dominant, record breaking performance, March 18th will be known as Chris Williams Day... that is until he wins his next event!
