Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
Fueled by Nothing-To-Lose Attitude and Super Sophomore Xiong, Ducks Open Nationals Friday
05/24/18 | Men's Golf, @GoDucksMoseley
The Oregon men's golf team looks to make its third straight national final when the NCAA Tournament begins Friday, more than likely the final college event for standout Norman Xiong.
The word of the week, for the Oregon men's golf team, is "free."
The Ducks are in Stillwater, Okla., for the NCAA Championship tournament, beginning Friday at Karsten Creek Golf Club. Despite having made the last two tournament finals, and won the 2016 NCAA title, UO coach Casey Martin wants his team playing free of expectations. Despite taking on an unforgiving golf course cut into a dense forest, Martin wants his team playing free of fear. And despite knowing this is in all likelihood the last collegiate tournament of super sophomore Norman Xiong's sterling career, Martin wants him playing free of pressure to go out with a bang.
"It's just a function of taking a deep breath, and getting really relaxed, and letting the voices kind of die down," Martin said Tuesday, following the Ducks' final practice before leaving for Oklahoma. "When you play golf, and you know you can't hit it right or left, there's some voices in your head; it's about quieting those down and just doing what you do.
"You can't play scared in golf, to play at the level we need to. You have to play free."
Fortunately for Martin, his No. 1 player, Xiong, is "the best I've ever been around at doing that," the coach said. On Thursday, Xiong was named one of five finalists for the Jack Nicklaus Player Of The Year Award, which comes with a chance to play the other finalists for an exemption into the PGA Tour's Barbasol Championship.
And, Martin took a team to Stillwater that feels it's playing with house money, after following up its 2016 NCAA title with a surprise run back to the 2017 NCAA final, and then rallying itself into this year's event with a rousing final round at regionals.
"Nationals is honestly probably less stressful than regionals," said UO junior Ryan Gronlund, who shot 29 on his opening nine holes in the final round of regionals to help the Ducks make the cut. "Regionals, it's the only tournament of the year you don't really have to win; top five advance, so the mindset kind of changes. Going into nationals, we've made it — you can just let it fly, to some degree."
Gronlund is one of the three Ducks making a return trip to nationals, along with Xiong and junior Edwin Yi — the only veteran of both the 2017 NCAA finals and the 2016 national championship team, on which Gronlund was a redshirt. A year ago, Gronlund also sparked the Ducks into match play at the NCAA Tournament, scoring six birdies on his final nine holes to help the UO men make the match-play quarterfinals by one stroke.
"That'll probably be my best memory from my college experience," Xiong said. "When we're in tight situations like that, I think Casey really brings the best out of us."
Gronlund played with a similar level of determination last week to get the Ducks back to nationals.
"He was on a mission, and it was awesome to see," Martin said. "We need him, obviously, and when he plays like that, it really helps us."
At regionals, Gronlund provided a welcome complement for Xiong, who won his UO record sixth individual title of the season. He has one more chance to play in the green and yellow this week, before more than likely entering the professional ranks.
Physically, Xiong hasn't changed much since joining the Ducks a little more than a year ago, when he enrolled in January 2017. He is "a world-class ball striker, the best I've ever had," Martin said. But the sophomore sensation says he's benefitted immensely from his experience at Oregon.
"Obviously my skill has improved a lot, just sharpening, becoming more technically sound," Xiong said. "But the biggest part is just maturity. I decided to go to college because I knew I wasn't ready to turn pro yet, mentally. I knew I wasn't emotionally ready to handle all that. But now, through all my experience in college, through the summer, I think I definitely can take on what's ahead of me."
That maturity will be tested this weekend by Karsten Creek Golf Club. Xiong twice played a junior event there, he said; the first time didn't go well, so he attacked the course with vigor the next time around, with a similar result. And so, despite acknowledging "a few grudges" with Karsten Creek, Xiong has learned through experience not to take that history to the first tee when play begins Friday.
"I just want to try to overcome them, and have a good time out there," Xiong said. "The best thing I can do to try and overcome that is go in with a simple and calm mindset, and envision myself really peaceful on the course."
Easier said than done, of course. But Martin said he's never had a player so capable of playing "free" and blocking out the voices in his head as Xiong.
"If he hears them, they don't have any impact on him," Martin said. "Because he just pounds it down the middle."
That skill will be at a premium this week. Karsten Creek's layout presents the toughest test Martin has ever seen, he said, more intimidating even than the setup for a U.S. Open. And that's all because of the dense trees lining each hole.
"It's in a forest," Martin said. "You miss a fairway, you don't get to go play it. You drop another ball."
To prepare his team, Gronlund said, Martin set up cones on the practice range 25 yards apart — narrower even than Karsten Creek fairways Gronlund estimated at 40 to 45 yards wide. Each Duck was asked in practice to put 10 straight drives between those cones.
Gronlund also hit up 2017 senior Wyndham Clark, who transferred to Oregon from Oklahoma State, which plays Karsten Creek as its home course. Gronlund used Google Earth to map out a course strategy, then emailed his notes to Clark for review.
"He sent me paragraph after paragraph in a text message saying, 'This is good; this is not,' " Gronlund said. "Even though I've never been there, getting that from 'Dub' makes it feel like I've been there 100 times already."
There won't be any way to avoid experiencing some nerves this week, Gronlund said, not with TV cameras recording the Ducks' every stroke, and the pressure to compete for a third straight spot in the finals. But factors like the notes from Clark provide an edge the Ducks hope will allow them to play "free" all week.
"You've got to be comfortable and you've got to be focused," Martin said. "And mentally, really, really strong."
The Ducks are in Stillwater, Okla., for the NCAA Championship tournament, beginning Friday at Karsten Creek Golf Club. Despite having made the last two tournament finals, and won the 2016 NCAA title, UO coach Casey Martin wants his team playing free of expectations. Despite taking on an unforgiving golf course cut into a dense forest, Martin wants his team playing free of fear. And despite knowing this is in all likelihood the last collegiate tournament of super sophomore Norman Xiong's sterling career, Martin wants him playing free of pressure to go out with a bang.
"It's just a function of taking a deep breath, and getting really relaxed, and letting the voices kind of die down," Martin said Tuesday, following the Ducks' final practice before leaving for Oklahoma. "When you play golf, and you know you can't hit it right or left, there's some voices in your head; it's about quieting those down and just doing what you do.
"You can't play scared in golf, to play at the level we need to. You have to play free."
Fortunately for Martin, his No. 1 player, Xiong, is "the best I've ever been around at doing that," the coach said. On Thursday, Xiong was named one of five finalists for the Jack Nicklaus Player Of The Year Award, which comes with a chance to play the other finalists for an exemption into the PGA Tour's Barbasol Championship.
And, Martin took a team to Stillwater that feels it's playing with house money, after following up its 2016 NCAA title with a surprise run back to the 2017 NCAA final, and then rallying itself into this year's event with a rousing final round at regionals.
"Nationals is honestly probably less stressful than regionals," said UO junior Ryan Gronlund, who shot 29 on his opening nine holes in the final round of regionals to help the Ducks make the cut. "Regionals, it's the only tournament of the year you don't really have to win; top five advance, so the mindset kind of changes. Going into nationals, we've made it — you can just let it fly, to some degree."
Gronlund is one of the three Ducks making a return trip to nationals, along with Xiong and junior Edwin Yi — the only veteran of both the 2017 NCAA finals and the 2016 national championship team, on which Gronlund was a redshirt. A year ago, Gronlund also sparked the Ducks into match play at the NCAA Tournament, scoring six birdies on his final nine holes to help the UO men make the match-play quarterfinals by one stroke.
"That'll probably be my best memory from my college experience," Xiong said. "When we're in tight situations like that, I think Casey really brings the best out of us."
Gronlund played with a similar level of determination last week to get the Ducks back to nationals.
"He was on a mission, and it was awesome to see," Martin said. "We need him, obviously, and when he plays like that, it really helps us."
At regionals, Gronlund provided a welcome complement for Xiong, who won his UO record sixth individual title of the season. He has one more chance to play in the green and yellow this week, before more than likely entering the professional ranks.
Physically, Xiong hasn't changed much since joining the Ducks a little more than a year ago, when he enrolled in January 2017. He is "a world-class ball striker, the best I've ever had," Martin said. But the sophomore sensation says he's benefitted immensely from his experience at Oregon.
"Obviously my skill has improved a lot, just sharpening, becoming more technically sound," Xiong said. "But the biggest part is just maturity. I decided to go to college because I knew I wasn't ready to turn pro yet, mentally. I knew I wasn't emotionally ready to handle all that. But now, through all my experience in college, through the summer, I think I definitely can take on what's ahead of me."
That maturity will be tested this weekend by Karsten Creek Golf Club. Xiong twice played a junior event there, he said; the first time didn't go well, so he attacked the course with vigor the next time around, with a similar result. And so, despite acknowledging "a few grudges" with Karsten Creek, Xiong has learned through experience not to take that history to the first tee when play begins Friday.
"I just want to try to overcome them, and have a good time out there," Xiong said. "The best thing I can do to try and overcome that is go in with a simple and calm mindset, and envision myself really peaceful on the course."
Easier said than done, of course. But Martin said he's never had a player so capable of playing "free" and blocking out the voices in his head as Xiong.
"If he hears them, they don't have any impact on him," Martin said. "Because he just pounds it down the middle."
That skill will be at a premium this week. Karsten Creek's layout presents the toughest test Martin has ever seen, he said, more intimidating even than the setup for a U.S. Open. And that's all because of the dense trees lining each hole.
"It's in a forest," Martin said. "You miss a fairway, you don't get to go play it. You drop another ball."
To prepare his team, Gronlund said, Martin set up cones on the practice range 25 yards apart — narrower even than Karsten Creek fairways Gronlund estimated at 40 to 45 yards wide. Each Duck was asked in practice to put 10 straight drives between those cones.
Gronlund also hit up 2017 senior Wyndham Clark, who transferred to Oregon from Oklahoma State, which plays Karsten Creek as its home course. Gronlund used Google Earth to map out a course strategy, then emailed his notes to Clark for review.
"He sent me paragraph after paragraph in a text message saying, 'This is good; this is not,' " Gronlund said. "Even though I've never been there, getting that from 'Dub' makes it feel like I've been there 100 times already."
There won't be any way to avoid experiencing some nerves this week, Gronlund said, not with TV cameras recording the Ducks' every stroke, and the pressure to compete for a third straight spot in the finals. But factors like the notes from Clark provide an edge the Ducks hope will allow them to play "free" all week.
"You've got to be comfortable and you've got to be focused," Martin said. "And mentally, really, really strong."
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