College golfers want elite courses to play and practice on. Serious question – are there elite courses in Houston that UH golfers can do that? What are the best courses in the city? Memorial (public course - probably tough to get meaningful practice time there), Champions (kind of far), and then a bunch of private country clubs?
Do other cities in Texas just have an advantage in terms of local courses? Certainly Texas (Spieth, Scheffler and others), TAMU (Cameron Champ), SMU (DeChambeau and others) and some other Texas schools have produced a lot more recognizable (and current) PGA stars than Houston. Who was the last great UH pro – Steve Elkington?
Elkington is last great UH pro and he left more than 35 years ago. Since our last NCAA championship in the mid 1980s, Oklahoma State has won six NCAA team titles and been runner-up six other times.
Even though UH has 16 NCAA team titles to OSU’s 11, the Cowboys have far surpassed UH as the dominant golf program.
UH’s golf program is ancient history. We’ve been irrelevant over past 35 years except for about 5 years when Mike Dirks was coach.
Even last 2 UH championship teams in 1984 and '85 with Elk and Billy Ray Brown, part of the first family of UH athletics, OSU was runner-up.
OSU is in mix of national championship every year.
The only UH golfer in this year’s U S. Open was Wade Ormsby.
Oklahoma State has a number of players on PGA Tour, including Rickie Fowler, and two of the top young players in Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland.
There’s no reason UH shouldn’t be a top-10 program. We can’t even qualify for the NCAA tournament.
I’ve talked to a lot of former UH golfers and they are baffled about what the program has become.
This exactly why we ought to have ASAP a think tank made up of the players (even if some of them are in their 60’s) and create try re-create what made us so dominant. I do not want to read that this was a different era. It has nothing to do with that. It is a mindset that drill in day in and day out. 16 Championships is not a coincidence. It is a mindset. It is a mindset of excellence and team spirit. As far as courses there are plenty of courses in the greater Houston area. 60 is better than 999 but it is still not acceptable.
It shouldn’t matter regarding age from a knowledge of the game, contents, influence, etc. But it probably does to some extent with the recruits.
It is still hand to mouth to get established on tour with paying your own way for the most part except for those few that get the sponsor or the fame. How many college golfers have been known coming out of college and how many will be going the Paige Spiranac route. Just the communication technology has changed, it is still hard has hell to get established on tour and make a go of it. Those with special enough games could use the advice and mentorship of former players and UH is a program that could leverage that talent and history even if all the big names are late 50s into 80s now.
No clue about North Florida. But Sam H hasn’t historically been where they are now, but they have accelerated the last several years with both teams. Their facilities are not as nice but they basically have their own course, but they have gotten some players who have delivered. I know many of their girls that are long time friends of my daughter. On the girl side they got some girls they traditional haven’t gotten. One of them is on par with Karen with multiple invites to Augusta and ranked very high. She could have gone many places but selected Sam. Their coach is energetic and he HCs both squads.
From my long distance views they have recruited better than they have historically and their players have improved and delivered once they got there. A nice formulae that they have executed.
I feel your frustration but prior to the Houston Open moving from Red Stone (now Golf Club of Houston) to Memorial the Coogs were the only Texas school to play on a PGA tournament course. That should of been a advantage. Clearly it hasn’t been.
Actually, we were the only university golf program in the country that called a PGA course as our primary home course where our facilities were based. Not true any longer of course with The Houston Open had moved to Memorial.
40 years ago former UH golfer Bill Rogers won the 1981 British Open at Royal St. George in Scotland. This week the Open returns there.
The Panther’s college roommate Bruce Lietzke tied for sixth that year.
Four former Coogs were high on the leaderboard. Nick Faldo and Sandy Lyle, who didn’t stay at UH long, shared 11th.
All four finished ahead of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros.
UH golf was held in esteem world wide at one point.
Yes it was. Glory years. Rogers was listed as the greatest player in the world in 1981. Not bad for an army brat from Texarkana.
Coach Williams knew talent. And he just went out and got it.
Not held in high esteem at one point but for decades.
Quick story: Bill’s teacher was a cranky old man named Mr Robinson. Bill was on the tour at that time. I used to hang around Mr Robinson’s pro shop. One day I bought some Walter Hagen irons from him. He gave me a free 30 minute lesson for the trouble.
The only thing I remember was, “you gotta learn weight distribution, son. You’re hacking at that thing like a Coos Bay log chucker!”
We spent the next twenty minutes with no club…just shifting my weight from right to left. Great lesson that stayed with me a lifetime. The next day he went back to yelling at me for leaving cups on the deck and having ice fights with other deliquents.
A bunch of old kneds who have no clue about college golf or our golf program. I would educate you, but there’s a reason I stay away from this crap on our boards and stick to football. There’s only so many poor takes one can, well, take.
This is the board people would actually listen, most of the football board is hot garbage. If you have a good take on everything, then put up or shut up.
