NCAA Golf Championships Report

Blessings designer visits site

Julian Perico of Arkansas hits out of deep grass on the edge of the 10th fairway during the second day of play Saturday in the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville. Perico, who was named to the PING All-Central Region team, shot a 3-over 75 and is tied for 23rd place.
Julian Perico of Arkansas hits out of deep grass on the edge of the 10th fairway during the second day of play Saturday in the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville. Perico, who was named to the PING All-Central Region team, shot a 3-over 75 and is tied for 23rd place.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The original designer of Blessings Golf Club, Robert Trent Jones Jr., was at the NCAA Men's Golf Championships on Saturday to visit with course founder John H. Tyson and mingle with his many friends in the business.

Jones said he keeps a running joke with Tyson about the birth of Blessings.

"I like to say, 'John, we really co-designed this,' and he says, 'No.' I say, 'John, I was just your caddie,' " Jones said with a laugh. "I'm here for him. I wanted to be here to honor him for his great patronage and his love of the game of golf. But more importantly, his total dedication and patronage to our game by building this great facility."

Blessings underwent a redesign by Kyle Phillips that was completed in 2017 in which the tees off No. 1 and 18 were criss-crossed, the sequence of the holes was affected, and a few other tweaks were made.

"I like to say that Bobby [Jones] laid a great foundation and Kyle added on to the foundation," Tyson said.

Jones, who calls Palo Alto, Calif., home, has designed more than 270 courses around the world. Although he has slowed his pace a bit in his late 70s, he said he typically keeps about five projects active at a time.

A walk around Blessing's undulations, over ravines and back and forth over Clear Creek, is a prime example of how Jones shapes a course to the land.

"I like to say we design golf courses with the soles of our feet," Jones said. "Golfers walk, especially competitive golfers. The golf cart is for other people. They feel the walk in their feet. They have to take a stance, and then they make a shot. The land itself, the way it feels, has a lot to do with how I as a golfer feel about it."

One of Jones' current projects is a redesign of Miklagard Golf Course outside Oslo, Norway, the home course of Oklahoma State junior Viktor Hovland.

Jones said he enjoyed a visit with Hovland on Saturday as one of his many chats.

"I'm very happy to be seeing my friends," Jones said. "Collegiate golf and amateur golf, it's very friendly. Families are there, cheering each other on. They can walk closely and see the shot making.

"Unlike the tour events, where you're far away or watching on TV, you can feel that. You can feel the passion and feel the emotions and see the shots."

Jones, who also designed the courses at Chenal Country Club in Little Rock, made sure to point out his friendship with Walter Hussman Jr., publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and the folks at Murphy Oil Co., based in El Dorado, where he used to frequently play golf.

"The main thing is I love Arkansas, and I've come here many times throughout my life," Jones said. "I'm glad to be back."

Stress free

Oklahoma State Coach Alan Bratton said the foundation for Matthew Wolff's course-tying 66 on Saturday was laid on Friday, when he rallied from 4 over at the turn to card a first-round 73.

"I go back to [Friday] on him because he was frustrated after nine holes, being 4-over par," Bratton said. "A lot of young guys get that way. We talked about how that's a good lesson for anyone out there."

Bratton said Wolff had a relatively easy round Saturday.

"He didn't have a lot of stress," Bratton said. "He had a bunch of good birdie looks. I think through 11 holes he had eight good birdie chances. He ended up with 10 good birdie looks in 18 holes and shot 6 under. A very good round, and we've got to go do the same. Obviously the work is nowhere near done."

Morikawa's day

Cal's Collin Morikawa shot an even-par 72 on Saturday after taking the first-day lead at 5-under 67, one shot shy of the course record.

"Obviously, I didn't make as many birdies, I didn't make as many putts, but I hung in there," Morikawa said.

Morikawa was 2 under through three holes before a double bogey on 4.

"I had kind of an unfortunate shot ... just really got lazy with the swing, little downhill lie, and ended up in the hazard," Morikawa said. "So out here you've got to stay sharp. Throughout the middle of the rounds, for both rounds really, I just haven't stayed sharp."

Back home

Baylor senior Garrett May is the only player in the 156-man field who calls Arkansas home.

May, the son of Raymond May and Angie Wilson, grew up in Hope for his first 19 years. The family moved to Texarkana a couple of years ago.

May said he was pumped when the Bears qualified in the third position at the NCAA Louisville Regional.

"It was a great feeling because I knew once we made it I was going to have a bunch of fans out here, family and friends, people from my high school, people from college, and all of my family who could make it," May said. "I knew I was going to have a good showing. To go out like this my senior year, to be here, it's really special."

May posted rounds of 77 and 75 to sit in a tie for 77th place at 8 over through two rounds. Baylor is in 25th place at 33 over as a team.

Perico honored

Arkansas freshman Julian Perico was named to the PING All-Central Region team Saturday as selected by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

Perico is the 12th Arkansas player to earn the honor during Coach Brad McMakin's 13-year tenure.

A native of Lima, Peru, Perico was recently named to the SEC All-Freshman team. The winner of the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate last fall, Perico made the match-winning putt against Auburn's Graysen Huff to clinch Arkansas' match-play victory at the SEC championships last month.

Separations

University of Arkansas Coach Brad McMakin compared Blessings to last year's NCAA championship venue, Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla., in terms of challenging the ability to post good team scores.

"It's championship golf, and you're going to see a lot of separation this week," McMakin said Friday. "That's what the good teams want. If you have a bad round today and you play good tomorrow, you can get right back in it.

"It's the same thing as Karsten Creek, the scores are the same. The teams that play well are going to dominate, and the teams that don't play well are going to be at the bottom of the leaderboard."

Oklahoma State held a one-shot lead over Stanford and a two-shot lead over Auburn and Cal after one round, after which Coach Alan Bratton said he anticipated more in the coming days.

"This course should separate and be good for us," Bratton said.

International flair

Players from 34 U.S. states and 19 countries are included on the rosters of the 30 competing teams and the individual players for the men's championship.

California leads the way with 27 players who call that state home, followed by 26 from Texas.

Other states who have at least 10 players on rosters at Blessings are Florida with 14, Georgia (14), North Carolina (12) and South Carolina (10).

Baylor senior Garrett May of Hope is the lone player in the field who is from Arkansas.

France is the top country outside of the United States with three players on rosters at the championships, while Belgium, England, Germany, Ireland and Spain have two each.

Sports on 05/26/2019

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