Not looking good. Kim continues not to live up to his top ranking and is losing. Lost another match already. Weaver and Homa are tied and really must win their matches. Hagy is 3 up with four to go.

watching online now, they have sound today. weaver and homa need to both come up clutch.

weaver gets the win when the Illinois putt doesn't drop on 18... looks like it will come down to homa's match, though hagy isn't quite done.

video here for anyone who needs a link.
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/golf-men/d1

Weaver pulls out great victory in overtime hole.

So its 1-1, with Kim losing, Hagy winning and Homa and Pieters, two guys destined for the pro game, all even after 17. Wow!

Kim is only one down, so has a chance, but it really looks like Cal will need to ride on Homa's back.

Homa & Pieters make pars on 18.. off to the 19th hole for extra holes... and now we can't watch the results... have to wait for it over the air. FAIL TV coverage.

The one possible disadvantage that Alabama could give itself problems in close matches. It looks like they wont have too much practice on 16, 17, and 18 in the match play format.

ugh no cameras on the front. kim loses, so it's on homa and we're in the dark.

2-2 now with the next hole winner between Homa and Pieters to determine the winner.

How do you not have a mobile camera for the possible extra holes? Match play is incredible to watch and extra holes are even better since it is life or death there... they need to think about adding the ability to watch the extra holes.

19th both parred... onto to #20.

http://www.ncaa.com/championship/liveplayer/player?gameId=306079&date=2013/06/01

They are giving updates via liveplayer, but no live video feeds.

https://twitter.com/CalMensGolf has good updates as well.

Going to be tough waiting here... 10 footer for Pieters with much longer putt for Homa for birdies.

Ouch... 3 putt from 50 feet to lose on 20th hole : (

Homa misses. We lose.

ugh tough loss. was pieters the NCAA champ last year?

Pieters missed birdie putt, conceded par. Homa still has to make a 8-10ft putt to tie. Homa misses.

ColoradoBear1;842127403 said:

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ugh tough loss. was pieters the NCAA champ last year?

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Yes Pieters vs Homa matched the last two individual champs.

The great equalizer. 5th straight year number 1 seed does not make the finals.

OHT, its nice to see two NCAA individual champs going at it in extra holes for the match.

wifeisafurd;842127410 said:

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The great equalizer. 5th straight year number 1 seed does not make the finals.

OHT, its nice to see two NCAA individual champs going at it in extra holes for the match.

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see Walter Hagen. Does the college season include match play or is it all stroke play until the NCAA finals?

82gradDLSdad;842127569 said:

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see Walter Hagen. Does the college season include match play or is it all stroke play until the NCAA finals?

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82 I don't believe the regular season has any match play games. But maybe Coach Des could arrange a little local play. Get Cal, the furd, St Mary's and another school and play a little 2 day event sort of like the Cal Golden Bear Classic basketball deal. The winners play the second day and the losers play a consolation match. Good experience, good competition.

I have no idea if the schedule has room for this or whether there are other NCAA restrictions.

And yes Match play is pure golf.

NVGolfingBear;842127572 said:

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82 I don't believe the regular season has any match play games. But maybe Coach Des could arrange a little local play. Get Cal, the furd, St Mary's and another school and play a little 2 day event sort of like the Cal Golden Bear Classic basketball deal. The winners play the second day and the losers play a consolation match. Good experience, good competition.

I have no idea if the schedule has room for this or whether there are other NCAA restrictions.

And yes Match play is pure golf.

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I actually don't think match play is pure golf. I think it involves more gamesmanship than stroke play. Not that this is bad but match play is not just about golf. Stroke play, to me, is all about golf.

82gradDLSdad;842127575 said:

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I actually don't think match play is pure golf. I think it involves more gamesmanship than stroke play. Not that this is bad but match play is not just about golf. Stroke play, to me, is all about golf.

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You can get gamesmanship even in stroke play. In match play the situation is right in front of you. you have to react and hit the shot then or go down one. In stroke play there isn't that immediate sense of urgency or pressure. You always feel you can make up for a missed putt on the next hole. In team play there is a greater sense of somebody has your back, not that a player should rely on that. But it's there as a comforting presence.

After some 50 years playing the game on not nearly as many great courses as Shocky1, I feel match play is the ultimate golf challenge.

wifeisafurd;842127410 said:

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The great equalizer. 5th straight year number 1 seed does not make the finals.

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First and foremost, sincere thanks to Des and the team for a historic year. I'd put Des up there with Newell, McKeever, and Clark among Cal legends who get it done with student-athletes who are at Cal for all the right reasons.

If match play is so unpredictable and the best teams don't even make it to the final day, why does the NCAA stay with that format? Clark's teams have dominated 15s for decades, but finally won 7s today for the first time. Is there something that Des isn't doing to make his teams more competitive in match play?

BearDevil;842127693 said:

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First and foremost, sincere thanks to Des and the team for a historic year. I'd put Des up there with Newell, McKeever, and Clark among Cal legends who get it done with student-athletes who are at Cal for all the right reasons.

If match play is so unpredictable and the best teams don't even make it to the final day, why does the NCAA stay with that format? Clark's teams have dominated 15s for decades, but finally won 7s today for the first time. Is there something that Des isn't doing to make his teams more competitive in match play?

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I can see why match play would make sense, but the observed results from these past five seasons of match play seems to suggest that the format is flawed. It would make sense IF:

a) Makes championship more entertaining for fans. This is actually true, especially since it levels the playing field and even long shots have a shot at an NCAA title; however, given that the championships are not even broadcasted on television, and outside the relative few who actually attend the tournament and those who watch the low production live stream broadcast, the audience is quite limited. Overall, the benefit does not outweigh the cost here

b) Prevents "dynasty" type champions, in which elite programs reload every year and in effect, limits the possibility for "outsider" programs to win the NCAA. The leveling created by match play certainly enabled Augusta State to win two championships, but then again, it wasn't a real issue prior to the change to match play. In the 25 years prior to match play, there were no repeat champions, and 14 different schools won titles.

c) Determines the best team in the country. In principle, match play is supposed to function like a playoff, matching and seeding the top teams. Since match play was reintroduced, no number one seeds have won the championship for two reasons: (1) golf is different than football, because there are less players (and one or two players poorly performing has a significant outcome on a match) and by nature, there is more variability in individual performance from one day to next; and (2) because there is no meaningful advantage in the #1 seed. For example, if Cal had finished in 8th place in stroke play, Cal would have been the 8th seed but likely also the favored team in spite of being matched up against the #1 seed. There is no home field advantage, no bye, nothing.

If I were to change the format, I would keep match play, but allow the top x seeds to receive byes.

As for question two, I would say making the semis--advancing past the first match followed by heartbreaking 3-2 losses--in consecutive years is evidence of success. Watching some of the other teams play, I worked with the hypothesis that Cal plays too conservative in match play relative to other teams, and relative to its own aggressiveness during stroke play. As such, I would expect more birdies and more bogeys during stroke play. When I ran the numbers, during match play, there were less birdies and more bogeys per round per player. When I looked at the team scores during the first round of match play, Cal was only the fourth best team. (Taking only the scores from the first 14 holes, Alabama was a collective -14, while Cal was -4. Both Illinois and Texas outperformed Cal, as well.) Given the above, and without data from last season's NCAA play, I would just chalk it up to poor play.

NVGolfingBear;842127572 said:

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82 I don't believe the regular season has any match play games. But maybe Coach Des could arrange a little local play. Get Cal, the furd, St Mary's and another school and play a little 2 day event sort of like the Cal Golden Bear Classic basketball deal. The winners play the second day and the losers play a consolation match. Good experience, good competition.

I have no idea if the schedule has room for this or whether there are other NCAA restrictions.

And yes Match play is pure golf.

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A few of the in-season events have gone to a match play format, precisely to give teams some experience in that format, which most college players rarely play, except for USGA amateur events. We didn't play in any of the match play tournaments this year, but played in one of them last year, I believe. Tough loss for Max and Cal, but a great accomplishment to get to the semis two years running.

Homa and Kim just qualified for the US Open, joining Michael Weaver who was already in. That's three members on this year's team in the Open. Sigh. Alum Charlie Wi just missed the cut, think he lost in a playoff for the last spot?