The Final Match

To this point in our 10 man double-elimination qualifier Alex Moore (3-0), Casey King (3-1) and Nick Sherwood(3-1) have secured a spot via their performance.  This afternoon at Spring Hill CC, Jonnie Motomochi (2-2) and Matt Rawitzer (2-2) will square off for the final spot.  Should be a good battle between the two roommates.  Nick Chianello(3-2) has the 4th spot after losing to Nick Sherwood and being selected by the coaches as a pick.  David Fink will be out this week with a hand injury.  He is hopeful he will be ready to go for the Lexus Fresno Classic the following week.

In other happenings this week Tim and Jon visited the Nike Golf headquarters in Portland this week to take a look what clothing they will be offering next week and make a visit to the headquarters where all the clubs are made for head professionals around the country.  Very cool stuff…especially all the orange clothing they will be offering for the team next season.

For updates from the Del Walker Collegiate you can follow us on twitter @BeaversMGolf.  Go Beavs!

Jonnie Motomochi Sits Down with Alex Moore…

Senior, Jonnie Motomochi, a New Media Communications major sat down with Alex Moore to talk about his five years at Oregon State, his record breaking 63 last year at the Duck Invitational, and what is like to be a part of Oregon State golf.

 

 

Hawaii. Moving Forward. Long Beach.

After a disappointing finish to our final holes last Friday we headed to Hapuna Beach to enjoy one more afternoon in paradise.  There is nothing quite like an afternoon at the beach to help you forget about golf and realize there is a little more to life than just golf.  I’m confident each of us has learned from our experience this past week and will be hungry to make sure we make the most of the next seven opportunities we have this spring before the NCAA post-season.  We’ve got a busy next couple of weeks beginning with our trip to Long Beach, Calif., for the Del Walker Collegiate.

Hapuna Beach

An 8 team match play event this year, the event will give us the opportunity to go head-to-head with the best in the country.  In preparation for the event we will be qualifying via a 10 man double-elimination match play event.  Seeding for the qualifier is based on the power ratings with matches beginning Saturday.  It will be fun to see the guys battle it out head to head and see how they respond to the different style of play.  Match play can definitely bring out more emotion than stroke play.

Matches for Saturday are as follows

1) #7 Casey King v. #10 Jeff Petroff

2) #8 Matt Rawitzer v. #9 Brian Jung

3) #3 Alex Moore v. #6 Scott Kim

4) #4 Nick Chianello v. #5 Jonnie Motomochi

2012 Season Preview

Before leaving for Hawaii Alex Moore and Coach Reehoorn sat down to preview the upcoming 2012 season.

 

Over or Under

Nick Sherwood begins our final practice round as the sun begins to rise over Mauna Kea.

With our final practice round behind us and having done everything we can to make sure we are ready to begin our 2012 season, we headed to the beach again for some sun and relaxation. A high surf advisory was again in effect but that did not deter the guys from having some fun in the Pacific Ocean.  The only question was whether they would be going over or under the waves.  Some fared better than others but again thanks to Pele and our gift to the Lava Gods we came out injury free and ready to compete tomorrow.

After the afternoon at the beach we headed back to the golf course for some putting and some light range work before being treated to a nice Hawaiian luau, which included entertainment from a polynesian dance organization. Don’t try this at home.

The work begins tomorrow at 7:30 AM as we are paired with Texas, Stanford, and Hawaii.  We have had three great rounds of preparation and the team is excited to get on the course and compete.  You can follow live scoring on golfstat.

Go Beavs!

A Gift To The Lava Gods

The team at Hapuna Beach State Park getting some sun after an early morning practice round.

We are not about to make the same mistake as we did last year, and yes, we are superstitious.  We will do everything we can to make sure Pele – The Goddess of Fire, is on our side this week. If you didn’t know peeing in the lava is bad luck, don’t do it!

Standing on the 18th tee David Fink launched a ball into the lava as far and high as he could as a gift to the gods.  He said it would allow him to be blessed for the week.  Without hesitation Nick Chianello and Alex Moore ran to their bag to grab a ball and hit one high and far.  All three birdied the par 5, 18th…we are off to a good start!

With golf done by 11:30 this morning the team headed to the beach to take on the high surf advisory.  Scott Kim (in photo below to the left of the sign) was sent through the wash machine a few times but came out unscathed as did the rest of the team.

Taking a break from the waves, the team somehow talked Alex and Matt into being buried in the sand.  I’m not quite sure why they agreed to do this, but it looked like they actually enjoyed it!

Matt and Alex for some reason found themselves buried in the sand...

Our final practice round at Waikoloa will take place tomorrow at 7:30 AM and then I’m sure we will be back off to the beach to enjoy our trip and have a little fun.

Go Beavs!

Sunday Fun Day

The golf this afternoon at Hualalai was a great way to begin our trip on the Big Island.  As we stepped onto the driving range I could feel the energy and excitement from the team about the week in front of us.

The team on #1 at Hualalai

To have a little fun we pitted the two cars against one another in a 4 person best ball, counting the three best.  The team of Alex Moore, Nick Sherwood, Scott Kim, and Coach Reehoorn dominated.  Although, Coach Reehoorn didn’t add to much as he posted a 76…Moore and Sherwood shot 68 and 70 respectively.

For 15 holes you only see the Pacific Ocean from a distance at Hualalai and then you reach #16 and #17.  For those of you familiar with Bandon Dunes, it has a similar feel to #4.  You simply can’t do anything but take a few minutes to appreciate how lucky we are to be be playing college golf. As you stand on the 17th tee at Hualalai with Humpback whales breaching and flapping their flukes just a few hundred yards off the tee it is hard to focus on the shot at hand.

From L to R, Scott Kim, Alex Moore, Nick Sherwood stand on the 17th tee.

Below are a couple of videos of Alex and Nick hitting shots into 17.  The first one is of Alex who hit it to 8 feet and then made the putt for birdie 2.  The second video is of Nick reacting like only he can after he was not happy with his shot ending up in the front right bunker.  In the distance prior to Alex’s shot is David Fink on #16. Practice round tomorrow at Waikoloa at 7:15 and then some beach time.

Also, a big shout out to our men’s basketball team who defeated Oregon today in the basketball edition of the Civil War.

Go Beavs!