Orange Crush

The above picture may not mean much to most of you but to those who care that is Kevin Tway in the orange shirt in the middle. To those of you who may not know who Kevin Tway is, he is the #3 player in college golf. This weekend, Kevin and his band of gifted golfers from the modern golf factory known as Oklahoma State University, OSU, creamed the field in the NCAA Rocky Mountain Regionals at the Colorado National Golf Club. And orange is their favorite color.

Kevin, son of senior professional golfer Bob Tway, was the low scoring individual of the tournament at 10 under par. His team was 31 under par. All five of OSU's players placed individually among the top 13 players in the field. Bested the field by 18 shots. It was an awesome team display of golf talent and superiority on a tough, 7700 yards long, weather plagued Jay Morrish designed golf course with stiff team competition from around the United States. And Tway isn't even the best golfer on this team. The #1 player in college golf is teammate, Peter Uihlein. Talk about loaded.

Suffice it to write, Oklahoma State, known as the Cowboys, will take their filthy dominant game to their home course, the Tom Fazio gem Karsten Creek in Stillwater, host of the NCAA 2011 Men's Golf Championships early next month. Do the other 29 qualifying teams have a chance against this band of Cowboys who do shoot straight? If the answer is yes, from what I saw this weekend, it would trump the David v Goliath story.

Let me get this right. The #1 collegiate golf team in the country is playing for the NCAA Championship on their home golf course. How was this arranged by Yenta the matchmaker? Not only is the team as good as any assembled in the history of the event, the event is played on one of the toughest surliest golf courses in the country, Karsten Creek. And the home team Cowboys know every nuance of the place. Good luck to the visitors.

Karsten Creek is 7400 yards at sea level with water, wind, trees, contours, ornery bunkers and slippery greens all conspiring to not only protect par but prohibit par. The last time the NCAA's came to Karsten Creek in 2003, 39 over par won the team championship. I remember one of those diabolical holes #17. A long uphill into the wind over water par 4 measuring 471 yards. Even if the player finds the 15 yard plus wide fairway, he's left with a 200 yard plus second shot into a perched green that is severely sloped right to left. The only thing stopping a left of center approach is the lapping water from Lake Louise. Some days, the prevailing southern wind blows at 30mph into the faces of the players. Fazio must have been in a foul mood that day when this hole was conceived. Isn't golf hard enough even on a perfect weather day? Stairmasters. Wind tunnels. Sand jails. Sherwood Forests. Car hoods. And the Weezie's water. Oh my.

There are few calm days in the Oklahoma prairie. That's why the golfing alums from OSU find Mr. Wind a friend of kinky sorts. It should come as no surprise that three of the best wind players on the PGA Tour are OSU grads. Ricky Fowler, Hunter Mahan and Scott Verplank at crunch time hope it blows. These three honed their games into the howling dustbowl winds of Oklahoma. I suspect Cowboy teammates Tway, Uihlein, Sean Einhaus, Morgan Hoffman and Talor Gooch pray before the tourney for Mr. Wind to blow like a mother all five days of the tournament. For that is what they are used to. Golf and wind...the perfect marriage. It just makes sense to the Cowboys.

So, golfers who care, follow this tourney on your media toys and enjoy the show. It airs on Turners NCAA.com on the following dates: June 3 top 8 teams; June 4 final 4 teams; and, June 5, the finals. Check you local listings for more coverage. Hope you like the color orange, you'll see alot of it on the green in Stillwater that week.