Penny Takes Prize

On Saturday, Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma took home the number two prize in college football – the Heisman Trophy. His numbers were certainly impressive this year. He threw for 4,340 yards with a total of 41 of his passes ending with his receiver in the end zone. Just as impressive is the fact that only 5 of his tosses ended up in the hands of the opposing team. He also added 310 yards and 5 touchdowns on the ground. He was seemingly a lock for the top prize in college football too. At the same time though, a man on the West coast was quietly composing a resume impressive not only for the size of its numbers but also the diversity of categories that they fall into. Mayfield’s often less than honorable antics didn’t help his cause either. So, with that being said, I would like to name San Diego State running back Rashaad Penny as the 2017-2018 jasathletics College Football MVP.

Overall, Penny ran for an impressive 2,027 yards and 19 touchdowns. He also added 142 receiving yards including 2 touchdowns. What took him over the top though, was his added diversity of 1 punt return touchdown and 2 kick return touchdowns. Penny is truly a man that knows how to find the end zone. He also came up big against power 5 opponents. Against Arizona State he ran for 216 yards and 1 touchdown and caught 4 passes for 38 yards and 1 touchdown. Against Stanford he ran for 175 yards and 1 touchdown. Not only were his stats impressive, his team won both games. Penny came up big down the stretch too, finishing the year with 4 straight games with more than 200 yards on the ground. In each of those games he found himself in the end zone multiple times, and each of those games ended with San Diego State having a larger integer on scoreboard than their opponent as well. Congratulations Rashaad! We at jasathletics look forward to seeing you on Sundays next year.

An American Abroad

When Peter Uihlein arrived at Oklahoma State, one of the top college golf programs in the nation, he had big expectations. This was due in large part to the fact that he was a two-time American Junior Golf Association Player of the Year, but also because his father Wally is CEO at Acushnet – the parent company for Titleist. His time in Stillwater was certainly a success as he won multiple college tournaments and also claimed the 2011 Ben Hogan Award, which goes to the top college golfer each year – recognizing success in both colligate and non-colligate tournaments. His time on the golf course while unofficially representing the Oklahoma State orange was fruitful too as he won the 2010 United States Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay in Washington. Even with this success, some found it to be a curious choice for Uihlein to turn professional at the end of 2011 and not play the spring portion of his final year of college eligibility. Perhaps even more surprising was that he decided that Europe, and not his native United States of America, would be where he would try to forge the origins of a hopefully positive career trajectory.

During Uihlein’s first year as a professional he saw limited starts accompanied by limited success on the European Tour. His time on the European minor league circuit, the European Challenge Tour, indeed proved to be a challenge too as he didn’t claim his first top ten until late July. This was a turning point though and marked the beginning of a seven tournament stretch where he finished in the top ten six times. All things considered, 2012 was a successful maiden voyage into the world of professional golf as Uihlein finished 26^th in the final Challenge Tour rankings.

After a resilient first year as a pro, Uihlein broke into full stride in 2013 with two top ten finishes on the main circuit early in the year. Then, in May, he notched the first win of his European Tour career by claiming the Madeira Islands Open. This solidified the main tour as his home. Uihlein did not rest in his success though; he kept the momentum rolling throughout the year, and among other things, added two second place finishes late in the season. His success didn’t go unnoticed by his colleagues across the Atlantic either. Both Uihlein and Brooks Koepka (a young American following a similar career path to Uihlein) qualified for the PGA Championship and played a practice round with Phil Mickelson. At year’s end, Uihlein was 14^th on the European Tour’s ranking list – a tour and 12 places better than the year before. This gained him the honor of being named the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year.

At this point, Uihlein looked poised to continue to progress. Instead he regressed. With only two top ten finishes in all of 2014, Uihlein found his name next to the number 65 on the final European Tour rankings. Instead of getting to follow his friend Brooks Koepka, who finished 8^th on the European Tour order of merit bolstered by a late-season win in Turkey, to the United States to play the PGA Tour in 2015, he remained a nomadic American.

The year 2015 proved to be a solid year for Uihlein as he regained some form. There was nothing spectacular about it. He consistently made cuts and threw in the odd top ten. It was good enough to get him to the final event of the European Tour’s Race to Dubai playoffs, an honor that goes to the top 60 in the rankings. After signing his final scorecard in Dubai, his season added up to a 47^th place finish. Even though it was solid, it didn’t match up with the success that 2013 foreshadowed.

After showing some initial promise with three top tens in a row early in the year, 2016 ended up being Uihlein’s most difficult trek as a professional. Injuries stunted his season. He only played in 14 tournaments, and not surprisingly, he finished the 2016 campaign in 126^th place. Exclamation points had officially been replaced by questions marks.

What cannot be questioned is Uihlein’s resilience. It’s early in 2017, but Uihlein has already posted three top tens and eight made cuts in nine events on the European Tour. He also made a solid guest appearance on the PGA Tour as he finished T5 at the Puerto Rico Open, which earned him a start the following week at the Shell Houston Open where he finished T23. All of a sudden 2013 doesn’t feel all that distant. The PGA Tour seems within grasp, and indeed was, albeit for only a fortnight. A pro career that mirrors or even overshadows his amateur and collegiate career in wins and associated awards seems possible again.  For now, he continues down a road rarely traveled by an American professional golfer as he is back on the European Tour this week teeing up his golf ball at the Shenzhen International in China. I don’t doubt that this road will one day end up on the PGA Tour. When he finally does make it there as a full-time member, he will bring a wealth of experience and memories that he never could have amassed if he hadn’t left the safety of the States. Experience and memories he could only gain as an American abroad.

Shaped by Greatness

When most people think of elite golf in the state of Minnesota, Hazeltine National is the layout that comes to mind. What most people don't know is that great courses designed by some of the best known golf course architects of all time graced the Minnesota landscape well before Hazeltine was conceived by Robert Trent Jones in the 1960s.

The most notable such course is Interlachen Country Club in Edina, which is the number one golf course in Minnesota according to Golf Digest. Interlachen was designed by the great Donald Ross in the early 1900s during the golden age of golf course architecture. Ross is certainly one of the best and most prolific golf course architects to have held that vocation. Ross' most well-known courses include Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina, Seminole Golf Club in Florida, Oakland Hills Country Club (South course) in Michigan, and Oak Hill Country Club (East course) in New York. Interlachen's resume is further bolstered by the history that has unfolded over its fairways and greens as Bobby Jones won the U.S. Open there in 1930 on his run to the Grand Slam - possibly still the greatest achievement in golf history.

While Interlachen is the centerpiece, the story doesn't end there. Donald Ross had a hand in designing multiple other Minnesota masterpieces too. Included among them are The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis, Northland Country Club in Duluth, and White Bear Yacht Club in Dellwood. The narrative doesn't end with Ross either though as other elites of the golden age plied their trade in the soil of the North Star State as well. The names A.W. Tillinghast, Seth Raynor, and Stanley Thompson all are credited with designing at least one course in Minnesota.

Like Ross, Tillinghast is one of the giants in the history of American golf course design. Among his most famous designs are Winged Foot Golf Club's West and East courses in New York and Baltusrol Golf Club's Lower and Upper Courses in New Jersey. In Minnesota, Tillinghast designed a pair - Golden Valley Country Club and Rochester Golf and Country Club.

Seth Raynor worked many years as C.B. MacDonald's understudy. MacDonald is known as the father of American golf course architecture with classics like National Golf Links of America in New York and Chicago Golf Club to his name. This is no doubt that MacDonald casts a shadow over Raynor. However, Raynor carved out a nice career apart from MacDonald too, and one must not underestimate his contributions to courses where MacDonald played the leading role either. His career removed from MacDonald included gems like Fishers Island Golf Club (with Charles Banks) in New York and Shoreacres Golf Club in Illinois. As for Minnesota, Raynor created a trio of Twin Cities tracks, all country clubs - Midland Hills, Minnesota Valley, and Somerset.

Finally, there is Stanley Thompson - perhaps the most surprising name from that prime era of golf course design to have a course in Minnesota on his resume. This is because Thompson is the greatest Canadian golf course architect of all time and has relatively few forays to the fifty when compared with his comprehensive portfolio of Canadian courses. His Canadian courses are spectacular and many are set in places of utmost natural splendor. Some of the more noteworthy are Capilano Golf and Country Club in British Columbia, Banff Springs Golf Course and Jasper Park Lodge Golf Course in Alberta, and Highlands Links Golf Course in Nova Scotia. His one Minnesota design is North Oaks Golf Club, which was finished in 1950 towards the end of Thompson's career and technically after the golden age of course design. North Oaks was recently refurbished by Tom Lehman and hosted this past year's MGA Amateur Championship.

Surely Hazeltine will continue to be the course most associated with elite golf in the state of Minnesota, especially after the amazing Ryder Cup that unfolded there only months ago. Hopefully more will come to know that the story of great golf in Minnesota started well before Hazeltine though, and that those courses were indeed shaped by greatness.

Clemson Claims Crown

I already had the title written: “Highlight Alabama, Copy, and Paste”, but then they played the game. I must admit that, going into the playoff, I didn’t think Clemson was a great team. Certainly a very good team, but not a great team. Part of this is due to the fact that they were a short NC State field goal away from having two losses and not even being in the playoff. Even after their win on Monday, I am not completely sold on their body of work as a whole. There is no doubt that their two playoff games were impressive. I feel like their team was better last year though. The problem is, Alabama was better last year too. If Western Michigan had gone undefeated, I definitely would have given them strong consideration.

With that being said though, I must say that I admire Clemson’s resilience. To come so close last year and be able to come back the next year and win it all by defeating the team that took what you wanted only a year before is not easy. So, I would like to announce Clemson as the 2016-2017 jasathletics College Football National Champion. Clemson is certainly a program that has made a great rise under the leadership of Dabo Swinney. Even with the departures of key players like Deshaun Watson and Mike Williams, I expect Clemson to be on the national stage for many years to come. Congratulations Clemson! The road was not easy, but you battled strong and earned this crown.