Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
WVU’s NCAA Bid a Major Step for Golf Program
May 02, 2019 11:32 AM | Golf
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The suspense only lasted about five minutes before West Virginia learned it had qualified for its first NCAA golf regional since the revival of the program in 2015.
West Virginia was part of the first regional site revealed during the NCAA selection show airing on the Golf Channel on Wednesday night. The guys were kind of sitting around talking to each other when all of a sudden "West Virginia" showed up on the screen.
"It was kind of low key, and it happened so early because we were in the first regional site they threw up there," fourth-year coach Sean Covich said. "They didn't really reveal it one by one and our guys were like, 'Oh, there we are. That looks like the Flying WV.' Honestly, it was kind of weird to see the Flying WV on the Golf Channel because we haven't had a team for so long, and it's not something you're accustomed to seeing.
"If it's CBS March Madness or the College Football Playoff that's one thing, but to see our logo on the Golf Channel it was like, 'Wow, I guess we've made it.'"
West Virginia has made it, this representing the program's most significant step since its rebirth after WVU joined the Big 12. Covich has been a part of NCAA Tournament teams as an assistant coach at Mississippi State, but this one holds extra-special meaning to him.
"It's a different feeling when it's kind of your baby. You get here and there's nothing here. I was part of that at Mississippi State, but this is a different kind of deal," he admitted.
Even when golf was competing here in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the Mountaineers never had the resources to field regional-caliber teams, which makes this all the more noteworthy.
They say a rising tide lifts all boats, and that's definitely been the case for West Virginia as a member of the Big 12 Conference, the nation's top golf league. WVU finished dead last at last weekend's Big 12 championships at The Greenbrier and still comfortably got into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed, which demonstrates the strength of the conference.
"We went into Big 12's (ranked) right around 50th, maybe 48th, and you never want to finish last and we did, but I was talking to the Kansas coach and a couple of other coaches and they told me we were going to be fine because this conference is so strong," Covich said. "If you finish last in this league you may even move up in the rankings, that's how hard this conference this is. They told me don't sweat it."
West Virginia's total body of work, which included a strong fall, really put the Mountaineers in a position to earn a regional bid. Because of the climate challenges West Virginia experiences in January and February, and until the Mountaineers can raise the necessary funding to complete a proposed practice facility, Covich said getting off to a strong start in the fall is going to have to be their formula for success.
That means moving up as high as possible in the fall rankings and then hanging on for dear life in the spring.
"That's the way it's always going to be here. The weather is so good, the golf courses are so good and our guys are coming off the summer, and we will always play a really challenging fall. If we can take advantage of that and shoot up the rankings, it's the way it's going to be because we can't practice in December and January," Covich explained.
He admitted this year's bid was really a result of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, despite WVU having two really good parts in Matthew Sharpstene and Max Sear.
When the guys at the top of the lineup struggled, players such as Kurtis Grant, Logan Perkins and Philipp Matlari filled in and played really well. And last fall in Hawaii it was Mark Goetz who stepped up.
"I'm proud of the guys. This year has really been a team effort," Covich said. "In baseball, it's kind of like your cleanup guy has a bad game and your No. 6 guy goes 3-for-3 and you might not have been expecting that. That's kind of what we've gotten this year with guys stepping up at the right time."
The Louisville Regional where West Virginia is going is loaded with strong teams, including defending national champion and overall No. 1 seed Oklahoma State, coming off another Big 12 title last weekend. Baylor and Iowa State from the Big 12 are also at Louisville along with second-seeded Auburn and the host Cardinals, playing on their home course.
The top five teams from the six regional sites will advance to the national championships to played May 24-29 at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Individual players with the low scores at each site who are not part of an advancing team will also move on to nationals.
"Any time you go to a regional where a home team is playing you are really just playing for four spots instead of five," Covich reasoned. "You might as well count them playing on their home course."
Although the West Virginia players are familiar with Louisville and many of the other teams in the regional, they have not played this particular golf course so the Sunday practice round is going to be vitally important.
Covich is hopeful of getting over to Louisville a day early to play a course in the area just to get a feel for the wind conditions. He said he has already gotten a head start on some of the preliminary prep work for the tournament.
"Luckily, with Google Earth and yardage books, we can do a lot of prep work as far as where we want to hit the drives, where are the widest parts of the fairway and things like that, but you really don't get a feel for how the greens are going to react until you get there," he said.
"It's right off the interstate, and I do know they host a regular season event and typically the scores have been low. I don't know if that's due to the time of year or the setup, but typically they make a lot of birdies on that golf course," he added.
In the meantime, Covich said his players will finish up finals this week and get in as much golf as possible to remain sharp. Some will be competing in U.S. Open local qualifiers next week.
"We will let finals wrap up and then we will go down to Pete Dye this Saturday and Sunday and then some of our guys are playing in the U.S. Open local qualifier on Monday at Pete Dye," he said. "We're just going to try and play as much as we can and we'll see what our travel looks like."
The 54-hole regional tournament begins on Monday, May 13, and concludes on Wednesday, May 15.
"If we're sixth place our season is over, but if we're better, then we'll move on and play in Arkansas," Covich concluded.
Who could have ever imagined that just five years ago?
West Virginia was part of the first regional site revealed during the NCAA selection show airing on the Golf Channel on Wednesday night. The guys were kind of sitting around talking to each other when all of a sudden "West Virginia" showed up on the screen.
"It was kind of low key, and it happened so early because we were in the first regional site they threw up there," fourth-year coach Sean Covich said. "They didn't really reveal it one by one and our guys were like, 'Oh, there we are. That looks like the Flying WV.' Honestly, it was kind of weird to see the Flying WV on the Golf Channel because we haven't had a team for so long, and it's not something you're accustomed to seeing.
"If it's CBS March Madness or the College Football Playoff that's one thing, but to see our logo on the Golf Channel it was like, 'Wow, I guess we've made it.'"
West Virginia has made it, this representing the program's most significant step since its rebirth after WVU joined the Big 12. Covich has been a part of NCAA Tournament teams as an assistant coach at Mississippi State, but this one holds extra-special meaning to him.
"It's a different feeling when it's kind of your baby. You get here and there's nothing here. I was part of that at Mississippi State, but this is a different kind of deal," he admitted.
Even when golf was competing here in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the Mountaineers never had the resources to field regional-caliber teams, which makes this all the more noteworthy.
They say a rising tide lifts all boats, and that's definitely been the case for West Virginia as a member of the Big 12 Conference, the nation's top golf league. WVU finished dead last at last weekend's Big 12 championships at The Greenbrier and still comfortably got into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed, which demonstrates the strength of the conference.
"We went into Big 12's (ranked) right around 50th, maybe 48th, and you never want to finish last and we did, but I was talking to the Kansas coach and a couple of other coaches and they told me we were going to be fine because this conference is so strong," Covich said. "If you finish last in this league you may even move up in the rankings, that's how hard this conference this is. They told me don't sweat it."
West Virginia's total body of work, which included a strong fall, really put the Mountaineers in a position to earn a regional bid. Because of the climate challenges West Virginia experiences in January and February, and until the Mountaineers can raise the necessary funding to complete a proposed practice facility, Covich said getting off to a strong start in the fall is going to have to be their formula for success.
That means moving up as high as possible in the fall rankings and then hanging on for dear life in the spring.
"That's the way it's always going to be here. The weather is so good, the golf courses are so good and our guys are coming off the summer, and we will always play a really challenging fall. If we can take advantage of that and shoot up the rankings, it's the way it's going to be because we can't practice in December and January," Covich explained.
He admitted this year's bid was really a result of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, despite WVU having two really good parts in Matthew Sharpstene and Max Sear.
When the guys at the top of the lineup struggled, players such as Kurtis Grant, Logan Perkins and Philipp Matlari filled in and played really well. And last fall in Hawaii it was Mark Goetz who stepped up."I'm proud of the guys. This year has really been a team effort," Covich said. "In baseball, it's kind of like your cleanup guy has a bad game and your No. 6 guy goes 3-for-3 and you might not have been expecting that. That's kind of what we've gotten this year with guys stepping up at the right time."
The Louisville Regional where West Virginia is going is loaded with strong teams, including defending national champion and overall No. 1 seed Oklahoma State, coming off another Big 12 title last weekend. Baylor and Iowa State from the Big 12 are also at Louisville along with second-seeded Auburn and the host Cardinals, playing on their home course.
The top five teams from the six regional sites will advance to the national championships to played May 24-29 at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Individual players with the low scores at each site who are not part of an advancing team will also move on to nationals.
"Any time you go to a regional where a home team is playing you are really just playing for four spots instead of five," Covich reasoned. "You might as well count them playing on their home course."
Although the West Virginia players are familiar with Louisville and many of the other teams in the regional, they have not played this particular golf course so the Sunday practice round is going to be vitally important.
Covich is hopeful of getting over to Louisville a day early to play a course in the area just to get a feel for the wind conditions. He said he has already gotten a head start on some of the preliminary prep work for the tournament.
"Luckily, with Google Earth and yardage books, we can do a lot of prep work as far as where we want to hit the drives, where are the widest parts of the fairway and things like that, but you really don't get a feel for how the greens are going to react until you get there," he said.
"It's right off the interstate, and I do know they host a regular season event and typically the scores have been low. I don't know if that's due to the time of year or the setup, but typically they make a lot of birdies on that golf course," he added.
In the meantime, Covich said his players will finish up finals this week and get in as much golf as possible to remain sharp. Some will be competing in U.S. Open local qualifiers next week.
"We will let finals wrap up and then we will go down to Pete Dye this Saturday and Sunday and then some of our guys are playing in the U.S. Open local qualifier on Monday at Pete Dye," he said. "We're just going to try and play as much as we can and we'll see what our travel looks like."
The 54-hole regional tournament begins on Monday, May 13, and concludes on Wednesday, May 15.
"If we're sixth place our season is over, but if we're better, then we'll move on and play in Arkansas," Covich concluded.
Who could have ever imagined that just five years ago?
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