Former Texas Tech University golf assistant coach Mikkel Bjerlf-Andresen texted Bard Skogen congratulations last week after the fellow Norwegian won the individual title at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional.
“I emailed him back saying it probably wouldn't have happened without him,” said Skogen, a senior at Texas Tech University. “I'm grateful to him and (coach) Greg (Sands). They gave me a chance. I wasn't a great junior player until my last year as a junior golfer. .”
“Guys like (coach) Matt Thurmond from Arizona State and other places were interested, but I've always been here and they believed in me. It was a good decision. I wanted to prove to them that I was.”
Skogen's 8-under score and two-shot win moved Tech into third place and propelled the Red Raiders to their fourth consecutive NCAA Championship. This year's setting is the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course in Carlsbad, California. Tech is the No. 8 seed in the 30-team field, which begins play Friday.
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Skogen's regional title came on the heels of a disappointing Big 12 Tournament. The Red Raiders tied for 6th place. Skogen shot 78-75 in the first two rounds at Whispering Pines, and Sands replaced him in the lineup for the final two rounds.
“I don't think a lot of guys could have done that,” Sands said, “so for him to come back and not only re-qualify and do what he needed to do to get into the top five (of Tech's lineup), but also translate that into playing well. I gave him a tough challenge. I gave them a tough challenge to find their best mentality and what makes them play their best.”
“He's obviously gone back to work and found those elements. He's a world-class ball-striker. Once he gets in shape and gets going, he can compete with anyone.”
Tech junior Callum Scott tied for second in Baton Rouge. Skogen had five birdies in seven holes in the final round for a 6-under 66.
“Looking at the scores through nine holes, Callum played really well,” Skogen said. “So I tried to catch up to him and then the putts started falling all over the green. I don't think I missed most of the putts in the last nine holes. The holes looked big and it was just fun.”
At La Costa, teams will play 54 holes after Sunday's round to be whittled down to 15 teams. Those 15 will play one more round on Monday before being whittled down again to determine the final eight teams remaining in the match play bracket on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Missing out on the final was disappointing as Ludvig Aberg had led the team for the past few years. Now, Aberg is quickly rising to prominence on his PGA Tour, and his Raiders' pecking order is not as clear as it once was. Scott, who averages 70.8 strokes, Tyrann Snyders (71.4) and Skogen (71.8) have played in all 12 of his tournaments, and Matthew Comejis (71.4) has played in all but one of his tournaments. are doing.
“It's a special team,” Sands said. “We've been through a lot. I think they were in Ludwig's shadow a little bit and wanted to get out of there. We made it our culture. I'm really happy for them, especially Bird.”
From mid-February to mid-March, Tech won two tournaments and finished runner-up in another. He then finished 12th and 9th in the final two events of the regular season.
“The great thing about this team is that we have all the ingredients to be one of the top teams in the country if we play really well,” Sands said. “A lot of the things we saw earlier this spring showed up at regionals. Just as we hoped, the best elements came out at the right time.”
