ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Letâ€s be honest: The St. Andrews Links Collegiate is not your typical college golf tournament. Itâ€s just not. And while it tries to masquerade as one, with a pop-up tent on the first tee sporting the tournamentâ€s name along with bananas and bottled water for the student athletes competing, itâ€s impossible to conceal the Royal and Ancient clubhouse looming 25 feet behind the first tee at the Old Course.
Cal-Berkeley, Michigan State, Princeton and St. Andrews University were the fortunate teams selected to play in this yearâ€s tournament, and each of the schoolâ€s respective flags flapped in a light breeze beside the first tee Wednesday morning. The teams played two days of stroke play on the nearby Jubilee Course before teeing it up on the Old Course for the final day of medal match play. Two silver trophies shaped like large soup bowls and engraved with the event name were positioned atop a podium, a reminder of what was on offer for the team championship.
To make a pilgrimage to St. Andrews is a holy-like experience for those who love the game and, for many, itâ€s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play at the Home of Golf. But to be a college student competing over three days on behalf of your team, alongside your best friends, with the week culminating in a final round on golfâ€s most famous course? Sorry, kids, itâ€s all downhill from here.
“Ladies and gentleman, good morning and welcome to the Old Course,†the starter boomed into a microphone with Michigan Stateâ€s Paula Balanzategui and St. Andrews†Caitlin Maurice the first pairing out.
“She won the lottery,†joked Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll, MSU womenâ€s head coach, about Balanzateguiâ€s good fortune of hitting the opening tee shot.
As the women tried to keep to their practice routines, local caddies strode up to both, introduced themselves and began comparing yardage books, pin locations, and reviewed the rule sheet for the Old Course. This isnâ€t normal. But, once again, this isnâ€t an ordinary college event.
Balanzategui hit the first tee shot of the day, a driver which found the expansive double fairway. She cracked a smile toward a member of the coaching staff, and, one swing later, the group departed.
“It was just a beautiful 8:45 a.m. tee time. No wind at all. Pretty warm for the time of the year. I was very, very excited and I still am that I had this opportunity,†Balanzategui said about playing the Old Course. “I was honestly pretty calm. I was lucky enough, I played here on Saturday, too, so I was more nervous on Saturday than today.â€
The highlight of the day? Balanzategui said she nearly made an ace when her ball lipped out at the par-3 11th hole, which has often been called the “shortest par 5 in golf†because of its difficulty.
St. Andrews Universityâ€s Ethan Mangum was the first to play for the men in the second tee time of the day alongside Michigan Stateâ€s Julian Menser. While Mangum, who moved from the U.S. to Scotland to compete for St. Andrews, was one of the few with Old Course experience, he had his own motivations Wednesday – to rebound from a tough second day and to impress his roommates who were watching him compete.
“It was the first time I got to play in front of some of my friends, so really putting on a show was a lot of fun,†said Mangum, who won the first point of the day for his team, shooting 68 to Menserâ€s 75. “It was nice. I was just excited to be out here again. I didnâ€t have my best round yesterday and so bouncing back today was my goal and getting off to a hot start – 5 under on the first nine holes – really got me settled in to really just go out and have the best day possible.â€
Despite the defeat — though, his team won the consolation match — Menser was all smiles. Playing the Old Course for the first time, like he did Wednesday, will do that. Menser said he didnâ€t feel nerves on the first tee and when asked if it was everything he expected after years of viewing from afar, he said:
“It was like the exact same. On TV sometimes it doesnâ€t do it justice with slopes and stuff, but the backdrop, everything, you kinda catch yourself staring around sometimes. I thought it was awesome. It was really cool to get a chance to play out there and see the stuff you see on TV. It lived up to the hype.â€
Menserâ€s pinch-me moment? Playing the Road Hole, the challenging par-4 17th, where he says hitting a blind tee shot over a hotel was, “pretty cool.â€
California, Princeton lift St Andrews Links trophy
Watch the St Andrews Links Collegiate trophy presentations for the California-Beverley women’s and Princeton men’s teams.
Mother Nature even pulled out all the stops Wednesday as the sun shone through for the first time all week. Calm conditions and temperatures in the mid-50s added another layer of perfection to an unforgettable day of golf after a memorable week of experiences.
Monday evening, St. Andrews University hosted a dinner on their campus followed by a guided tour with one of the schoolâ€s historians, who led all four teams through the streets of St. Andrews which, by night, has a mysterious aura in which shadows dance across the townâ€s cathedral ruins and the remnants of its castle.
The tour culminated in another bucket-list opportunity – a chance to step inside the ultra-private and exclusive Royal and Ancient clubhouse, which typically opens to the public a single day each year. While inside, students observed the R&Aâ€s original championship trophies, a display of golf clubs and balls throughout the gameâ€s history, and portraits of legendary members alongside Queen Elizabeth II, who visited the club herself. Is this real life? For the Americans who made the trip, not hardly.
Wednesday afternoon as shadows began to grow long across the 18th green, freshman Michelle Woo made a closing birdie to secure the womenâ€s team championship for Cal-Berkeley.
“This week has been amazing from start to finish. Iâ€m almost speechless,†said Cal Head Coach Sofie Aagaard. “We are playing on some sacred grounds, can we call it, at the St. Andrews Old Course and the Jubilee Course. And I think, just a great perspective of how far weâ€ve come in womenâ€s golf and that we get to compete on the Old Course on the final day, itâ€s been absolutely amazing.â€
Princeton captured the menâ€s team championship with Reed Greyserman, who won the menâ€s individual title Tuesday, leading the way.
“Itâ€s kinda hard to talk about it really, to be here on a day like today,†said Princeton Head Coach Will Green while standing on the 18th green. “Itâ€s magical. It really is.â€
As the two teams hoisted their silver trophies, it marked the culmination of a unique week and a tournament experience no one will forget, because the St. Andrews Links Collegiate is not your average college golf tournament. But how could it be? In a place as special as St. Andrews.
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