NCAA Golf power rankings: Vandy men, Wake women vault to top
Where did all the rankings go?
With the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, which previously had been the only NCAA golf ranking after Spikemark’s disastrous rollout, being taken offline, it’s a perfect time to bring back the Golf Channel power rankings, which debuted back in late September.
Here are the latest top 25 D-I rankings as determined by myself (previous rank in parentheses):
Men
1. Vanderbilt (2): Commodores finish the fall 2-0 against North Carolina, clipping the Heels by a shot at the Hogan and beating them by five in stroke play and in the championship match at the St. Andrews Links Collegiate (Vandy was without Gordon Sargent and North Carolina sans David Ford at the Old Course).
2. North Carolina (1): Runner-up at both Hogan and St. Andrews, but the Heels defend their home turf by beating Auburn, Arizona State and others at the Williams Cup.
3. Auburn (4): Yes, the Tigers beat Vanderbilt at the SEC Fall Preview, but they were 18 shots back of North Carolina at the Williams Cup and didn’t play either of the fall’s toughest events (Olympia Fields and Hogan).
4. Arizona State (3): No wins yet, but Sun Devils have been among the top four in every event while playing a demanding schedule.
5. Georgia Tech (6): Will split up team for next week’s Cypress Point Classic and East Lake Cup. Runner-up at Golf Club of Georgia rights ship after eighth at Hogan.
6. Oklahoma (9): A distant fifth at Hogan and a 4-1 record at Big 12 Match Play send the Sooners up a few spots.
7. Texas (5): Big 12 Match Play champs, though a disappointing T-9 at Hogan.
8. Florida State (13): Gets Frederik Kjettrup back in lineup finally and goes out and wins Stephens Cup.
9. Alabama (7): Bounced back from eighth at SEC Fall Preview to win Hamptons event at Maidstone.
10. Virginia (12): Cavs’ win at Golf Club of Georgia makes up for poor final round and fourth-place finish at Hamptons.
11. Tennessee (10): Bumped out of top-10 mainly because of eighth at Golf Club of Georgia, but Vols did win Notre Dame’s event before that and were fifth at SEC Fall Preview.
12. Washington (11): Continue solid fall with top-4s at Blessings and the Golf Club of Georgia.
13. Ole Miss (18): Continue steep climb thanks to fourth at SEC Fall Preview and a runner-up to Auburn at the Fallen Oak.
14. Arizona (15): Second to Florida State at the Stephens Cup as Tiger Christiansen emerges as star.
15. Baylor (15): Only played Big 12 Match Play (runner-up to Texas) since last ranking.
16. Oregon (NR): Reenter the top 25 thanks to a huge fourth-place showing at the Hogan.
17. East Tennessee State (25): Mats Ege and Algot Kleen each have wins for the Bucs, who won the Bank of Tennessee prior to a third at the Golf Club of Georgia.
18. Cal (20): Won Alister Mackenzie since last ranking, but Bears yet to ramp up competition.
19. Florida (17): Beat up on some mid-majors at Georgetown’s event, but other than that a seventh at SEC Fall Preview and T-4 at Williams Cup.
20. Chattanooga (19): Undefeated Mocs place three players in top 3 but finish second at Furman.
21. Duke (24): Win Rod Myers title at home before placing fifth at the Golf Club of Georgia.
22. Ohio State (23): Have only played twice, likely due to star player Maxwell Moldovan getting married earlier this month, though recently second to Alabama at Maidstone.
23. Texas A&M (22): Drop slightly after mixed bag – sixth at SEC Fall Preview, T-9 at Hogan, eighth at Golf Club of Georgia, third at Furman.
24. Arkansas (NR): Would be higher after a third-place stroke-play finish at the SEC Fall Preview and win at the Blessings, but Razorbacks were recently last at seven-team Stephens Cup.
25. Illinois (10): Hang on to a spot in the top 25 over two-win Purdue.
Falling out: Texas Tech (14), TCU (21)
Women
1. Wake Forest (5): With so much inconsistency among the top women’s teams, Wake’s wins at Stephens Cup and the Sooner, plus T-4 at Windy City, vault the Deacs to the top.
2. Stanford (1): A couple thirds since Pebble win show that Cardinal are good but not nearly as stout as the past couple seasons.
3. USC (2): Wins by seven shots at Stanford without Amari Avery and Christine Wang, though ninth at Windy City with that pair. Go figure.
4. Oregon (3): T-1 at Molly and third at Windy City gave Ducks some cushion to not fall too much following 11th at Stanford, where they were without Briana Chacon and Minori Nagano because of Q-School.
5. South Carolina (4): Third at Mason Rudolph was a nice follow-up to Annika win, but fifth (Blessings) and T-4 (Stephens Cup) since show Gamecocks still have some things to work out.
6. Ole Miss (6): Transfer Caitlyn Macnab has been T-7 or better in all four fall starts as Ole Miss has runner-up finishes at Medinah and the Mercedes-Benz in recent weeks.
7. LSU (7): Throw out a fifth at The Ally as Ingrid Lindblad was away at Q-School. Other finishes since last ranking: seventh at Mason Rudolph and win at Medinah.
8. UCLA (19): Fall highlighted by big win at Windy City, but some high rounds cost them at Mason Rudolph (eighth) and Stanford (T-5).
9. Florida (NR): Perhaps I overreacted to Gators’ fall debut as they’ve since won three straight tournaments, including The Ally. That said, it hasn’t been the toughest of schedules so far.
10. Texas (9): Eighth at Stanford sting, though before that Longhorns were T-1 at Stephens Cup stroke play and T-4 at Windy City.
11. Texas A&M (8): Missing match play at Stephens Cup (T-4) drops Aggies out of top 10.
12. Pepperdine (14): Waves have two wins now and a third at the Mercedes-Benz, but we’ll see what they’re really made of come February at Palos Verdes.
13. Arkansas (13): Wins Blessings and sixth at Stephens Cup, though latter came to some pretty good teams. They’ll stay put.
14. Northwestern (NR): Look like a completely different team since T-12 at New Mexico’s event with runner-up showings at Windy City and Stanford and a third at Medinah. One more strong showing and they’ll easily be in top 10.
15. Vanderbilt (17): Lost to some teams they probably shouldn’t have last couple times out, even without Celina Sattelkau, but give Dores lots of credit for winning their home Mason Rudoph against a great field.
16. UCF (20): Back-to-back wins, including at the Mercedes-Benz, prove that Knights are for real.
17. Auburn (10): Tigers have two runners-up (Mason Rudolph and Tar Heel) and two finishes outside the top 9 (Windy City and Stanford).
18. Duke (21): Yes, Blue Devils were last at Stephens Cup, but T-4 at strong Windy City event is impressive.
19. Virginia (16): Runner-up to Florida at Glass City and T-5 at Stanford make up for a 12th at the Windy City.
20. Arizona State (24): Posted solid fourth at Mason Rudolph and seventh at Stanford since last ranking, but also were T-10 at Windy City.
21. Mississippi State (22): Couple seconds, at Blessings and The Ally, have stabilized this squad.
22. Purdue (23): After two wins to start fall, Boilermakers finish third at Schooner.
23. San Jose State (11): Big drop after 16th at Stanford, but this is same team that was fourth at Annika.
24. Cal (NR): After an eighth at New Mexico, Bears won back-to-back events before tying Stanford for third at the Card’s home tournament.
25. North Carolina (NR): Tar Heels laid an egg at Michigan State to start the fall, but have gone sixth at Mason Rudolph, third at Tar Heel and then won at St. Andrews.
Falling out: Florida State (12), Arizona (15), Clemson (18), Kansas (25)