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Frogs Head to Arizona for Mountain West Conference Championships
April 28, 2009
The TCU men's golf program will look to capture its first conference championship since the 2004-05 season when the Horned Frogs travel to Tucson, Ariz., for the Mountain West Conference Championships beginning on Thursday. Since joining the Mountain West Conference, the Frogs have earned three straight top-five finishes, including a second-place showing during the 2008 campaign. Earlier this season, the Frogs posted a third-place finish at the Tucson National Golf Resort at the National Invitational Tournament, which is the same venue that the conference championships will be played. The Frogs - who enter the championships ranked 17th in the country - will be the number-one seed at the conference tournament while four other teams will enter this weekend ranked in the top-50 in the nation in San Diego State (22nd), UNLV (25th), Colorado State (33rd) and New Mexico (39th). "This is the time of the year that we are always looking forward to," said head men's golf coach Bill Montigel. "The guys are really hungry to win a conference championship, and right now, I think that they are playing well enough right now to accomplish that goal." Heading into their fourth-ever Mountain West Conference Championships, the Frogs' lineup will consist of James Sacheck (The Woodlands, Texas | Zionsville H.S.), Johan de Beer (Pretoria, South Africa | Pretoria Boys' H.S.), Tom Hoge (Fargo, N.D. | Fargo South H.S.), Alexander Knappe (Brilon, Germany | Berufs H.S.) and Travis Woolf (Fort Worth, Texas | Paschal H.S.)
"I'm really confident in the guys that are going to the conference championships. I think that we have been pretty consistent all season, and after the last few tournaments, I really think that we were able to sure up that final spot," added Montigel.
Sacheck is the only Frog to have been a member of a conference championship team as the TCU team captain finished fourth overall individually at the Conference USA Championships during his freshman campaign en route to leading the Purple and White to a gold medal. This season, Sacheck has been the Frogs' top golfer as the TCU senior has recorded a 72.9 strokes average to go along with a career-high nine top-20 finishes. Earlier this season, Sacheck set a program record with a round of 63 at the TCU-Arizona Dual Match held prior to the National Invitational Tournament. "With this being the last conference tournament for James, I really think that he is poised to have an outstanding finish. All season, he has been right there in the hunt for a tournament title in the final round, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he took that next step of winning at this tournament," said Montigel. Despite struggling in the last two tournaments for the Frogs, Montigel believes that de Beer is ready to get back to his previous form at the conference championships. The TCU newcomer has recorded six top-25 finishes in his first season, including three showings in the top-10 and a tournament title at The Prestige at PGA West. "Johan has been playing very well as of late in practice, and it took him a while after he got sick to really get his confidence back. I think that he will have an outstanding tournament because he is such a competitor. He doesn't quit and fights to the very end," said Montigel. One of the hottest golfers for the Frogs heading into the Mountain West Conference Championships is Hoge, who has recorded a score of even-par or better in three of the last five rounds. The TCU sophomore is coming off a 13th-place finish at the Texas A&M Aggie Invitational, including an even-par score of 72 in the final round in extremely difficult conditions. This season, Hoge has recorded four top-20 finishes, including a tournament title at the Columbia Invitational. "Hoge played very well in our last tournament despite the conditions being brutal. He definitely has the talent to put up some really low scores, and I think that last tournament really helped him focus and get back to playing the way that he was earlier in the season," said Montigel. Knappe will hold the fourth-spot in the lineup for the Frogs at the Mountain West Conference Championships and has notched four top-25 showings, including a pair of top-10 finishes in his first season with the team. Knappe - who joined the Frogs for the spring semester - has recorded a 74.11 strokes average and recorded his best showing at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate where he finished ninth overall. "Alexander continues to learn at every tournament, and I think he is getting more and more comfortable here. He has only played in the spring for us, and it's the first time that he's going through a college golf season, but he's really improving and getting more confident. I think that he will put together a really good tournament for us," said Montigel. Woolf - a local product from Fort Worth - has competed in 10 tournaments for the Frogs this season and will possess the number-five spot in the lineup at the Mountain West Conference Championships. The TCU junior has notched a 74.08 strokes average and has recorded six top-20 finishes this season, including five showings in the top-10. In the spring campaign, Woolf has recorded a top-20 finish at the TCU-Arizona Dual Match along with the ASU Thunderbird Invitational. "Travis earned his spot in the lineup with the way that he's competed and battled for this final slot. He played very well at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational and really has worked hard on his game all season. I think that we can get some really low scores from Travis this weekend," said Montigel. The first round of the Mountain West Conference Championships will be held on Thursday at the Tucson National Golf Resort in Tucson, Ariz. TCU Athletics Media Relations
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