Preparing for Natties

From my experience, NCAA DI National Championship is the pinnacle of amateur golf for both players and coaches. The team aspect to college golf is where the magic lies for the student-athlete experience. The Championship contestants have the ultimate opportunity to accomplish something special with their teammates and bring glory to their schools. 

Contrary to other elite amateur tournaments, the athletes are playing for something bigger than themselves. That transcendence is evident in both players and coaches at the Championship. 

The format is very unique and equally captivating. Thirty teams are cut to 15 after three rounds. The Championship is then televised on the Golf Channel from the fourth round, after which both the individual champion is crowned and the top eight teams advance to match play. The fifth day sees both the quarter and semi finals played. On the sixth and final day, the only golf being played is the championship match. 

The field is packed with future tour players and the event continuously builds momentum. It just doesn’t get better. Competing at the National Championship is a memory that won’t be forgotten by all the players and coaches in the field. 

While every team in college golf builds toward the National Championship all season long, the direct preparation only starts when you advance through Regionals. 

As a coach, the first 48 hours after advancing through Regionals are hectic and chaotic. The immediate necessity of booking flights and hotels for your traveling roster needs to be balanced with supporting each player. Some athletes need encouragement while others need grounding after the Regional tournament. One thing is for sure though, everyone needs individual coaching. 

Recruiting is always the lifeline of any program. But this is especially true in May

Coaches also have a lot to catch up on administratively beyond booking travel. They'll likely receive calls from local and university media who want a quote from them. Their summer camp is also just around the corner with anywhere from 30 to 200 hundred attendees, depending on the size of their school. That volume is possibly causing some fires needing to be put out. 

Furthermore, recruiting is always the lifeline of any program. But this is especially true in May as it’s in the middle of the biggest transfer-portal window. There’s a need to be proactive with prospects and on-top of multiple recruits simultaneously. 

Then there are the ad-hoc requests that need tending to. Donor-shirts needing to be sent out, unread university emails, practice facility maintenance, compliance reporting, or a number of other things that may have piled up during Regionals week. The long-term success of any program needs the coach’s attention in multiple arenas at any point in time. 

Returning from Regionals, most coaches are short on rest as they’ve just been through the most stressful week of the year. Every Regional field is stacked with capable teams and even the top-seeded squads have to put their best foot forward in order to advance to the National Championship. There’s no cruise control in Regional play anymore and college coaches know that. Just this year, four out of six two-seeds failed to advance. 

However, the lack of recovery and the overflowing administrative plate is easily outweighed by the excitement and relief every coach feels now that their teams are headed to the big dance. 

After the first 48 hours post Regionals, the biggest scramble is out of the way. Coaches will shift to focusing on what it will take for their teams to perform at the National Championship. Unless the school is on the quarter system, the players are done with finals, meaning the team can prepare like professionals. Most coaches will run team practices and check in with all of their players daily.

Coaches make their teams aware of the marathon-like competition. 

In their team talks, coaches are constantly taking the temperature of their players. They want them to be fully rested when traveling to the championship venue, but also sharp. They will harp on how long the week is. Teams that make it all the way to the final match will play eight rounds in seven days including the practice round. Coaches make their teams aware of the marathon-like competition. 

In addition, coaches are reaching out to alumni or others they know in the area who can get them on a nearby golf course the day prior to the practice round to acclimate. A couple of dinner reservations are also nice to have. 

From there, coaches will gather all the information they can on the championship course. With somewhere like the North Course at Omni La Costa, the recent rebuild means there aren’t too many strings to pull in order to get information from people who have played the course. But coaches will still devote time to looking at flyovers, Google maps, and anything else (such as watching our video guide to key holes at Omni La Costa's North Course) that can give them a glimpse of what the course demands. 

Finally, the most ambitious coaches out there might start strategizing their potential match play lineups. There are basically two schools of thought here - going with a set lineup one through five, or optimizing for matchups. Both methods have had success. For example, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State swore to a set line-up strategy during their most recent National Championship titles, while Pepperdine leaned more on matchups. The quarter final match will be drafted shortly after the completion of Monday’s round, so it’s a good idea to have a pre-made game plan on this subject. 

For coaches going for the matchups strategy, when they have the honor (lower seed), putting a player out in the first match is optimal. This is counterintuitive, but will lead to “controlling” matchups in matches two, four, and five - which is a higher number of matches than the opponent.  

Of the 30 head coaches present, there are 30 different methods to the madness. 

The best coaches vary greatly in how they motivate their teams. Of the 30 head coaches present at this year’s National Championship, there are 30 different methods to the madness. Being a college coach is the best job in the world as it’s a very personal line of work. From my experience, the most successful coaches are true to themselves and have confidence in what they’re doing. There’s no “Winning an NCAA Championship for Dummies” book available as coaching a team is hard to encapsulate. 

If I were to pick some favorites for the men’s Championship, I would first have to take off my Texas Tech and Baylor hats in an effort to be objective. Vanderbilt, Illinois, and Auburn are all well coached teams in form on my short list of favorites. However, I read an incredible stat from College Golf Book on X earlier this week: The past three men’s golf National Champions were all two-seeds at their respective Regionals, where they ended up finishing fourth. There was one school at this year’s Regionals that started the week as a two-seed and finished fourth: University of Arizona. Because it’s such a wild stat and the Arizona Wildcats were the only school to follow the omen, they get my pick this week!

Best of luck to everyone competing at the National Championship. Enjoy the pinnacle of amateur golf!