Oklahoma State University Athletics
OSU Makes 54th Consecutive NCAA Championship Appearance
May 25, 2000 | Cowboy Golf
May 25, 2000
PDF Formatted Notes
Current Stats (.pdf)
STILLWATER, Okla. - Third-ranked Oklahoma State competes in its 54th consecutive NCAA Championship appearance and looks for its ninth national title when the Cowboys play in the tournament May 31-June 3. The Cowboys' last title came in 1995, when Oklahoma State defeated Tiger Woods-led Stanford in a playoff.
Oklahoma State in the NCAA Championships
The Cowboys are the only team to have competed in each of the last 54 NCAA
tournaments (Clemson has the second-longest current streak at 19 years). OSU
has won eight national team titles and has finished lower than fifth just
nine times, six OSU players have won individual national titles. In addition
to their championships, the Cowboys have finished as the national runners-up
14 times. During a 14-year span between 1975 and 1988, OSU finished in the
top two at the championship 13 times. In Mike Holder's 26 years at OSU, the
Cowboys have finished first or second nationally 16 times, no other school
has done so more than five times.
Oklahoma State is the only program to make the cut every year since it was established in 1971, although in 1993, the Cowboys narrowly avoided the cut, winning one of two spots in a three-way playoff after tying for 14th after 36 holes. OSU's average finish at the national tournament in the 1990s was 4.5, second only to Arizona State's 4.1 and far ahead of the third-best team, Florida (8.3). The Cowboys and Sun Devils were the only programs to claim two NCAA trophies in the 1990s. (Thanks to ASU's excellent golf SID, Doug Tammaro, for several of the notes in this section.)
Head Coach Mike Holder
In the last 27 years, Mike Holder's name has become synonymous with success
in college golf. He has coached 94 All-Americans, including 33 first-team
choices, and his teams have won 24 league titles and seven national
championships. Holder ranked second only to Kansas basketball coach Phog
Allen in Big Eight titles regardless of sport, and he is one of 20 coaches
all-time in all sports who have directed national-championship teams in
three different decades.
The Cowboys in 1999-2000
Third-ranked Oklahoma State is enjoying one of its best spring seasons in
nearly a decade. The Cowboys have not finished out of the top four in any of
their spring events heading into the NCAA tournament, the first time that
has happened since the national championship season of 1991. OSU has won two
team titles this season, at the Taylor Made Red River Classic in October and
at last month's Big 12 Championship, the Cowboys also tied for first but
lost in a playoff at the Las Vegas Intercollegiate. Charles Howell, who has
won three times this year, and Edward Loar, who won the Compaq U.S.
Collegiate Championship last month, give OSU four individual medalists this
season, its most in three years.
Oklahoma State Cowboys
at the
2000 NCAA Men's Golf Championships
May 31-June 3, 2000 * Grand National Golf Club * Opelika, Ala.
The Cowboy Roster (regular lineup denoted by asterisks)
Name Yr. Hometown Stroke Avg. Nat'l Rank+ Peter Davidson Jr. Hollviken, Sweden --- --- 13 career tournaments as a Cowboy J.C. DeLeon* Fr. Tulsa, Okla. 73.97 --- Fourth at Red River Classic in the fall Charles Howell* Jr. Augusta, Ga. 69.97 8/3 On pace for OSU records in season & career stroke avg. Anders Hultman* So. Gothenburg, Sweden 71.66 36/27 Ninth at Central Regional Edward Loar* Sr. Rockwall, Texas 71.09 18/16 Top-10 finishes in five of seven spring events Billy Lowry Fr. Ada, Okla. 75.33 --- Former state of Oklahoma high-school champ Landry Mahan* Sr. Richardson, Texas 73.42 --- Regional performance was best since February Nick Seymour So. Tustin, Calif. --- --- Played in eight tourneys as a true freshman+ - MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings/Golfweek Sagarin College Rankings
50-plus years of history
Last season, Oklahoma State advanced to the NCAA Tournament for its
unprecedented 53rd consecutive time and finished second at the national
championship, marking the 22nd time OSU has finished in the final top two.
The Cowboys have won eight national titles and have finished fifth or higher
44 times. Thirty-nine OSU golfers have won conference titles, and the
Cowboys have produced six NCAA medalists and 124 All-Americans. In the 27
years under head coach Mike Holder, OSU has entered 379 tournaments and won
157 titles for a 41.4 winning percentage. In addition, the Cowboys have
posted 87 runner-up finishes, meaning that OSU has finished first or second
64.4 percent of the time.
The 1999 NCAA Championship
Oklahoma State went into the final round last year at Hazeltine with a
five-stroke lead, but a 16-over performance the last day on the front nine
left the Cowboys just shy of their ninth national championship. Despite a
13-stroke deficit at the turn, OSU came within three strokes of coming all
the way back. The runner-up performance ended a string that saw OSU win the
national title every four years beginning in 1983.
Noting the Cowboys
OSU has produced at least one top-10 finisher in 10 of 11 tournaments this
year, and the team has tallied 19 top-10 finishes in all. The Cowboys have
four medalist honors to their credit this season and have notched 10
top-five individual performances. Every OSU regular has earned a top-10
finish at least once this season.
For the first time in recorded school history (since Mike Holder's first season of 1973-74), OSU has used the same lineup for every tournament.
Edward Loar ranks tied for 10th in school history with five career individual titles, Howell is 12th with four.
Charles Howell's current career stroke average (71.32) is ahead of the school record (71.62 by Scott Verplank). His remarkable 69.97 average this season is also on school-record pace. Loar is currently fifth in career average (72.03) and season average (71.09).
OSU cleaned up when the Big 12 announced its annual awards. Howell was named the Player of the Year and the Student-Athlete of the Year, and Holder was co-coach of the year. Loar, Anders Hultman and Landry Mahan each joined Howell on the all-conference first team. In addition, Howell was named first-team Academic All-Big 12, Hultman received honorable mention.
Howell and Loar have finished in the top 10 at the same time nine times in their three years as Cowboy teammates. In those events, OSU has four team victories, three second-place finishes and two thirds. This year, they have joined each other in the top 10 four times, with two team titles, one second and one third.
Howell put together one of the best individual performances in school history as Oklahoma State reclaimed the Big 12 Championship on April 24 and 25. Howell carded a 10-under-par 200, the third-best 54-hole score in school history and a tournament record by nine strokes, to take medalist honors. Loar was second at even par, and OSU, with a tourney-record score of 851, won the tournament by 12 strokes over second-place Kansas. The Cowboys' league victory was their third in the four years of the Big 12 Conference.
OSU is 72-25-2 head-to-head this year against the NCAA Tournament field.
Oklahoma State will host the 2001 NCAA Central Regional and the 2003 NCAA Championships at Karsten Creek, just west of Stillwater.
Cowboy Quick Facts
Location Stillwater, Okla. Enrollment 21,216 Colors Orange and Black President Dr. James Halligan Athletics Director Dr. Terry Don Phillips Head Coach Mike Holder (27th year) Alma Mater Oklahoma State, 1970 Assistant Mike McGraw (Third year) Alma Mater Central Oklahoma, 1982 Home Course Karsten Creek 1999 NCAA Finish Second Top Individual 5. Charles Howell NCAA Titles Eight (1963, '76, '78, '80, '83, '87, '91, '95) 2000 Big 12 Finish First Top Individual 1. Charles Howell Conference Titles 48 (Three Big 12, 36 Big 8, nine Missouri Valley) 1999-2000 Medalists Four (Charles Howell, Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate, Big 12 Championship and The Maxwell, Edward Loar, Compaq U.S. Collegiate Championship)
OSU vs. the Field
Here's how the Cowboys fared head-to-head this year against this other
schools in the regional field. Numbers in parentheses represent
tourney-by-tourney results (see key below). OSU's head-to-head victories are
denoted by pluses, losses by hyphens and ties by equal signs.
Arizona (+2, +3, =5, +7, +8) 4-0-1 Arizona State (-1, +3, -4, -6, +8) 2-3 Auburn (+1, +3, +5) 3-0 Brigham Young (+2, -5, -7) 1-2 California (+4, +5) 2-0 Clemson (-1, -3, -4, +6, -8) 1-4 East Tennessee State (+1, +4) 2-0 Fresno State (-7) 0-1 Georgia (=1, -3, -4, +6, +8, +10) 3-2-1 Georgia State did not play Georgia Tech (-1, -4, +6, -8) 1-3 Houston (+1,+2,-3,+4,+6,+7,+8,-10, +11) 7-2 Kansas (+9, +11) 2-0 Kent (+2, +8, -11) 2-1 Minnesota (+1, +3, +6, +11) 4-0 Mississippi State (+10) 1-0 UNLV (+1, -3, -4, +5, +6, -7, +8) 4-3 New Mexico (+1, +2, +4, +5, +6, +7) 6-0 North Carolina (+1, +4, +6) 3-0 North Florida did not play Northwestern (-1, +8, +11) 2-1 Oklahoma (+2, +5, +7, +9, +10, +11) 6-0 Pepperdine (+4, +7) 2-0 Southern California (+2, +7, +10) 3-0 Texas (+1, +2, -4, +6, +7, +9, -10, -11) 5-3 TCU (+2, +4, +7, +8, +11) 5-0 Virginia (+6) 1-0 Wake Forest did not play Washington did not play
Team Matchup Key
1. Ping-Golfweek Preview Invitational 2. Taylor Made Red River Classic 3. Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate 4. Rolex/Golf World/Palmetto Dunes Collegiate Invitational 5. John Burns Intercollegiate 6. Las Vegas Intercollegiate 7. Cleveland Golf/Morris Williams 8. Compaq U.S. Collegiate Championship 9. Big 12 Championship 10. The Maxwell 11. NCAA Central Regional
OSU at the NCAA Championship
NCAA Championship Results, 1947-99
OSU's Position After...
Year Champion Runner-Up Individual 1st 2nd 3rd Final
Champion Rd. Rd. Rd.
1947 Louisiana Duke Dave Barclay, 5th
State Michigan (12)
1948 San Jose Louisiana Bob Harris, San 5th
State State Jose State (20)
1949 North Purdue/Texas Harvie Ward, 6th
Texas North Carolina (16)
1950 North Purdue Fred Wampler, 13th
Texas Purdue (28)
1951 North Ohio State Tom Nieporte, 11th
Texas Ohio State (30)
1952 North Michigan Jim Vickers, 5th
Texas Oklahoma (13)
1953 Stanford North Earl Moeller, 4th
Carolina Oklahoma State (4)
1954 So. North Texas Hillman Robbins, 3rd
Methodist Memphis State (6)
1955 Louisiana North Texas Joe Campbell, 3rd
State Purdue (13)
1956 Houston N. Rick Jones, Ohio 4th
Texas/Purdue State (4)
1957 Houston Stanford Rex Baxter, Jr., 12th
Houston (20)
1958 Houston Oklahoma Phil Rodgers, 2nd
State Houston (12)
1959 Houston Purdue Dick Crawford, 5th
Houston (18)
1960 Houston OSU/Purdue Dick Crawford, 2nd
Houston (4)
1961 Purdue Arizona Jack Nicklaus, 4th
State Ohio State (13)
1962 Houston Oklahoma Kermit Zarley, 2nd
State Houston (10)
1963 Oklahoma Houston R.H. Sikes, 1st
State Arkansas (1)
1964 Houston Oklahoma Terry Small, San 2nd
State Jose State (7)
1965 Houston Cal-State Marty Fleckman, 9th
L.A. Houston (20)
1966 Houston San Jose Bob Murphy, 4th
State Florida (16)
1967 Houston Florida Hale Irwin, 22nd
Colorado (28)
1968 Florida Houston Grier Jones, 4th
Oklahoma State (8)
1969 Houston Wake Forest Bob Clark, 10th
Cal-State L.A. (32)
1970 Houston Wake Forest John Mahaffey, 4th
Houston (18)
1971 Texas Houston Ben Crenshaw, 5th
Texas (26)
1972 Texas Houston Ben Crenshaw, 4th
Tom Kite, Texas (28)
1973 Florida Oklahoma Ben Crenshaw, 2nd
State Texas (10)
1974 Wake Florida Curtis Strange, 5th
Forest Wake Forest (20)
1975 Wake Oklahoma Jay Haas, Wake 2nd
Forest State Forest (33)
1976 Oklahoma Brigham Scott Simpson, 1st
State Young So. California (7)
1977 Houston Oklahoma Scott Simpson, 2nd
State So. California (8)
1978 Oklahoma Georgia David Edwards, 1st 2nd 1st 1st
State Oklahoma State (1) (2) (10) (17)
1979 Ohio State Oklahoma Gary Hallberg, 9th 3rd 1st 2nd
State Wake Forest (13) (7) (1) (3)
1980 Oklahoma Brigham Jay Don Blake, 1st 1st 1st 1st
State Young Utah State (1) (4) (tie) (4)
1981 Brigham Oral Roberts Ron Commans, So. 11th 13th 8th 4th
Young California (11) (18) (14) (10)
1982 Houston Oklahoma Billy Ray Brown, 7th 3rd 2nd 2nd
State Houston (7) (3) (12) (10)
1983 Oklahoma Texas Jim Carter, 9th 1st 1st 1st
State Arizona State (7) (1) (5) (7)
1984 Houston Oklahoma John Inman, 4th 1st 1st 2nd
State North Carolina (3) (1) (3) (1)
1985 Houston Oklahoma Clark Burroughs, 8th 7th 2nd 2nd
State Ohio State (9) (12) (1) (3)
1986 Wake Oklahoma Scott Verplank, 4th 1st 1st 2nd
Forest State Oklahoma State (3) (2) (8) (4)
1987 Oklahoma Wake Forest Brian Watts, 7th 1st 1st 1st
State Oklahoma State (7) (tie) (14) (16)
1988 UCLA OSU/Okla./UT E.J. Pfister, 7th 8th 4th 2nd
EP Oklahoma State (7) (12) (8) (3)
1989 Oklahoma Texas Phil Mickelson, 5th 4th 4th 4th
Arizona State (14) (13) (14) (23)
1990 Arizona Florida Phil Mickelson, 4th 6th 4th 4th
State Arizona State (3) (18) (11) (8)
1991 Oklahoma North Warren Schutte, 6th 1st 2nd 1st
State Carolina UNLV (5) (3) (3) (7)
1992 Arizona Arizona Phil Mickelson, 2nd 3rd 4th 3rd
State Arizona State (6) (9) (18) (15)
1993 Florida Georgia Tech Todd Demsey, 21st 14th 13th 12th
Arizona State (17) (27) (36) (43)
1994 Stanford Texas Justin Leonard, 2nd 5th 3rd 5th
Texas (7) (7) (2) (11)
1995 Oklahoma Stanford Chip Spratlin, 5th 4th 4th 1st
State Auburn (3) (2) (3) (tie)
1996 Arizona UNLV Tiger Woods, 6th 14th 8th 8th
State Stanford (12) (20) (24) (29)
1997 Pepperdine Wake Forest Charles Warren, 3rd 11th 3rd 5th
Clemson (4) (13) (6) (8)
1998 UNLV Clemson James McLean, 1st 4th 3rd 4th
Minnesota (3) (11) (13) (9)
1999 Georgia Oklahoma Luke Donald, 1st 2nd 1st 2nd
State Northwestern (3) (7) (5) (3)
1947 marked OSU's first NCAA Championship appearance.
In the "OSU's Position After..." column, the first number listed is OSU's position at the end of that round. The number in parentheses is OSU's margin behind the leader or ahead of the second-place team. For example, after one round in 1998, OSU led the second-place team by three strokes. After two rounds, OSU was in fourth place, 11 strokes behind the leader.
Prior to 1978, team scores were calculated by adding each school's four best 72-hole individual scores, as opposed to the current round-by-round scoring formula.
OSU won the 1995 championship in a playoff. The Cowboys, Oklahoma and Arizona were tied for 14th after two rounds in 1993, OSU and OU made the 15-team cut in a playoff with the Wildcats.
