West Virginia Golf In Top 25

West Virginia Golf In Top 25

As a proud Mountaineer, I’m happy to see that West Virginia University’s golf team currently is ranked in the Top 25 in two of the three NCAA golf rankings, and is at #26 in the other.

I find it surprising, however, given that a) the team is relatively new to the golf scene (it has only existed since 2015) and b) West Virginia is a cold weather state, so the home season is short.

Nonetheless, Mountaineer golf currently sit at No. 23 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings. That ranking system is based on Jeff Sagarin’s mathematical formula involving record, schedule strength, power rating and records.

The fact that West Virginia plays golf in the Big 12 probably has a lot to do with its top 25 appearance in the Golfweek/Saragin Ranking. WVU is one of five Big 12 teams in the top 25, as Texas Tech (No. 3), Oklahoma (No. 4), Baylor (No. 15) and Texas (No. 20) also make an appearance.

Big 12 team Oklahoma State was the winner of the NCAA Championships in 2018. Oklahoma was the winner in 2017. Texas was runner up in 2019 and 2016. It’s a tough conference.

WVU was ranked at No. 25 in the Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Poll released Sept. 23.

Finally, the West Virginia golf team is just No. 26 in the Golfstat rankings. Four Big 12 foes rank ahead of the Mountaineers: No. 2 Texas Tech, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 11 Baylor and No. 22 Texas.

The team recently returned from the Big 12 Match Play Tournament in Houston with a 2-1-1 record.

Senior Etienne Papineau put together a 3-1-1 individual mark to lead West Virginia to wins over TCU and Iowa State.

The West Virginia golf team will join UCF in hosting The Tavistock Collegiate Invitational on Oct. 20-22 at Windermere Golf and Country Club in Isleworth, Florida.

Let’s Go Mountaineers!