Reband puts rough week behind him
STILLWATER — For three days, Garett Reband had been Oklahoma’s forgotten man.
The sophomore from Fort Worth, Texas, had recorded OU’s worst score in each of the first three rounds, each time having it dropped from the team total. But he made his impact known on Monday in the NCAA men’s championships at Karsten Creek Golf Club.
As a team, the Sooners had seven bogeys, two doubles and a triple over the first six holes. Nothing under par. And their score was suddenly yoyoing around the cut line, in danger of not advancing to the match play bracket.
Then Reband showed signs of life.
His birdies on holes 7, 9 and 10 were OU’s first of the day. Not long after, the Sooners’ best player, Brad Dalke, carded birdies on Nos. 11 and 12.
“It was like that kind of flipped the momentum for the rest of the team,” OU coach Ryan Hybl said. “Even though it’s odd in college golf, they don’t know what’s going on, but yet, they do know what’s going on, and that really kind of got the momentum going in a positive direction for us.”
The Sooners played the last 10 holes in 2-under par. After falling as low as 10th place on the leaderboard, OU shot back up to earn the No. 4 seed heading into Tuesday’s match play quarterfinals. OU will face fifth-seeded Auburn, beginning at 7:50 a.m., with a potential Bedlam semifinal in the afternoon match.
After his hot streak in the middle of the round, Reband found some frustration late. But he made what Hybl estimated as a 50-foot putt for bogey on No. 17, calling it “maybe the best bogey we could have made all week long.”
Then Reband narrowly avoided disaster to finish with a birdie on No. 18.
“I just absolutely nuked my 3-wood about 35 yards over the green,” he said. “The up-anddown was honestly one of the best up-and-downs under pressure that I’ve ever had, so it was good. It was a good finish.”
Reband opened the tournament with an
80, then shot back-toback 78s. With the way his weekend had gone, Monday’s even-par 72 couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Garett is here for a reason,” Hybl said. “He did today what we expect him to do, and that’s to dig down as deep as he can and fight for every single shot. He stepped up on the first tee box and
absolutely striped it, and I know that made him feel good. It made his ol’ coach feel real nice.
“He did what a bigtime player has to do in these types of moments. It’s what Brad has been able to do. It’s fun to watch a new young guy be able to step up there coming down the stretch when we needed it the most.”