TCU Men’s Golf 2022-23 Season Recap

The 2022-2023 season for the TCU Men’s Golf Team was very successful as they advanced to the NCAA Regional in Auburn, Alabama, and finished as the runner-up in the Big 12 Tournament. Longtime head coach Bill Montigel announced that this past season would be his last after 36 years in the position for the Frogs after earning his 8th coach of the year award of his career as he was named Co-Coach of the Year of the Big 12.

Regular Season Overview

The Frogs would get off to a rough start in their first tournament of the year as they finished in 8th place out of 8 competing teams at Frederica Cup in St. Simon’s Island, Georgia. TCU did face some very tough competition as the field included 5 preseason top-25 ranked teams, but the Frogs did not play up to their standards as they were the only team to finish above par in the tournament. The highlight of the tournament for the Frogs came from a stellar final-round, 66-shot performance by Chris Berzina.

TCU would bounce back with a great showing at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate Tournament in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the Championship Golf Course finishing 4th overall in a field of 19 teams. The Frogs sat in third place after day 1 with a total team score of 10 under through two rounds led by a 65 shot round one from Aymeric Laussot. TCU would ultimately finish the tournament with a team score of 4 under par as the course played much harder during the final round. Gustav Frimodt and Jacob Skov Olesen both were able to battle through and shoot one under par in the final round for the Frogs. Laussot finished tied for seventh individually in the tournament with an overall score of 5 under par. Frimodt joined Laussot in the top 10 individual performers in the tournament as he finished tied for 10th with a score of 3 under par.

The Frogs hosted the next tournament that they played in as 16 teams traveled to Fort Worth for the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational at Colonial Country Club. TCU headed into the final round in 10th place, led by Frimodt who was tied for 7th individually after two rounds of competition. Frimodt would shoot an excellent 5 under par to finish 8 under overall and storm to the top of the individual leaderboard and win the tournament. Frimodt’s performance would also help to move TCU into 9th place overall in the tournament with a team total score of 10 over. The Frogs finished ahead of 4 teams that were then ranked in the top 25 including number 2 ranked Oklahoma and number 8 ranked Georgia Tech.

The Big 12 Match Play Tournament was next for the Frogs where Frimodt would continue his stretch of excellent golf with a victory over the number 10 ranked amateur in the world, Travis Vick of Texas. TCU would lose their first match to top seeded Texas Tech by a score of 4-0-2 but battle to a tie with fourth seeded Texas with a final score of 3-3. The Frogs picked up a pair of victories on their second day of the tournament as they took down Iowa State by a score of 4-1-1 and Kansas State by a score of 3-2-1. Brandon Massey and Jacob Olesen won both of their matches against ISU and KSU to lead the Frogs. TCU advanced to the third place match on the last day of competition as a result of finishing second in their group. They would take down Oklahoma State to secure their best-ever finish in Big 12 match play by a score of 4-1-1

After the Amer Ari Intercollegiate was canceled, The Prestige was the next event in which the Frogs competed. TCU had a very good tournament, finishing 4th in a field of 24 teams that included two top-10 ranked teams. Maxence Giboudot had the best round of the tournament for the Frogs with a 67 in round one that helped him finish in a tie for 22nd individually. TCU would finish 12 over as a team, 3 strokes better than the number 22 ranked Colorado State Rams.

A very tough 15 team field waited for the Frogs in their next tournament as the Southern Highlands Collegiate featured 9 top 25 teams with 4 of those teams being ranked in the top 10 at the time. TCU finished a respectable 11th in the tournament, ahead of number 25 ranked San Diego State and more importantly in front of SMU who finished in dead last.

TCU won their first tournament of the year in the Grand Canyon Invitational in Phoenix, Arizona over a 16 team field. Gustav Frimodt finished second individually shooting an 11 under through the three rounds of the tournament with his best round being round two where he shot a 64. Maxence Giboudot would finish in the top 10 individually as well, finishing at 5 under par on the tournament, good for 8th overall. TCU had the lead after the first day as they sat at 18 under through two rounds. They withstood a late charge from Grand Canyon University who shot 12 under as a team on the last day of the tournament to come within a stroke of the Frogs. TCU ultimately held onto their lead and won the tournament with a team score of 17 under on the week.

TCU made it back-to-back wins when they took home the victory in their next tournament, the Seahawk Intercollegiate, in Wilmington, North Carolina. Aymeric Laussot led the Frogs with a top 3 performance individually finishing at 9 under par through the 3 rounds of the tournament. The Frogs finished at 21 under par as a team to take a one stroke victory for the second straight tournament, this time over Wright State who finished in second place.

Next up for TCU was the Wyoming Cowboy Classic at the Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona which featured a solid 21-team field. The Frogs were, unfortunately, unable to make it three straight tournament wins but did finish a solid 11th place behind a 16-over performance as a team. TCU was able to have a strong performance despite being without Frimodt who missed the tournament due to injury. Giboudot stepped up for TCU in Frimodt’s absence and finished in the top 20 individually to lead TCU with a score of one under par through the three rounds of competition.

The Frogs wrapped up their regular season in College Station at the Traditions Club for the Aggie Invitational. In a field of 13 teams, the Frogs had a great tournament and finished in 4th place at one under par. TCU finished two strokes ahead of then number 24 ranked Baylor who finished one spot behind the Frogs in fifth place. Frimodt had an excellent first tournament back from injury, taking second in the tournament individually with a score of 6 under par over three rounds.

Post Season

The first event of the postseason for TCU was the Big 12 Tournament which featured 7 teams ranked in the top 40 in the nation. The Frogs had a phenomenal tournament and finished as the runner-up at 17 over par, 4 strokes ahead of the 3rd place finisher, Texas Tech, which finished at 21 over. Maxence Giboudot led a trio of Frogs who finished in the top 10 individually finishing at 2 over on the tournament, good to tie for 6th place. Giboudot moved up in the rankings late in the tournament thanks to an excellent 68-shot performance in the final round. Frimodt and Olesen were the other 2 Frogs in the top 10 as they both tied for 9th place at 3 over par on the week. Aymeric Laussot finished tied for 15th individually with a total score of 9 over par over the 4 rounds of competition.

The Frogs were selected to play in the Aubun Regional of the NCAA Tournament that included the top-ranked team in the nation, Vanderbilt. The top 5 teams from the 13-team field advanced to the NCAA Championship and the Frogs started off hot when they sat in 3rd place after the first day of the regional. Olesen led the way for TCU on day 1 with a 70-shot outing that had him tied for 3rd individually. The Frogs fell into a tie for 7th place after day two but were well within striking distance of qualifying since they were just 3 strokes back of fifth place with one round left to play. Unfortunately, the Frogs’ season would end in Auburn when they were unable to make the 2-spot jump that was needed for them to advance. Giboudot had the best round for the Frogs on the last day of competition with a 73-shot round to try and move the Frogs into a top-five spot. Laussot had the best tournament overall for TCU finishing at 5 over par on the tournament good for a tie for 23rd individually.

Honors and Awards

Head Coach Bill Montigel: Eddie Merrins Award, Co-Big 12 Coach of the Year

Gustav Frimodt: Ping All-Region Team

A Change at the Helm

There will be a new head men’s golf coach at TCU for the first time in 36 years as Bill Montigel announced that he would be retiring. Montigel is a huge figure in TCU sports history and he has had a drastic impact on multiple programs for the Frogs. Obviously, men’s golf would not be the same without him s Montigel has racked up 8 coach of the year awards during his time at TCU, coached PGA Tour Pros JJ Henry and Tom Hoge, coached players to 26 All-American Awards, 13 top 20 finishes at the NCAA Championship, 8 conference championships, and a 31-year streak of making an NCAA Regional. TCU basketball would also not be the same without coach Montigel, he was an assistant basketball coach and recruiter before moving over to Men’s Golf. His most impactful contribution was securing the commitment of a point guard who is now the head coach of TCU men’s basketball, Jamie Dixon.

Montigel’s successor has very big shoes to fill but Bill Alcorn, who was recently announced to be the next head coach, has plenty of experience coaching teams to plenty of success. Alcorn was formerly an associate head coach at a very good golf program for Oklahoma which has won two straight Big 12 Championships. Alcorn was the recipient of the 2021 Jan Strickland Assistant Coach of the Year award and played four years of college golf at Baylor before becoming an assistant coach there upon graduation. The TCU Men’s Golf program is losing a legend in Bill Montigel but appears to have found a very capable coach to take the program to even greater heights. We Frog fans will be ready to forgive Coach Alcorn for being a Baylor Bear as soon as the new golf season rolls around but until then…..

Bazooka forever.