In the Know with... Robby Ormand
4/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 2, 2008
The TCU men's golf team is off to a great start during the 2008 spring campaign as the Horned Frogs have finished in the top-10 in four of five tournaments thus far - including a first-place showing last week at the National Invitational Tournament.
The Frogs are proving that they can compete among some of the best teams in the country as the Purple and White is currently ranked in the top-50 in the country according to both GolfStat and Golfweek. TCU recently defeated conference-rival and 14th-ranked UNLV by 18 strokes at this past week's National Invitational Tournament in Tucson, Ariz.
One of the reasons why the Frogs are off to a great start has to do with the talent of junior Robby Ormand (Austin, Texas/James Bowie H.S.). The TCU junior notched his best finish of the spring season at the UH Hilo Intercollegiate where he tied teammates James Sacheck (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville H.S.) and Travis Woolf (Fort Worth, Texas/Paschal H.S.) for a 20th-place showing.
Ormand has recorded three top-20 showings during the 2007-08 season - including a sixth-place finish at the MacDonald Cup during the fall campaign. Along with Ormand - the Frogs were able to capture their first tournament of the season at the MacDonald Cup when the Purple and White defeated the host-program Yale by five strokes.
During the 2007 campaign - Ormand became the sixth TCU golfer in the past two decades to become a conference champion when he captured the Mountain West Conference title. He won the championship with a career-best six-under-par score of 207 (68-68-71) - which included a par on the first hole of sudden death.
Ormand completed his sophomore season having competed in nine tournaments where he finished with a 74.80 strokes average over 25 rounds of action and recorded the second-most sub-70 rounds for the Frogs.
In his first season at TCU, the Austin native appeared in four tournaments where he notched his best finish at the Carpet Capital Collegiate with a 22nd-place finish after collecting a tournament score of 220 (72-77-71). In 2005-06, Ormand recorded a season-best score of 218 at a pair of tournaments in the UH Hilo Intercollegiate and Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate.
While Ormand has enjoyed a nice career thus far with the Frogs - he has also shined on the amateur circuit where he competed at the 2006 U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine. It was his first-ever trip to what is considered the world's most prestigious amateur event. Ormand also became the fifth player in the 60-year history of the Firecracker Open to claim back-to-back titles (previous tournament winners included PGA standouts Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite).
We recently sat down with Ormand to discuss his thoughts about the his career at TCU.
On what made him to decide to play golf:
"My older brother and sister played golf, and I always wanted to do what they were doing so that's how I picked it up. My dad also got me into golf as well."
On his decision to come to TCU:
"First of all - I knew that I wanted to stay in the State of Texas. After visiting many schools and coaches - I decided on TCU because I really liked Coach Montigel and what he was doing here."
On competing against teammates in qualifying rounds in order to earn a traveling team spot:
"It's very intense because everyone is so good, and everyone always wants the opportunity to travel. We are all fighting for that last spot so that battle can get hairy at times."
On the most influential person in his life:
"I have two people with my parents because they are both very supportive and come to every tournament - even road tournaments. They are always there to inspire me and push me to keep going when things sometimes don't go my way out on the course."
On winning the conference title last season:
"It was very exciting and a great way to end the season. It gave me a lot of confidence coming into this season, and I know that we [as a team] are going to do just fine because we have a lot of confidence as a team. It's always nice to have a bunch of guys who you can count on and know that they are going to perform well for the team."
On preparation for both collegiate and amateur golf events:
"In college - we prepare for every tournament the same because there isn't one that sticks out until the very end of the season when we head to the conference tournament. For conference - we will study the course and learn certain shots and implement them in practice. More time is devoted to amateur events because everyone always wants to compete in them and the rewards are great for playing well there."
On the theory that golf is more mental than physical:
"Once you reach a certain level - it's harder to improve the physical part of the game, but your mind is one thing that can get in the way. Before conference last season - I was at the top of my game mentally and nothing really phased me."
On his favorite place that the team has traveled:
"Hawaii was an awesome experience. We got to stay in condos - which are right on the beach - and Coach allowed us to do a lot of things like go on a snorkeling cruise."
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