FORE!

Feels like there should be some incredibly lame awesome school-based pun here, but honestly I got bored trying to think of one and I probably shouldn’t be punishing you for being here instead of out on the course, so. . . let’s just skip that part.

If you’re on this page you probably have some interest in golf or college athletics (hopefully both). The goal of 5-Count-4 is to dive deeper into the collegiate side of golf history, so if that sounds even vaguely interesting I hope you’ll stick around and maybe hit the button below.

Is it free?

YES! The intention here is simply to share interesting college golf history. That said, it does take a great deal of time to research and put together these posts; if you feel the end result is worth a cup of coffee a month who are we to say no. Your support, including your time in reading these, engagement (to us or sharing with others), and even financial if you choose to do so, means the world to us!

What’s “5-Count-4”?

In a sport that is largely solitary by nature, the team aspect of college golf is unique for a number of reasons. At most tournaments, teams will play three 18-hole rounds of stroke play (54 holes total) where their team score each round is dictated by totaling the 4 best scores of their 5 players. This format is commonly referred to as “5 count 4”.

Huh, I didn’t know that

is a phrase I hope you find yourself saying while reading and dare I say enjoying this content. Seriously, it’s not fun for either of us if everything you find here is just tidbits from the same background packages announcers trot out each week on the PGA Tour telecast:

Did you know Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth played against each other in college?! Yes

Ok, but did you know Tiger Woods went to Stanford and won an NCAA title?? Of course

Ok ok, how about this:

Princeton missed the first collegiate golf match (1896) because of football

Yale won the first two championships (1897 & 1898) which were played in a team match play format

Harvard was the first to win 3 championships, earning permanent possession of the first college golf championship trophy (the Ardsley Cup)

Harvard’s super team of 1904 included Olympic medal winner Chandler Egan as well as his cousin Walter

The USGA first became actively involved in college golf with the donation of a new team trophy in 1906, two years before the IGA was expanded to include some additional teams vying for the championship

Illinois became the first “Western” team to compete for the college golf title and included what may be the first golf-related transfer...back before World War I

Despite playing for Georgia Tech for four years and spending a year with the Harvard golf team, a crazy series of events kept Bobby Jones from ever competing for a college title

Conference college golf got its start in the 1920s

The University of Michigan became the first non-East Coast team to win the championship in 1934 and then came back in 1935 to defend their team title and even capture the individual title as well

The NCAA officially took over responsibility for running the men’s college golf championship in 1939

The 1941 championship hosted by Ohio State was not only the first men’s championship held at a university course but also became the site of the 1st women’s college golf championship

North Texas went on an incredible run in the late 1940s-early 1950s to become the first “dynasty” of the NCAA era

Dave Williams - Mr. College Golf - led Houston to 16 national championship titles over the course of his 37 year career, meaning he WON 43% of the championships his teams competed for from the 1950s-1980s

Know something cool the rest of us (probably) don’t?

We are always up for learning something new, bonus points if it has to do with college golf!

Beyond just these publications, 5-Count-4 is a concerted effort to create the ultimate college golf database [website in the works] that includes tournament data, personal recollections, forgotten facts, and whatever else seems relevant to this topic. If you can help with this effort in any way, please feel free to reach out to us directly:

fivecountfour@gmail.com