ADELAIDE RECAP: RANGEGOATS GC SUPER SOLID DOWN UNDER
Steady as she goes.
The motto thus far for RangeGoats Golf Club in 2024 might as well be one used by mariners to stay the course. And it’s proving to be quite a splash.
The captain in this case is literally Bubba Watson, who is helming the team with equal parts smarts and flair. In short, when a course favors the long-hitting RangeGoats, they attack and succeed. When a layout is less than favorable, the team meticulously makes its way through the week with better-than-average results.
The latter was more the story at LIV Golf Adelaide, and the finish had more positives than negatives. RangeGoats GC ended the week in ninth place at The Grange Golf Club but just four shots out of a top-5 finish. It wasn’t a week that hurt the team, as it stands in a ready-to-pounce seventh place in the season-long team standings.
Peter Uihlein led the way on Friday with an amazing 7-under 65, but when seemingly the entire field went low on Saturday, Uihlein could only manage an even-par 72 while his teammates all shot under par and combined to go 16 under. Still, with other team members stepping up, it laid the groundwork for a nice Sunday surge with all four scores counting.
The final round was the epitome of team golf. With Uihlein and Watson able to post 1-under par 71s, teammates Thomas Pieters and Matthew Wolff stepped up to go even lower. With all four scores counting on Sunday, Pieters shot 5-under 67 and Wolff shot 3-under 69 to boost the team up the leaderboard.
Pieters finished a team-high T-14 while Wolff continued his impressive bounce-back season with a T-26. Watson and Uihlein tied for 34th place, and Watson was once again on form and shot under-par rounds all three days.
The main takeaway from the week was once again Saturday’s play. It will be interesting to see if the team can continue this positive trend. RangeGoats GC’s 16-under par in Round 2 was among the best team scores on a day when scoring was ripe for the taking. The attack-when-it-makes-sense approach is working well for the team, and it could be a strength each week as the season progresses.