Rippee Writes: some Thursday golf and All-American honors
Magnolia State golf update, summer league assignments and baseball's war on sticky stuff
Good Thursday morning to you all. We have two new podcasts out. After some technical difficulties, on Monday, we dropped a Tuesday night pod with Collin Brister discussing all angles of the Mike Bianco extension, what it means for 2022 and beyond, as well as the long term future of the baseball program. Check that out here or anywhere you get your podcasts.
This morning, we released a pod with SportsTalk Mississippi's Michael Borkey on the Bianco extension, the differences between the Ole Miss and Mississippi State baseball programs, and took a 10,000 foot view of each school’s football expectations this fall. Check that out here or anywhere you get your podcasts.
We've got some golf, baseball and other things to get to today. Let's go.
Ole Miss Baseball summer assignments:
Chase Parham put together a list of Ole Miss summer league assignments. The Rebels have a trio of guys playing for the USA National Team, and potentially two Cape Cod Leaguers. That full list is live here on RebelGrove.
The 2021 team has also raked in a host of All-American honors over the past week.
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Magnolia State Golf Update
Big things are happening with Mississippians in professional and amateur golf. Earlier this week, Tupelo native and Mississippi State alum Chad Ramey officially locked up his PGA Tour Card by reaching the fail-safe points threshold in the Korn Ferry Tour standings, the second Mississippian to do so this year along with Hattiesburg native and Alabama alum Davis Riley. We’ve got two more guys added to the mix this week too as they make their Forme Tour debuts.
The PGA Tour is in Connecticut this week for the Travelers Championship. No Mississippians in the field this week, but as we always say in this space, there will be soon.
The Korn Ferry Tour is in Maine this week for the Live and Work in Main Open at Falmouth Country Club. Three of the usual five Mississippians are in the field.
Tupelo native and Mizzou alum Hayden Buckley teed off at 6:10 Thursday morning and goes off 11:20 on Friday. Buckley played in his first career major last week and shot an opening-round 2-under 69 at the U.S. Open and sat T-5 after a day. In the latest edition of Golf Is Hard, Buckley shot 82 on Friday and missed the cut at Torrey Pines.
On a serious note, there is one thing I’d like to point out from this: because Buckley qualified for the U.S. Open, he missed last week’s Korn Ferry stop in Wichita, Kansas. Nothing Buckley could’ve done in the U.S. Open would count toward his standing on the Korn Ferry Tour, so choosing to play the U.S. Open over the Korn Ferry event was actually a little bit of a risk. Fortunately, he only fell one spot from 34th to 35th in the standings, but it seems sort of stupid to punish a guy on a second-tier tour for qualifying for a major. It hopefully won’t make a huge difference for Buckley, and him missing the cut renders this moot to some degree, but that doesn’t make this set up any less stupid. If you make the cut at a major, you should probably get some sort of points on the tour you plan on, rather than be penalized. What a novel concept.
Anyway, Buckley is on the cusp of cracking the top 25 and earning his Tour card thanks to a win in Florida in February. These next six weeks are crucial in his ascent in the sport.
Ramey teed off at 7:00 Thursday morning and 11:10 on Friday. Ramey’s just cashing checks at this point. Hell, the guy rolls out of bed and finishes in the top 15 at seemingly every one of these things. He’s PGA Tour bound and ridding himself of the weekly stress that accompanies playing on this tour and not knowing your future has to be freeing. I am excited to see how the next year progresses for a guy that has worked his ass off to get to this point.
Brandon native and Ole Miss alum Jonathan Randolph tees off at 11:20 Thursday and 7:10 Friday morning. He missed the cut last week and sits at 99th in the standings. Cracking the top 25 is a longshot for Randolph at this point, but if he can get inside the top 75 and get into the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, he’ll have a chance to get back to the PGA Tour. The Korn Ferry Tour Finals award an additional 25 Tour cards over a four-week stretch of tournaments. Randolph has held PGA Tour status twice and has teetered back and forth between the two tours over his career.
Davis Riley and Ole Miss alum Braden Thornberry are not in the field this week. Riley is already PGA Tour bound next season and presumably opted against an expensive trip to Maine. Thornberry is 54th in the standings and within shouting distance of cracking the top 25 with a win or a pair of top 5 finishes. I am a little surprised he is not in this event given that the season is entering the homestretch.
The Forme Tour begins its season this week and a pair of Ole Miss alums are in the first tournament. The PGA Tour created this Tour out of necessity because of the COVID-19-related issues in Canada. Think of it as a supplement to the Canadian Tour, which is normally like double-A baseball, if you consider the Korn Ferry Tour triple-A. This is essentially for players with Canadian Tour status to have an opportunity to compete on American soil. The top-five points earners receive 2021-22 Korn Ferry Tour membership along with others advancing to the second and final stages of the Korn Ferry Tour Q-School. Buckley got his start on the Canadian Tour two years ago and countless others have risen through the ranks via this tour. The first event is in Athens, Georgia and actually began yesterday.
Ole Miss alum Ben Wolcott shot 2-under 70 yesterday in round one and is hovering around the cut line. Fellow Ole Miss alum Josh Seiple struggled mightily and shot 85. We’ll monitor their progress over the next three months on this tour.
NEW DEAL: Greg has switched up the Rippee Writes perks menu. For being a loyal subscriber, show him proof of subscription and you’ll get a 16 oz. prime strip for $15 and a pack of sausage for $5. That’s a hell of a dinner on the grill for 20 bucks. Go check him out, it’s the best place in Mississippi to get meat and Oxford is lucky to have it.
Jack Moss transfers to A&M
Arizona State transfer Jack Moss chose Texas A&M yesterday. The first baseman hit .305 with an .853 OPS as a freshman for the Sun Devils.
This is relevant because Ole Miss had him on campus last week for a visit and the Rebels could’ve used him at first base. Mike Bianco needs to land a couple more arms and a bat or two in the transfer portal as there is some roster reshaping to be done if he wants to meet the lofty expectations set before him in 2022.
I hope you cashed in on SkyBox’s U.S. Open card up. They’ve got more promos are on the way. Go check these guys out. They have a picks package for your preferred sport that will fit your price range. Use the promo code “Rippee” for 20 percent off any purchase. You’re wasting free money if you don’t.
Baseball’s war on sticky stuff is stupid
Major League Baseball is always tackling the biggest issues the sport faces, like whether or not a pitcher is using a substance to get a better grip on the baseball. The league does not waste time on trivial matters like declining interest in the sport among the younger generation, not being able to watch your team on the MLB.TV app if happen to live too close to where said team resides, or the fact that the games take entirely too long. That stuff doesn’t matter, but a pitcher using sunscreen does.
In an effort to combat this, they’re now having umpires conduct checks on pitchers like TSA agents prepping for a body cavity examination at an airport. It’s produced some hilarious videos to say the least as pitchers are not fans of this new initiative.
I just wonder this: does the casual fan give one iota of a damn whether or not a pitcher is gaining an advantage with any sort of substance? Do the diehards? It’s incredibly ironic that a sport that has an entire era marred by men injecting themselves with needles is concerned with pitchers trying to get a leg up on hitters with some sort of sticky substance you wouldn’t otherwise know is there. You may not be able to watch your favorite team tonight, depending on where they play, but rest assured no one will be using sunblock to grip the ball. Our long national nightmare is finally ending.
Content for your perusal:
Neal McCready has some recruiting notes up on RebelGrove, as well as his weekly mailbag piece.
If you missed his 10 weekend thoughts, you can find it here too.
On the Horizon:
Mailbag Friday podcast. Send your questions now.
Friday newsletter with golf, baseball, hoops or whatever else surfaces
That’s all from me today. Thanks for being a loyal subscriber. Send to your friends and tell them to join in on the fun. Have a wonderful Thursday.