Fall Season Coming Soon!

Hello Stanford Golf Fans,

My blog is in some dire need of some TLC so here I am to share a few tid bits from the coaches desk as we approach the fall season and reflect on the past year as well.

We have just finished up the Stanford Golf Camp and are all taking a deep breath after a busy summer of good shots, bad shots, and a ton of fun. The Stanford Golf Camps were nearly filled to capacity this summer with over 350 campers in attendance. Needless to say a ton of work, organization, and effort but the neat thing about the camps is that it really is a great introduction to this University that means so much to me as well as a great introduction to the Stanford Golf Programs. In fact there have been many current and past players on the teams that were once campers back in the day. So ... one never knows what will happen!

A lot of our time this summer has been spent on the recruiting trail too. Believe it or not we have completed our recruiting efforts already for the rising seniors, "The '13's" in recruiting lingo that is ... and are already working on the rising junior class "The 14's". It is amazing the level of golf that is being played right now at the highest levels of junior golf ... the trick for us is to find the kids that have the academic horsepower as well! Many of the top prospects are making very early decisions on their school choice so it is imperative that we are on the ball. The good news is that the high achievers in both areas are out there somewhere and we feel really good about the direction we are heading with our newly recruited players.

Finally, I wanted to take a minute to wish my good friend and peer on the women's side, Caroline O'Connnor, all the best in her new endeavors. Caroline is moving on after 17 years on The Farm and her dedication to Stanford Women's Golf and all she has done for Stanford over the years is truly commendable. Our new coach, Anne Walker, now has the reigns of the program and I believe Anne will do an excellent job as well. Anne has been making birdies everywhere she as been, as a player on the Cal team, an assistant coach at Cal, and most recently as the 3-time Conference Coach of the Year in The Big West Conference at UC Davis. Welcome Anne!

Next up is fall arrival for the team and we will quickly be on the road for our much anticipated foreign tour of Scotland with the team and small group of supporters. We have eight courses in seven days on tap and as much history and culture as we can absorb! It should be an epic experience and I know the guys can't wait. We will be sure to be posting pictures to our Facebook page.

Thanks to all of you for your continued support of our team and I am excited with where our path could lead this year with the group we have returning. We still have to play out of the short grass and drain the putts but I am confident the guys are up for the challenge!

Go Cardinal.

Coach Ray