GW Bowl picks — Candace the champ!

Beyond Golf — 13 January 2020 by Jim Street

Kudos to Candace!
Thanks to a season-ending eight-game winning streak, capped by the LSU Tigers’ National Championship victory over the Clemson Tigers, Candace Oehler won her first Golferswest.com staff College Football Bowl prediction contest.

And set a record for good measure.

After a pedestrian 4-3 start, the golf-crazed lady from the GW offices in the Phoenix area, also had two five-game winning streaks on the way to an impressive 31-10 record — topping the once-thought-to-be unbeatable 30-12 mark compiled by Kirby Arnold in 2016-17.

The popular prognostication contest came down to the National Championship game in New Orleans. Candace correctly predicted the LSU victory while runner-up Jim Street, one game behind after the first 40 Bowl Games, played the underdog card, choosing the Tigers from Clemson, correctly anticipating Candace would select LSU. Better to tie for first than finish second, right?

A Clemson win would have resulted in the second straight two-way tie for the title and co-bragging rights for the co-champs. Nice try.

Asked about her record-setting win, the newly-crowned champion said, “In the words of the late, great Tom Petty … “Oh my my, Oh hell yes; Honey put on that party dress!”

For the record, the two-time solo champ Street finished with a 29-12 record, followed by Kirby’s 27-14 mark and last but not least, CEO, co-founder and Bowling Green graduate Bob Sherwin posted a 24-17 record.

As for Candace, she can enjoy her life-changing victory for one year, but it must be pointed out that there never has been a back-to-back champ.

Bob (24-17) Jim (29-12) Kirby (27-14) Candace (31-10)

Bahamas
(Buff/Char) Buff Buff Charlotte Buff

Frisco
Utah St./Kent St. UtahSt UtahSt UtahSt UtahSt

New Mexico

CMU/SDSt SDSt SDSt C.Mich SDSt

Celebration
AlcornSt/NCA&T AlcornSt NCA&T NCA&T NCA&T

Cure
Liberty/Ga.Southern Liberty GaSouth GaSouth GASouth

Boca Raton
SMU/Fla. Atl. SMU SMU SMU SMU

Camellia
FIU/Ark. St. FIU Ark.St FIU FIU

Las Vegas
Wash./Boise St. Wash BoiseSt Wash Wash

New Orleans
App. St./UAB AppSt AppSt AppSt. AppSt

Gasparilla
UCF/Marshall UCF UCF UCF UCF

Hawaii
Hawaii/BYU BYU BYU BYU Hawaii

Independence
LaTech/Miami LaTech Miami Miami Miami

Quick Lane
Pitt/East. Mich. Pitt Pitt Pitt Pitt

Military
N. Caro/Temple NC NC NC NC

Pinstripe
Mich. St./W Forest MSU MSU MSU MSU

Texas
Okla. St./Tex. A&M OKSt TexA&M TexA&M TexA&M

Holiday
USC/Iowa USC USC Iowa Iowa

Cheez-It
Air Force/WSU WSU Air Force WSU WSU

Camp. World
N. Dame/ISU ND ND ND ND

Cotton
Penn St./Memphis PennSt PennSt PennSt PennSt

Fiesta Playoff
OhioSt-Clemson OSU Clem Clem Clem

Peach Playoff
LSU/Okla. LSU LSU LSU LSU

First Responder
WKU/WMich WMich WMich WKU WKU

Music City
Miss. St./Louisville Louis MissSt Louis MissSt

Redbox
Cal/Illinois Illinois Cal Cal Cal

Orange
Florida/Virginia Florida Florida Florida Florida

Belk/Dec. 31
Virginia Tech/Kent. VaTech Kent. VaTech Kent.

Liberty
Navy/Kans. St. Navy Navy KSU KSU

Sun Bowl
Fla St./ASU ASU ASU ASU ASU

Arizona
Wyo./Ga. St. GaSt Wyo Wyo Wyo

Alamo
Utah/Texas Utah Utah Texas Utah

Citrus
Mich./Ala Alab Alab Alab Alab

Outback
Minn./Auburn Aub Aub Aub Aub

Rose Bowl
Ore./Wisc . Ore Ore Wisc. Ore

Sugar
Georgia/Baylor GA GA GA GA

Gator
Ind./Tenn. Ind Tenn Tenn Tenn

Birmingham

Boston Coll/Cincy Cincy Cincy Cincy Cincy

Famous Idaho Potato
Ohio/Nev. Nev Ohio Ohio Ohio

Armed Forces
Sou. Miss/Tulane Tul Tul Tul Tul

Lending Tree
LA./Miami (Ohio) LA LA LA LA

Nat. Champ./Jan. 13 LSU Clem Clem LSU
Clem/LSU

Past GW Champions:

2019-20: Candace Oehler (31-10)

2018-19: (Tie) Bob Sherwin and Kirby Arnold (25-14)

2017-18: Jim Street (27-15)

2016-17: Kirby Arnold (30-12)

2015-16: Bob Sherwin (27-15)

2014-15: Jim Street (23-16)

About Author

Jim Street

Jim’s 40-year sportswriting career started with the San Jose Mercury-News in 1970 and ended on a full-time basis on October 31, 2010 following a 10-year stint with MLB.com. He grew up in Dorris, Calif., several long drives from the nearest golf course. His first tee shot was a week before being inducted into the Army in 1968. Upon his return from Vietnam, where he was a war correspondent for the 9th Infantry Division, Jim took up golf semi-seriously while working for the Mercury-News and covered numerous tournaments, including the U.S. Open in 1982, when Tom Watson made the shot of his life on the 17th hole at Pebble Beach. Jim also covered several Bing Crosby Pro-Am tournaments, the women’s U.S. Open, and other golfing events in the San Francisco area. He has a 17-handicap, made his first and only hole-in-one on March 12, 2018 at Sand Point Country Club in Seattle and witnessed the first round Ken Griffey Jr. ever played – at Arizona State during Spring Training in 1990. Pebble Beach Golf Links, the Kapalua Plantation Course, Pinehurst No. 2, Spyglass Hill, Winged Foot, Torrey Pines, Medinah, Chambers Bay, North Berwick, Gleneagles and Castle Stuart in Scotland, and numerous gems in Hawaii are among the courses he has had the pleasure of playing. Hitting the ball down the middle of the fairway is not a strong part of Jim’s game, but he is known (in his own mind) as the best putter not on tour. Most of Jim’s writing career was spent covering Major League Baseball, a tenure that started with the Oakland Athletics, who won 101 games in 1971, and ended with the Seattle Mariners, who lost 101 games in 2010. Symmetry is a wonderful thing. He currently lives in Seattle and has an 8-year-old grandson, Andrew, who is the club's current junior champion at his home course (Oakmont CC) in Glendale, Calif.