Quick 9: Atypical Trophies VI
Spring 2025
One of the best things about college golf is the sheer number of tournaments hosted around the country each season. Each one has its own unique style and array of atypical trophies and awards. Some will make excellent additions to trophy cases while others will adorn practice facility walls. All of them tell a story.
Won’t you join me for a picturesque quick 9?
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*NOTE: underlined text provides a link to references or sites with more information
1. COLLEGIATE INVITATIONAL AT GUADALAJARA CC [Jan 31 - Feb 1, 2025]
It might sound strange for Virginia to be hosting an event at Guadalajara CC in Mexico, but as Coach Ria Scott said in her closing remarks this year it is really the wonderful folks at GCC that do the hosting. Thanks to extensive coverage from Babygrande Golf on their Instagram account, we got some great info from this year’s tournament as Florida State’s Mirabel Ting gets her third win in her third collegiate tournament of the season. Teammate Lottie Woad finished runner-up by 6 strokes as the Noles took the team title for the second year in a row.
2. MOON GOLF INVITATIONAL [Feb 16-18, 2025]
Florida State led all three rounds at the Moon Golf Invitational and earned their third team title in a row. Mirabel Ting wasn’t the top Seminole on the leaderboard this time, it was Lottie Woad finishing with co-medalist honors. The other co-medalist, South Carolina freshman Eila Galitsky, further impressed everyone when she took down Woad - the #1 ranked WAGR player - in a playoff to claim the individual victory.
I wrote a Quick 9 Preview on the cool history behind this event for (Clippd) Scoreboard, which you can read HERE. Scoreboard Head of Communications (and fellow Substacker) Dan Davies has a great follow-up with more info on Galitsky in this Week In Review.
3. CHEVRON COLLEGIATE [Feb 24-25, 2025]
Speaking of moon golf, how about this for an atypical trophy? TCU left a little space between them and the rest of the field with their new program record (low 54-hole to par) -15/830 finish at the Chevron Collegiate. Texas A&M freshman Vanessa Borovilos played bogey-free golf in her last 20 holes of the Moon Golf Invitational, then added 54 more at the Golf Club of Houston. This space odyssey rarely traveled (we’re checking on the record possibility) earned Borovilos her first victory early in her collegiate journey.
4. ADVANCE GOLF PARTNERS COLLEGIATE [Feb 9-11, 2025]
Virginia Tech caught several records on their way towards winning their third team title in program “HERstory” at the UNCG Advance Golf Partners Collegiate. Those records on the line include:
54-hole score-to-par record (-22/842)
Largest winning margin (36 strokes)
18-hole score-to-par record (-13/275)
Three Hokies finished in the top 5, led by sophomore Valentine Delon who earned the 6th medalist honors in program history along with some fishy hardware!
5. AMER ARI [Feb 6-8, 2025]
Fishing immediately brings to mind such destination places as Hawaii, which is where the Amer Ari Invitational is played annually since 1991. There were plenty of records set on the Big Island as Oklahoma State won with a score of -64/800, breaking their program scoring record set here exactly 20 years ago at the 2005 edition. Hampton Roberts [UNC] set a program, tournament, and even course record with his second round 61, and finished the final round tied with Tommy Morrison [Texas] for co-medalist honors. Morrison birdied the first playoff hole to earn the individual trophy.
You might have seen the various posts Mikkel and I have been collaborating on regarding the data we’ve collected for this event and data dashboard we made. It’s worth linking here in case you haven’t seen them and/or are interested.
6. JOHN BURNS INTERCOLLEGIATE [Feb 13-15, 2024]
Another long running tournament played at (and hosted by) Hawaii (Manoa) is the John Burns Intercollegiate. Named after the late (1975) governor of Hawaii, “The Burns” is has one of the more...abstract trophies in college golf. This year, two teams shared both team and individual honors, getting to both lay claim to this atypical trophy. Utah and UNLV finished the tournament at -22/818. The Utes were led by Gabriel Palacios who tied with the Rebels’ Zach Little at -11/199. Little had an extra fun tournament, setting the course record with a bogey free 63/-7 in the second round.
An extra special award given during the practice round is the Bob Takano Coaches Challenge trophy. Check out Hawaii Coach Scott Simpson’s Instagram post explaining the significance and challenge below.
7. DARIUS RUCKER INTERCOLLEGIATE [March 3-5, 2025]
Another tournament named after a prominent figure who has done much for college golf is the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. Not even the rain could dampen the spirits around Long Cove and by the end of the 2025 edition of the DRI - the 13th playing of this tournament - both LSU and South Carolina were singing the same song at 863/+11. LSU won their second guitar in the past three years after a drop-score tiebreaker was used. On the individual side, both Louise Rydqvist [South Carolina] and Kendall Todd [Arkansas] got to add glass guitar trophies to their personal collection as there was no playoff for (co-)medalist honors.
This is another tournament I wrote a Quick 9 Preview for Scoreboard, would love for you to check it out!
ARTICLE LINK | DATA DASHBOARD LINK | SCOREBOARD WEEK IN REVIEW
8. KONA ICE KEISER KUP [March 9-11, 2025]
We’re double-dipping a bit on this one, but when it’s this good it’s hard not to indulge in seconds. The Keiser (NAIA) men and women each took home multiple kups at their home tournament sponsored by Kona Ice. The men’s “A” team captured the team title but it was Nateeshvar Anatha Ganesh, playing on the “B” squad, who earned the individual honors. The women’s team also earned their kup behind the medalist performance of Sophia Sindersberger. You know these teams are feeling good about their golf and what they ate that day!
9. BANDON DUNES CHAMPIONSHIP [March 9-11, 2025]
The Bandon Dunes Championship is back after being washed out last year. Two years ago, Owen Avrit and his Oregon teammates took home the trophies which prominently featured the Bandon Dunes course logo. Oregon secured its first team win since that 2023 victory by taking this year’s Bandon Dunes Championship (their third team title in a row at this tournament!), and get to add another animal trophy to the case back home - this year’s tournament was played on the Bandon Trails course. Three Ducks finished inside the top 10, but all fell short of the -11/202 mark set by Utah Valley’s Dane Huddleston. This was Huddleston’s fourth individual medalist finish this season (Utah Shootout, Kapolei Invitational, Mesquite Desert Classic). Since starting in 2010, this tournament has been played on 5 of the 7 courses on the Bandon Dunes property, as they continue to play the different ones each year I hope they stick with this unique tradition of styling the trophies after the course logos.
We will definitely be doing more posts on college golf trophies! Let me know what suggestions you have on trophies to highlight.