Quick 9: Atypical Trophies V
Fall 2024
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?
*NOTE: underlined text provides a link to references or sites with more information
1. BIG XII MATCH PLAY [Oct 7-9, 2024]
The Big XII Match Play tournament was created in 2019 and gives the conference teams additional meaningful reps using the match play format that helps determine the NCAA championship in May/June. Teams are split into four “pools” and each of the three teams in each pool will play each other over the course of the first two days to determine the pool winner. From there,the pool winners are put into a bracket where the final two sessions will determine the ultimate winner.
This year’s tournament was won by BYU, who became the first non-Texas team to win the event in the six playings since 2019. The Cougars were the only team to go undefeated, coming out of Pool C then knocking off Pool B winner Kansas in the semifinals. In the finals they met a tough Baylor team which had won Pool D then knocked off Pool A winner (and conference newcomer) Arizona State. BYU’s Tyson Shelley was undefeated in all of his matches, which played a big part in the Cougars’ ultimate success.
2. GOLF CLUB OF GEORGIA COLLEGIATE [Oct 18-20, 2024]
Per the official club website:
In 2005, The Golf Club of Georgia and Georgia Tech developed the idea of hosting one of the nation’s premier collegiate golf events with the goal of gathering the nation’s top golf programs at one of the finest golf facilities in the Southeast. The idea resulted in The United States Collegiate Championship, later renamed The Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational, and the event has been a rousing success throughout the years.
This year’s tournament was another exciting chapter in the long history of the event. Duke put together a final round 271/-17 to vault up the leaderboard and capture the crystal. Ethan Evans’s final round 71/-1 was good enough to take over the top individual spot and capture medalist honors by a single stroke over a pair of Virginia Cavaliers (Josh Duangmanee and Bryan Lee) and Charlotte’s Caden Baker. It was Evans’s first collegiate victory.
The hardware going back to Durham was nice, but there is an additional crystal trophy that resides permanently in the GC of Georgia clubhouse where is proudly sits on display for all to see. The pedestal is sits on is decorated with plaques indicating the winners over the years and is a really cool way to preserve and showcase the great history of the event.
3. WHITE SANDS INVITATIONAL [Oct 18-20, 2024]
Even among “destination tournaments” the White Sands event in the Bahamas is special. The women’s event was first and got off to a bit of an auspicious start with rain washing out the first round. Kansas was 11 strokes back after the second first round, but stormed up the leaderboard with a final round 285/-3 for a two stroke victory. Amy DeKock and Lily Hirst led the charge back with under-par performances, with Hirst’s two birdies in her final three holes proving to be the difference. On the individual side, Natasha Kiel [Purdue] and Chantal El Chaib [Georgia] shared medalist honors as the only two players under par. It was Kiel’s second victory of the Fall and perhaps fitting that she now has a vessel to hold her hammer trophy.
4. WHITE SANDS COLLEGIATE [Oct 25-27, 2024]
The men’s event was equally thrilling (minus the bad weather). Teams got off to a blistering start with Houston (-28) leading the College of Charleston (-27) by a single stroke thru 36 holes. Charleston stepped on the gas in the final round, posting an incredible 265/-23 to take the trophy. They were led by Kieron Van Wyk who closed with a 65 to break 200 (195/-21). As medalist, Van Wyk earned a spot in the 2025 Puerto Rico Open next March.
The College of Charleston wasn’t the only team out having a good time. Ball State set multiple program records - 36 and 54-hole team score to par - on their way to a 838/-26 third place finish.
5. NANEA INVITATIONAL [Oct 28-30, 2024]
The Nanea Invitational was previously a Pac 12 preview tournament - and in fact still has that displayed on the iconic trophy - but due to conference realignment now features teams representing several conferences. This Hawaiian tournament is a fun destination event that was played in the Spring last season, but this year was a nice way to end the Fall season. Stanford, not caring about either the time of year or conference they’re in, did Stanford things, running away with both the team and individual trophies to wrap up a perfect Fall season. Their first round 279/-13 set a program record for lowest 18-hole score on a par 73 course, and from there they never looked back. Megha Ganne birdied two of her final 6 holes including the clencher on 18 for the second win of her career. The team win was the sixth straight stroke play tournament victory which is the longest in the program history, and one they look to extend in the Spring.
6. THE JUDSON [Oct 28-29, 2024]
Southern Miss’s home tournament, The Judson, is one of those events that has special added meaning to the home team. Named after Jim and Beth Judson, the tournament honors the memory of former player Lauren Judson’s parents who were tragically killed in a private plan crash in 2010. The home team showed out, overcoming a six stroke deficit in the final round to win by two strokes. Tarleton State finished runner-up behind a strong medalist performance by Mathilda Brogens. The win is extra special for the Texans senior who came one stroke short of matching her personal best score.
7. BRANCH LAW FIRM/DICK McGUIRE INVITATIONAL [Sep 9-10, 2024]
Another event honoring the memory of someone special is the 46th Annual Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational. Incredibly, this marks the 69th year that New Mexico has hosted a women’s golf event, dating back to 1956 when it was played in conjunction with the William H Tucker Invitational hosted by the UNM men’s team.
Long Beach State entered the final round 7 strokes back, but a final round 280/-8 performance earned them a 6 stroke victory. In fact, they were the only team to better par on the final day and ended the tournament as the only team under par after 54 holes. Lauren Gomez [Pepperdine] had bookend 67s to earn medalist honors by three strokes over LBSU’s Jasmine Leovao. The win was the third of her career and first in this final season with the Waves.
8. DOC GIMMLER [Sep 16-17, 2024]
St John’s (NY) hosts a special tournament at a special course that has been named for two special people. Up until 2013, their annual tournament was called the McLaughlin, named after former St John’s AD Walter T McLaughlin. Since then the tournament has been called the Doc Gimmler to honor former Red Storm student-athlete and golf coach Jack "Doc" Gimmler who helped lead the baseball team to the school's first College World Series in 1949 and later coached the golf team from 1979-1990.
While the tournament is typically played at the historic Bethpage State Park Red Course, this year marked the first time in 28 years they played at the infamous Black Course too. The scores reflected the difficulty of playing that final day on the Black Course. The best score of the day belonged to the host team who jumped up the leaderboard, however it was Long Island University that took home the special hardware by 5 strokes. St John’s Peicheng Chen - the defending Big East individual champ - opened with a 65/-5 on the Red Course to take the lead and kept it all the way through a closing 72/+1 on the Black Course. Chen became the second Johnnie player to win the home tournament in the last 20 years.
9. KA’ANAPALI CLASSIC [Nov 2-4, 2024]
The 10th annual Ka’anapali Classic hosted by Hawaii saw some unusual scoring. It started with Oklahoma shooting a first round 264/-20 (par 71). The Sooners didn’t just bring their 5 starters, however, they also had two individuals which added some extra fun. In that first round, all seven Sooners birdied the hole #1 (par 5) and they achieved the same -7 score on hole #9 (par 5) with five birdies and an eagle. It somehow gets better. In round 3, they had five birdies and two eagles on the par5 6th hole to go -9 as a team of seven! An Oklahoma player had the low score in all three rounds, which were all at or below 64. Based on that information alone, it’s not surprising that the Sooners walked away with the team hardware.
It’s not unusual for the winning team to have the medalist and even sometimes the runner-up as well, but rarely will you ever see a winning team have players finish 1st and 2nd that weren’t even counting scores! Jaxon Dowell opened with a tournament-best 63/-8 and went on to shoot 196/-17 which was good enough for a one-stroke victory over teammate Clark Van Gaalen who closed with a final round 64. These were the two individuals Oklahoma brought. In total there were six players at or below 200/-13 for the tournament, including three Oklahoma players: Dowell, Gaalen, and Jase Summy. Not a bad trip!
More trophies:
We will definitely be doing more posts on college golf trophies! Let me know what suggestions you have on trophies to highlight.