Category: College

Meet Jackson Koivun, the freshman rewriting the record books at Auburn

The Auburn men’s golf team has never had a golfer like Koivun.

The Auburn men’s golf team has never had a golfer like Jackson Koivun.

Although he’s only a freshman and hasn’t even completed his inaugural season in college, Koivun is making his mark as one of the best Tigers in program history. He had one of the best regular seasons in team history, and he’s prepared to lead the top-ranked Tigers into the SEC Championship and NCAA postseason.

All he has to do is continue to play like he has in his first 10 events.

Look no further than the Auburn record books, which is going to need plenty of updating after this season.

Just in Auburn’s 10 regular-season events, Koivun has set the freshman records for top-10 finishes (9), rounds in the 60s (13) and sub-par rounds (21).

But forget just freshman records. Koivun is on pace to break the single-season scoring average mark (he’s at 69.47; the old mark is Brendan Valdes at 70.03 last year); Koivun has twice tied the 54-hole tournament scoring mark of 17 under and if he continues at his current pace, he could set the mark for single-season sub-par rounds (24), rounds in the 60s (16) and top-10 finishes (9).

College golf: 2024 NCAA men’s conference championship dates and results

“He came out of high school as the best junior in the country, and he’s just very mature,” Auburn coach Nick Clinard said. “He’s got a calmness and maturity about him on and off the golf course.”

A lot of those attributes Clinard credits to Koivun are things he has worked on since arriving on campus.

Last summer, Koivun struggled during the Elite Amateur Series. His best showing was at the Western Amateur, where he had three rounds in the 60s but still missed the match-play cut.

Heading into the U.S. Amateur, he didn’t have many expectations, but whatever he did had, he blew them out of the water.

“You know, you get up there and you see all of these names,” Koivun said. “All these people that have done all these things. But I started making a run, and it opened my eyes that I belong here and I can do great things as an amateur.”

2023 U.S. Amateur
Jackson Koivun shakes hands with Blades Brown’s caddie Jack Bethmann after Koivun during the round of 32 of the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills. (Photo: Chris Keane/USGA)

Koivun earned the No. 32 seed for match play and won 1 up in the Round of 64. Then he took down top-seeded Blades Brown 4 and 3 in the Round of 32. Up next, he dispatched Matthew Sutherland in 19 holes to move on to the quarterfinals. Then, he took on Nick Dunlap and gave the eventual champion his hardest match of the week, losing in 19 holes.

But Koivun’s mentality changed. He grew tougher and learned a lot about himself. He was ready to compete on the biggest stage and could battle with the best in the amateur game.

And that’s exactly what he has done this season.

In his first collegiate start, he finished T-2 at the Mirabel Maui Jim in Arizona. He added two more top-10 finishes and a T-19 to close out the fall.

The spring has been even better. He has lost to only 10 golfers in six starts, picked up his first victory at the Wake Forest Invitational at Pinehurst No. 2 and his worst finish is T-4. He’s squarely in contention for the Phil Mickelson Award, given to the nation’s top freshman, and the Fred Haskins Award, given to the nation’s top player.

“It’s great to play good golf in the fall and the spring,” Koivun said, “but nationals is where it’s all at. It’s make or break. That’s where my attention has been at.”

Clinard said Koivun’s practice has improved since he got to Auburn, meaning he’s more focused during practice and not just pounding golf balls on the range like a lot of juniors do. Having one of the best teams int he country helps, too, with many of his teammates also pushing Koivun.

Qualifying rounds can be pretty competitive, leading to some animated competition between teammates, but all of that has pushed Koivun to be one of the best golfers in the country this year. As a squad, Auburn has lost to only four teams all season.

If the rankings are any indication, SECs should come down to No. 1 Auburn and No. 2 Vanderbilt for the title. Perhaps Koivun will match up with Vanderbilt superstar and World No. 1 Gordon Sargent come match play.

It’s something he would welcome because he knows it would be a growing experience, win or lose.

Auburn’s Jackson Koivun. (Photo: Lucas Peltier)

Koivun’s father, George, taught him the game. Koivun guesses the first time he beat his dad was when he was 7, but he attributes where he is now to his parents for their teaching and guidance. Clinard said that guidance is a big foundation for Koivun, and he has only grown as he has come into his own.

“He’s like a sponge,” Clinard said of Koivun. “He wants to learn. He wants to get better. He wants to know what it’s going to be like on Tour and what it’s going to be like when pins are tucked and greens are firmer and faster. And what he has to do to win, not just play well.”

Those lessons instilled in Koivun since his junior days have grown as he has gotten comfortable in college, and he has become one of the best amateurs in the game.

Koivun has put together one of the best seasons in Auburn history, but as he acknowledges, it’s what he does in the postseason that matters the most.

Gordon Sargent will defer his PGA Tour card, return to Vanderbilt for senior season

Big news in the college golf realm.

Professional golf is going to have to wait a bit longer to see one of the game’s premier amateur players take his next step.

Gordon Sargent announced Thursday he was returning to Vanderbilt for his senior year. The news may come as a surprise to some, considering Sargent has a PGA Tour card secured thanks to PGA Tour University Accelerated, but he’ll defer his status until next summer, meaning the amateur game gets another year with one of its best players.

“It’s been an honor to represent this university alongside my teammates and coaches, and I look forward to continuing to compete – and further my education – at this amazing place that has given so much to me,” Sargent said in a release. “I would like to thank everyone who has supported me on this journey, and I’m excited for this final chapter at Vanderbilt.”

Sargent, from Birmingham, Alabama, is one of the game’s longest hitters with his astounding speed. He earned the final of 20 points in the PGA Tour U Accelerated program in the fall when he was on the United States team at the World Amateur Team Championship in Abu Dhabi.

As of now, Sargent is the only player who has earned 20 points via PGA Tour U Accelerated since the program was introduced two years ago.

Sargent, No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, won the NCAA individual championship as a freshman and went 4-0 at the Walker Cup last fall at St. Andrews. He also earned low amateur honors at the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

This year, Sargent has one win, coming in his latest start at the Mason Rudolph Championship. The 2023-23 Golfweek Player of the Year has posted four top-five finishes during the 2023-24 season and holds a scoring average of 69.92 through eight collegiate tournaments.

By deferring his PGA Tour card, Sargent will be able to take it following the 2025 NCAA Championship. He will have full status through 2026 once he turns professional.

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New Mexico State’s Emma Bunch has won five straight tournament this spring

She has lost to only 26 players in 10 starts this season.

Emma Bunch has played against 463 golfers this spring. She hasn’t lost to a single one.

Bunch, a sophomore at New Mexico State, has been dominant since the calendar turned to 2024. She has played in five tournaments and won all five, including her latest win Wednesday in the Conference USA Championship, winning by a shot over Sam Houston’s Jennifer Herbst at High Meadow Ranch Golf Club in Magnolia, Texas. 

No other Division I women’s college golfer has more than four victories this year. Bunch is in a world of her own.

She started the spring with a win at the GCU Invitational, shooting 14 under. The next week, it was her second straight victory at the Momentum Transportation UNF Collegiate. No. 3 came at the Ping/ASU Invitational. Then the fourth straight was at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic before her conference crown marked the fifth straight win.

Bunch’s spring wasn’t anything to blink at, either. She finished runner-up in each of her first two starts. Her worst finish was 15th at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic. She added another pair of top 10s before the winter break.

To sum it up, Bunch’s record this year is five wins, two runner-up finishes, eight top 5s and nine top 10s. She has lost to only 26 players in 10 starts.

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Photos: La Costa to open Gil Hanse-renovated North Course in June after NCAA Championships

Check out the photos of the renovated host site for the 2024 men’s and women’s NCAA Championships.

Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California, has announced June 1 as the full reopening date of its Championship Course, which has been rebranded the North Course after an extensive renovation by the architectural team of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner.

The opening to resort guests and members follows the NCAA Division I Women’s (May 17-22) and Men’s (May 24-29) Championships on the North Course. The layout is also slated to host those college championships in 2025 and 2026.

Hanse and Wagner implemented significant changes to the North layout. Among the renovations: A new drivable par-4 11th was built, the green of the par-3 16th was repositioned in a fashion reminiscent of Augusta National Golf Club’s No. 12, and the par-5 18th was stretched to more than 600 yards with water on both sides of the fairway.

La Costa in California
Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California (Courtesy of Omni La Costa Resort and Spa)

The revised layout will feature six sets of tees that play from 4,500 to 7,500 yards. Other changes include transitioning irrigation lines that will continue to use reclaimed water, the removal of several man-made ponds and the reintroduction of natural barrancas that feature drought-tolerant and native species of plants.

“The North Course is now positioned to return to its stature as one of the top venues for championship golf in Southern California,” Hanse said in a media release announcing the opening date and completion of work. “We were able to combine a respect for the natural contours, landforms and vegetation with an emphasis on strategic design. This combination of beauty and interest should prove enjoyable for everyday play by members and resort guests, while asking compelling questions to be answered by the best players in the world during championship events.”

Originally designed by Dick Wilson and opened in 1965, the North layout had been renovated previously several times. It was part of a resort with a tournament pedigree that includes hosting the PGA Tour’s Mercedes Championship from 1969 to 1998, the inaugural WGC-Accenture Match Play in 1999 and the LPGA’s Kia Classic in 2010 and 2012.

The resort also announced its Legends Course has been rebranded to South Course. Both the North and South were the courses’ original names before being changed to Champions and Legends.

La Costa in California
A renovated guest room at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California (Courtesy of Omni La Costa Resort and Spa)

The resort also will feature a reimagined practice facility designed by Beau Welling that will include Toptracer technology. It’s all part of an extensive multi-year renovation to the entire resort that stretches from guest rooms and villas to the spa, lobby bar and meeting spaces.

“Working with the ‘best of the best’ course architects like Gil Hanse and his design team is a prime example of our continued commitment and investment to be in the highest echelons of U.S. golf destinations,” the resort’s managing director, Craig Martin, said in the media release. “This transformation signals a full return to championship glory at Omni La Costa and joins the now-completed renovation of the property as a whole resulting in an elevated experience for our members and resort guests to enjoy for decades to come.”

Check out the photos of the course and resort, many of them shot by Patrick Koenig, who recently broke the record for most courses played in a year.

Auburn men win Mossy Oak Collegiate while sweeping top 5 individual spots

There’s a reason Auburn is the top-ranked team in men’s college golf.

There’s a reason Auburn is the top-ranked team in men’s college golf.

The Tigers won the Mossy Oak Collegiate on Tuesday by 34 shots, shooting 46 under to win at Mossy Oak Golf Course in West Point, Mississippi. It’s Auburn’s fourth consecutive win and the seventh of the season, but perhaps more impressive is how the Tigers finished on the individual leaderboard.

The five players in Auburn’s lineup finished T-1, T-1, 3, 4 and 5. That’s right. The Tigers swept the top-five spots in the individual competition. And their individual placed T-7.

J.M. Butler and Brendan Valdes shared medalist honors, shooting 12-under 204. Freshman Jackson Koivun was two shots back at 10 under, his ninth top-10 finish of the season. Carson Bacha was fourth at 9 under and Josiah Gilbert placed fifth at 7 under.

Reed Lotter was the individual and shot 5 under.

“Not to my knowledge has that been done,” said Auburn coach Nick Clinard. “Twenty-three years of coaching, and it’s the first time it has happened to me. It’s kind of crazy. But obviously proud of the team and how they played.”

Resident college golf historian College Golf Book on social media hasn’t been able to find another instance of this happening on the men’s side, let alone four of a team’s individuals placing in the top five.

However, he did find a women’s team that accomplished the feat in the fall of 2015, albeit in a smaller field.

Ole Miss placed second in the team competition while Cincinnati finished third.

For Auburn, it’s another signature victory as the team heads toward the SEC Championship next week.

“These guys push each other,” Clinard said. “Iron sharpens iron. It’s something that they challenge each other and learn from each other, too.”

Mossy Oak Golf Course is ranked 43rd on the Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play: Top 100 U.S. public-access courses. It’s also ranked No. 2 on Mississippi’s top public-access courses in the Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play: State-by-state rankings for public-access layouts.

Florida State’s Luke Clanton becomes first Seminole to win three straight events

Not a bad time to be in Tallahassee.

No one in college golf has been better this spring than Luke Clanton.

The sophomore captured his third straight tournament victory Tuesday, winning the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial at Birdwood Golf Course in Charlottesville, Virginia. Clanton shot 15-under 198, beating Tennessee’s Bryce Lewis by five shots to win.

Clanton is the first Seminole in school history to win three straight events. Over his last nine rounds played, Clanton has seven rounds in the 60s.

In addition to his three victories this spring, Clanton tied for eighth at the Amer Ari in Hawaii and finished T-7 at the Watersound Invitational. After a slower start to the year, Clanton now has put himself squarely in the conversation for the Haskins Award, given to the best player in men’s college golf.

It has been a banner week for the Seminoles.

On Saturday, sophomore Lottie Woad birdied three of her final four holes to claim the fifth Augusta National Women’s Amateur title. She threw out the first pitch Tuesday night at the Florida State home baseball game.

Earlier in the day, Clanton claimed win No. 3 on the year.

Not a bad time to be in Tallahassee.

Augusta National Women’s Amateur champ Lottie Woad chooses LPGA major over ACCs

Woad, ranked No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, hasn’t finished outside the top 8 in college golf this season.

Lottie Woad faced a tough decision in the aftermath of her Augusta National Women’s Amateur. The victory comes with special invitations to four major championships, including next week’s Chevron Championship, which overlaps the ACC Championship.

Woad, a 20-year-old sophomore at Florida State, has opted to make her major championship debut at the Chevron April 18-21 at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas, in what will be her first LPGA start.

“I wasn’t really going to turn down a major,” said Woad, who had full support form her Seminole coaches.

The Englishwoman delivered a finish for the ages on Saturday in the final round at Augusta National, making birdie on three of the last four holes to beat USC’s Bailey Shoemaker by one stroke.

“If I’d been told before this week that I’d be two back with four to play, I would have been like, yeah, perfect, that sounds great,” said Woad. “To be in the mix on the back nine at Augusta is something that everyone dreams about.”

Woad, ranked No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, hasn’t finished outside the top 8 in college golf this season, with co-medalist honors at the Annika Intercollegiate.

With her parents and English national coach/caddie back home in England, Woad will be on her own in Texas, though former FSU player Frida Kinhult did have an extra room in her Airbnb. Woad is in the process of trying to find a local caddie for next week.

On Sunday at Augusta, Woad met Nancy Lopez and Tom Watson as she handed out awards at the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals. She also met 2016 Masters champ Danny Willett for the first time in the clubhouse.

It’s back to class for Woad this week in Tallahassee. On Tuesday night, she’ll throw out the first pitch in the sold-out FSU vs. Florida game on ESPN2. While Woad hasn’t played baseball, she did play cricket back home in England.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda headlines the field at Chevron after winning her fourth consecutive start on Sunday at the T-Mobile Match Play. Korda is the first American to win four consecutive starts on the LPGA since Nancy Lopez won five consecutive starts in 1978.

Woad received a warm welcome-home reception when she returned to Tallahassee. Kinhult made cupcakes. Check out the photos from the surprise gathering:

 

A pair of 61s in college golf, including a 23-shot turnaround in one day (before a WD, too)

An 84. A 61. And a WD? By the same player?

Dartmouth’s Tyler Brand has a story he’s going to be able to tell forever.

Playing at the Princeton Invitational at Springdale Golf Club in New Jersey, he shot 13-over 84 in the opening round on Saturday morning. However, it was the first of 36 holes that day, so there was a quick turnaround before the afternoon 18.

And how different that afternoon was — 23 shots different.

Brand shot 10-under 61 in the afternoon, an incredible improvement in a single day. A 3-over total after 36 holes was not too shabby after his start. With eight birdies and an eagle, Brand set a course record.

But that wasn’t the end of Brand’s story. He ended up withdrawing from the tournament after being injured Sunday in the final round. He suffered a concussion after walking into a tree branch with his head down and was unable to finish.

Again. What a story.

And Brand wasn’t the only golfer to shoot 61 this week. On Monday, Michigan’s Monet Chun shot 10-under 61 during the second round of the Chattanooga Classic at Council Fire Golf Club in Tennessee. And similar to Brand, Chun had a 13-shot improvement in the second round compared to her opening 3-over 74.

Chun had 11 birdies and a bogey in her 61, which is tied for the second-lowest round by a female golfer in NCAA history. It trails only North Carolina State’s Lauren Olivares Leon, who shot 60 in the fall at the Cougar Classic.

The tee gift at this college golf tournament? Solar eclipse sunglasses

Can you play golf during a solar eclipse?

Brent Nicosen first realized there was something going on when he got a call from a fellow coach struggling to find hotel rooms.

The University of Indianapolis, where Nicosen coaches the men’s and women’s golf teams, always hosts the Ken Partridge Invitational in early April as one of the men’s teams last tune-ups before postseason play begins. Sixteen other teams, as well as an “A” and “B” team from Indianapolis, will compete at Purgatory Golf Club beginning Sunday in a three-day, 54-hole event.

However, during Monday’s round, there’s going to be a lot more than a golf tournament going on.

Purgatory Golf Club is in Noblesville, Indiana, just north of Indianapolis. The course is also in the path of totality for the solar eclipse, which is occurring throughout the United States on Monday afternoon. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially.

Between roughly 3:06-3:10 p.m. ET at Purgatory, the day will turn to night, as 100 percent of the Sun will be covered by the Moon. Even before and after totality, it will seem as if the sun is setting and then rising again in the middle of the afternoon.

The eclipse is predicted to chart along a 115-mile-wide path of totality, shrouding portions of Mexico, the United States and Canada in unnatural darkness and unveiling the sun’s elusive outermost layer for a brief moment, USA TODAY reported.

“I thought it was really odd all the hotels were booked, so we started doing research and then realized what was going on,” Nicosen said. “That’s when we started talking about it and figured this could be a cool thing.”

Nicosen said the plan is for tee times to be a bit later Monday so players will be on the course during the eclipse. Although they may have to stop play for some time, it’s well worth it for the phenomenon.

The Hamilton County Sports Authority donated sunglasses for every player in the field, so golfers will be able to put on the shades to look safely at the eclipse when it begins and throughout the course of the event. Nicosen also reached out to meteorologists in the area to get a better idea of how it would affect the golf tournament and what to expect and to get safety tips for everyone involved.

“It’s just going to be like a rain delay or a fog delay, like any delay we could have,” Nicosen said. “I think we’ll just hold in place. That’s the game plan right now.”

Last month, Nicosen led the men’s team to a victory at an event featuring five freshmen in the lineup. Now, he gets to host a tournament during a solar eclipse.

“Checking two more boxes off the career list,” Nicosen said.

High Point gets a Big South tuneup with Golfweek/Any Given Tuesday title at Caledonia

Late-round energy gave the Panthers a three-shot victory at the Golfweek/Any Given Tuesday Collegiate.

Lyndsey Hunnell has devised a way to stave off late-round fatigue. It’s called the Bonus Bev, and her High Point women only earn the reward by playing the final five holes of a competitive round in even par or better.

“Sometimes you’ll kind of see teams coast off for the last couple holes, getting tired, but these girls really grind their ball the last five and that’s kind of when they moved up the leaderboard a little bit more,” Hunnell said.

Late-round energy gave the Panthers a three-shot victory at the Golfweek/Any Given Tuesday Collegiate. Wednesday’s final round was wiped when heavy downpours made the course unplayable and the tournament reverted to 36-hole scores. High Point had played the first two rounds in 6 over, which left them ahead of runner-up Florida Gulf Coast with Cal Poly in third another five shots back.

Scores: Golfweek/Any Given Tuesday Collegiate

In the second round, High Point played the closing holes in 4 under, which gave them a big boost. (Players nicknamed the game Bonus Bev because often, they’ll use their reward on a drink at Starbucks.)

Hunnell had also prepared her players for the nasty conditions they would likely see in the final round – big gusts and downpours. Bogeys would be part of the game.

“It wasn’t going to be perfect conditions out there and just to kind of roll with what we could and just kind of embrace what we had in front of us because everyone else had to lay in the same conditions,” she told them. Ultimately, of course, those third-round scores were wiped.

Hunnell, who played collegiately for Virginia before using a fifth-year at Xavier, is in her second year coaching at High Point after spending the past three seasons as an assistant coach at Campbell. In her last year at Campbell, that team won a fall event at Caledonia, so even though High Point had not played in this event before, the team benefited from savvy coaching.

“I knew the course pretty well and that it’s a little bit shorter,” she said. “We practiced a lot more wedges last week and really knowing our numbers. . . . I knew it was going to set up well for my team and that’s why we were really excited we were going to get to go.”

So far this season, High Point has won once and finished inside the top 5 another six times. Hunnell brought in three new players this year who made an immediate impact in the lineup. That includes fifth-year Wake Forest transfer Julia McLaughlin and Anna Howerton, a freshman from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who led High Point at Caledonia with a third-place finish individually at 1 under. She finished two shots behind individual medalist Hannah Karg of Coastal Carolina.

Hannah Karg of Coastal Carolina won the individual title at Caledonia. (Golfweek photo)
Hannah Karg of Coastal Carolina won the individual title at Caledonia. (Golfweek photo)

“I think it’s helped the girls to know I’m bringing in fresh blood and you have to earn your spot, you can’t just expect to keep it year to year,” she said. “I think that’s kind of been the vibe and they have all such great team chemistry and they get along so well.”

In fact, the players at home typically set an alarm so they can send off a team good-luck text before the start of a round.

High Point needs a team firing on all cylinders heading into the Big South Conference Championship in two weeks. To get through a bit of a slump recently, Hunnell gathered her team to re-evaluate their progress.

“I showed them their goals they had set at the beginning of the spring and showed them where they were at so I think that kind of sparked a little bit of their drive, and they’ve been working really hard before this tournament,” she said.

Campbell has always been the powerhouse in the Big South, having won the last seven straight league titles (and the Automatic Qualifying spot into NCAA Regionals that goes with that), but Campbell made the move to the CAA before this season.

Last spring, High Point lost to the Camels in the final match. High Point is the heir apparent to Campbell, but Hunnell knows the Panthers need to walk into that spot with confidence.

“We’ve got a chip on our shoulder there,” she said. “We’ve been in contention and we know what it feels like and we know what to expect.”