National Golf Invitational – Syndication Server

National Golf Invitational returning in 2025 to Ak-Chin Southern Dunes for third edition next spring

It’s back!

The National Golf Invitational, the NIT of college golf, is returning for its third year next spring. Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona, will host the event for the third straight year.

Next year, the NGI will again feature a men’s and women’s championship, each with a maximum of 18 teams playing 54 holes of stroke play. Women will play first, May 8-11, with the men the following week, May 15-18.

“I feel like there is real momentum and awareness for the NGI,” said Golfweek‘s Lance Ringler, the tournament director of the NGI. “This will be the third season of this postseason championship and the feedback from the first two have been very good.”

The NGI gives teams on the outside of the NCAA postseason a chance to have a season-ending championship of their own.

There will be a slight change to how teams are invited this year. The NGI will continue to invite teams based on ranking, but also invite teams that are under .500 in ranking order that are outside the number to earn an at-large bid into NCAA regionals.

“Our main focus is continuing to inform the coaches and administrators that this is happening and to prepare for it,” Ringler said.

Last year, the Washington State men and Rutgers women won the second NGI titles. Anthony Delisanti from Valparaiso won the men’s individual title, and Jacksonville State’s Jinger Heath took home the women’s individual crown.

To stay up to date with updates from the NGI, follow its Instagram page here.

Looking back at the 2024 National Golf Invitational at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in photos

The NGI is only getting bigger and better.

The second edition of the National Golf Invitational is in the books.

Earlier this month, the National Golf Invitational continued to build on its growing tradition at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona. It’s the new NIT of college golf. Every team’s goal is to make it to the NCAA Championship, but if they don’t find a ticket to regional play, there is now something to play in. And this year, the first team out on the men’s side took full advantage.

Washington State took home the men’s title, topping TCU among others, and Rutgers was able to claim the women’s championship a week prior. The week was another big success in shaping the future of college golf’s postseason.

Next year, the women’s NGI is set for May 9-11 with the men going a week later from May 16-18.

Here’s a look at some of the best photos from the 2023 National Golf Invitational.

National Golf Invitational: Every single shot counts for leader TCU, but highly motivated Washington State lurks

TCU players kept the bogeys to a minimum and lit up their scorecards in red at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes. Still, Washington State is only one back.

To motivate his four players competing in the National Golf Invitational this week, TCU head coach Bill Allcorn and assistant coach Cole Buck zeroed in on one detail. Every single shot that each player hits will count. Every birdie, every bogey.

And Allcorn came to like the idea.

“That’s the message we kind of relayed to the guys and they’re all in,” he said. “They’re pulling for each other just like they always do but knowing that every single shot that each person hits is important. I feel like we’re just a really tight group this week, and it’s fun to see that every birdie we make and every bogey we make is really affecting our overall score.”

On Saturday, TCU players kept the bogeys to a minimum and lit up their scorecards in red at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona. The Horned Frogs will take a one-shot lead on Washington State into the final round. TCU is 20 under for 36 holes with two players, Jack Beauchamp and Andrew Petruzelli, in the top 5 individually.

Scores: National Golf Invitational

TCU is without its leading scorer Gustav Frimodt at the NGI after the senior competed in an NCAA Regional in Austin, Texas, last week. Allcorn traveled with Frimodt to the tournament and Buck flew the team to Arizona to prepare for the NGI. Allcorn arrived Friday evening, and saw the course for the first time on Saturday.

“I just wanted to be around the guys and support them and just watch a lot of golf,” he said. “It’s been two weeks or so since I’ve been around this group just because of finals and being at regionals so it was good just to be around them again and watch them compete.”

Allcorn praised his men for capitalizing on the longer holes as well as on the par 4s, especially those where TCU players had wedges in their hands. After his first day on site, he likes the look of the place, particularly the greens.

“Greens are really, really good – perfect make speed, so to speak,” he said. “If you do hit one pretty hard, it will get away from you but for the most part, the greens feel really good to make some putts on.”

A postseason opportunity for TCU, which finished the regular season ranked No. 102, is particularly important given the make-up of Allcorn’s team. With three of four players being underclassmen, the NGI became an opportunity for a group of somewhat inexperienced players to get one more tournament under their belt before scattering for the summer.

Washington State, on the other hand, has a little bit different story. The Cougars are making their second consecutive NGI start, but this year four of the players head coach Dustin White traveled to the tournament are graduating.

There’s a little extra motivation attached to Washington State, too, because of the circumstances under which they arrived at the NGI. The Cougars, ranked No. 67 to end the regular season, were the first team out of NCAA regionals, a position that certainly stung an experienced squad. White knows it put a bit of a chip on their collective shoulders.

“They know the opportunity that’s in front of them and I think they obviously want to put an exclamation point on the season and have the seniors go out on a high note,” he said. “We all want that. We want to win but I think at the end of the day they’ve done a really nice job this year of going out and playing golf and sticking to the process and just letting all that stuff kind of take care of itself.”

In the individual race, Valparaiso’s Anthony Delisanti got it to double digits under par on Saturday with a 10-under 62. He’s now 11 under for the tournament, and three ahead of Butler’s Leo Zurovac in second place.

Delisanti, a junior from Sanborn, New York, started on the back nine and eagled both par 5s (Nos. 13 and 16) while adding birdies at Nos. 12 and 14. He made four more birdies on the front nine, which got him within a shot of the Ak-Chin Southern Dunes course record of 61. That number belongs to Steve Saunders, who posted 61 during a round of PGA Tour Q-School.

Photos: 2024 Men’s National Golf Invitational at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes

The 2024 Men’s National Golf Invitational is here.

The NIT of college golf kicked off Friday at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona, featuring 10 teams from across the country. The National Golf Invitational is in its second season and features some of the top teams who just missed out on an NCAA Regional berth.

Last year, Texas State won the inaugural NGI. In this year’s field, there are three returning teams: Valparaiso, Washington State and Wyoming

The event is comprised of 54 holes of stroke play before determining the NGI champion.

Here’s a look at the best photos from the 2024 Men’s National Golf Invitational:

National Golf Invitational: Rutgers remembering to find the joy of postseason while chasing a title

A certain kind of magic happens when the textbooks close at the end of the spring. Suddenly the calendar is open.

A certain kind of magic happens when the textbooks close at the end of the spring. Suddenly the calendar is open. Rutgers head coach Kari Williams didn’t realize what a gamechanger that would be, the postseason experience being something of a new thing for Rutgers.

“It wasn’t rushed, it wasn’t harried in any way, it was actually kind of a luxury to go to practice,” Williams said. “… It’s just been a ton of fun for two weeks.”

Rutgers is one off the lead after two rounds of the National Golf Invitational, having clearly done an effective job of bringing that relaxed vibe from the East Coast all the way to Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona. Then again, every morning at the NGI, country music blares as the 10-team field warms up. There’s ice cream at the end of the day and to Williams, this week feels a little bit like the USGA events and national-team events that her players covet in that celebratory, no-detail-spared kind of way.

Scores: National Golf Invitational | Photos

“They are playing hard and they’re competing, but I think there’s joy in it that we don’t necessarily see in the regular season when we’re all in the grind of trying to be as ranked as high as we can and do all of those things so we can get the next-best recruit and all of that,” Williams said. “This has been more about the playing of the golf and that’s fun.”

At 8 over for 36 holes, Rutgers trails University of North Carolina-Wilmington by a shot. A few errant swings have been costly, but the Scarlet Knights have figured out how to make some birdies when they need them to make up for mistakes.

A five-shot gap separates Rutgers from Santa Clara in third place at 13 over, with Arkansas State another three shots behind that. Three players are tied for the individual lead at 2 under: Santa Clara’s Kelsey Kim, Jacksonville State’s Jinger Heath, and UNCW’s Minouche Rooijmans.

UNCW head coach Cindy Ho liked how her team performed in the lead, so it won’t be easy for Rutgers to overtake them on Sunday. Ho thinks the potential is there for good theater.

“That back and forth tomorrow, this is why I came here,” she said. “Try to give people some experience but also find a way to reward our team, see if we can win a championship.”

Williams penciled in postseason dates early in the fall – NCAA Regionals and the National Golf Invitational. Rutgers could have been at the latter last season, before a nasty strain of the flu left them severely weakened right before the postseason.

Williams wasn’t sure she would even be able to field a team for last spring’s Big 10 Championship. The Scarlet Knights competed, but Williams ended it there, declining an invitation into the inaugural NGI.

“They’d been vomiting for 10 days and they were going to miss graduation so we did not accept last year,” Williams said. “I had really wanted to, but we just couldn’t get it done.”

To be at the NGI in early May takes commitment. Three players sacrificed commencement for the chance to play one last time with the team: Lucrezia Rossettin, Leigha Devine and Rikke Nordvik (who is Rutgers’ sub this week). Williams points to Devine as one of the most gratifying success stories on the team. Devine didn’t make the lineup as a freshman but has blossomed since. She qualified for the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open and the 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur.

The rest of Williams’ team is made up of freshmen, and there’s a joy in coaching newcomers that Williams, 53, thinks she’s only fully embraced now that she’s in the back half of her coaching career. They think they know everything while simultaneously never wanting to ask a question because they’re afraid it will be a dumb one.

“They make me laugh,” she said. “They’re hilarious.”

There’s a joy, too, in watching her players tee it up with the best in the country – notably at the Big 10 Championship – with both fight and belief in their hearts. While acknowledging that golf tournaments are three rounds, it’s at the 36-hole mark that Williams often steps back and sees most clearly what her team is made of.

“I love it when they go play against some of the top players in the world and have some success,” Williams said.

Rutgers played a loaded schedule, including Big 10- and Pac-12-heavy fields. They won their own Rutgers Invitational at the beginning of April.

“The thing about winning tournaments – it doesn’t come as often as you think it will,” Williams said.

Regardless, winning helps a lot of things, and it felt especially helpful to Williams on Saturday night that Rutgers had that feeling so fresh in their mind. Ak-Chin Southern Dunes has some scoreable holes, but some stretches that can be costly. Above all, Williams hopes for a good fight on Sunday, from the whole team.

“I hope my seniors spend the day just reveling in the chance to compete as college athletes for one last day and that my freshmen are just out there playing their guts out to try to send these seniors off with a win.”

Photos: 2024 Women’s National Golf Invitational at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes

The 2024 Women’s National Golf Invitational is here.

Last year, Penn State won the inaugural NGI. In this year’s field, there are two returning teams: Mercer and Santa Clara.

The event is comprised of 54 holes of stroke play before determining the NGI champion.

Here’s a look at the best photos from the 2024 National Golf Invitational:

USC Upstate earns first postseason bid in school history thanks to National Golf Invitational

It’s a week of firsts for USC Upstate.

To say Todd Lawton was caught off guard would be saying it lightly.

The women’s golf coach at USC Upstate was sitting in an all-staff meeting the day after receiving an invite to the National Golf Invitational. He had spoken to his sports administrator about it, who then took the conversation to the athletic director, Matthew Martin.

In the middle of the meeting, Martin called out Lawton and said, “Congratulations to coach Lawton and women’s golf, they got their first postseason invite and are heading to Arizona here in about two days.”

“I looked over at my administrator, and he just gave me a thumbs up,” Lawton said. “It’s better than announcing women’s golf got an invite but is not going.”

USC Upstate met the criteria to be selected for NCAA Regionals but wasn’t. That’s when the team was invited to the second edition of the Women’s Golf Invitational, which begins Friday at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona. The Spartans are one of 10 teams in the women’s field, but more importantly, they’re making their first postseason appearance in school history, and that wouldn’t have happened if not for the NGI.

Think of the NGI as the NIT of collegiate golf.

In May 2022, the NCAA announced it would allow schools to play in one season-ending event. By July 2022, the inaugural National Golf Invitational was created in a partnership between Golfweek and Ak-Chin Southern Dunes, with Golfweek’s Lance Ringler serving as the Invitational’s tournament director.

In 2024, the field will play 54 holes of stroke play over three days to determine the second NGI champion. Penn State won the inaugural competition last spring. There are two returning teams from the 2023 field, Mercer and Santa Clara, with eight newcomers hoping for a chance to claim a postseason title.

For USC Upstate, it’s hoping to claim postseason glory in its first appearance.

“For it to be a national championship postseason backup to the NCAA, it’s just huge,” Lawton said. “Our players can be rewarded for staying at a mid-major and working their tails off.”

Two years ago, USC Upstate lost to Campbell on the fourth playoff hole of the conference championship to miss out on a national’s bid. It’s likely the Spartans would’ve participated in the NGI that season, but it hadn’t been created yet.

Fast forward two years and USC Upstate again placed second at its conference tournament, falling to Charleston Southern in match play. This time, the NGI was waiting, and it’s set to be a historic tournament for the Spartans.

USC Upstate had two victories this season and a 90-31-0 overall record. It placed second in the Big South Conference tournament in stroke play before the runner-up finish in match play. In addition to the two victories, USC Upstate had nine top-five finishes.

At the NGI, the Spartans have a chance to add a feather in their cap on one of the best seasons in school history.

“My wife is a school teacher, and she has been used to me being done May 1,” Lawton said. “She doesn’t know how to take it with me being gone at practices and such. She asked whether she was going to have to get used to it. I said I sure hope we have to get used to it.”

After successful inaugural championship, National Golf Invitational returning in 2024

The NIT of college golf is returning.

The National Golf Invitational is back.

After a successful inaugural championship, the NIT of college golf is returning this May at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona. Last year, the Texas State men and Penn State women won their respective tournaments.

The NCAA announced in May of 2022 it would allow teams to play in one season-ending event. Golfweek teamed up with Ak-Chin Southern Dunes, just south of Phoenix, to host the NGI.

This year, the NGI will again feature a men’s and women’s championship, each with a maximum of 18 teams playing 54 holes of stroke play. Women will play first, May 9-12, with the men the following week, May 16-19.

There were 13 men’s teams and 10 women’s teams who participated last year, and more teams are expected to play this May. The field is limited to 18 teams using rankings and committee picks.

The NGI gives teams on the outside of the NCAA postseason a chance to have a season-ending championship of their own.

To stay up to date with updates from the NGI, follow its Instagram page here.

Texas State wins inaugural National Golf Invitational in a Kentucky Derby-style horserace in the desert

Texas State capped off its season with a third team title.

From where Shane Howell was sitting, Sunday at the National Golf Invitational felt like the Kentucky Derby.

“Somehow, some way we ended up on top of the board,” said Howell, head coach at Texas State.

Scoring swings are a reality of college golf, but the final round at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona, was something else entirely. Five teams landed within two shots of each other at the top of the leaderboard with Texas State, at 7 under for the week, narrowly beating Penn State and Wyoming, who tied for second at 6 under. Ball State and Stetson tied for fourth at 5 under. All five teams had the lead at some point on Sunday.

Howell normally isn’t a serial Golfstat refresher while he coaches, but Sunday was a different story. Howell checked the leaderboard after the first six holes to find his counters 9 over for the day. He checked it again after 12 holes and saw the beginning of a comeback.

🏆 National Golf Invitational Champions! @TxStateMGolf pic.twitter.com/47hKvq8QM3

— Lance Ringler (@GolfweekRingler) May 22, 2023

Howell went to work on the par-5 16th hole, which Texas State played in 2 under thanks to birdies from Marcelo Garza and Jack Burke. Howell’s assistant Logan Davis was up ahead at the par-3 17th where the team struggled, counting two bogeys and a double and losing their lead to Wyoming.

By the time Garza, in Texas State’s anchor position, was standing over his approach at the par-4 18th, Howell was next to him. Garza hit his drive right into some high brush but got free relief from an old sprinkler head and punched down the fairway to 90 yards.

“I met him down there,” Howell said. “He said, ‘Hey, where do we stand?’ I said, ‘Bogey gets us the title.’ So he hit it up on the middle of the green about 35 feet and two-putted.”

Ball State was one of those teams circling the lead and while the Cardinals ultimately came up two shots short of Texas State, sophomore Kash Bellar became the inaugural NGI champion.

Every time Bellar saw Ball State head coach Mike Fleck on the course on Sunday, he asked for a status report.

“He would just tell us, ‘Hey, we’re ok, doing alright, falling behind,’” Bellar said.

Bellar’s final-round card wasn’t flashy – he made three birdies and three bogeys for an even-par 72 that left him with a one-shot win at 7 under. He managed birdie on the driveable par-4 14th from a greenside bunker, which gave him a big momentum boost and then sealed the title by rolling in a 15-footer straight uphill for birdie on the par-4 closing hole.

The NGI title marks Bellar’s first college title, and his first win in golf since the 2021 Indiana High School State Championship.

“I’ve been close a lot this spring,” Bellar said. “It was really nice to get it done this week.”

Being the first is especially sweet, and something Bellar had just begun to think about after the conclusion of the tournament even though the possibility had crossed his lips before he ever traveled with the team to Arizona.

“I forget which buddy I told,” Bellar said. “I was telling him that this is the first time there has ever been an NIT for golf. How would it be to be the first one to win it?”

Texas State will process that, too. The NGI is the team’s third title this season, which is an exceptional number for a team that struggled with injury as much as the Bobcats did. At some point during the year, three of Howell’s five starters were out with injury. That includes Garza, who played the first tournament of the year, sat out the rest of the fall with a wrist injury and didn’t start playing again until January. That made it fitting for Garza to be the one to clinch the NGI title.

“They’ve had a great year,” Howell said. “We felt grateful all week to be there because we felt like we’ve had a good year and for Lance (Ringler, of Golfweek) to host this tournament was really kind of a second life for us. They took advantage of it.”

Like a lot of teams, Texas State felt like it had some unfinished business after the Sun Belt Conference Championship, especially after a disappointing final round that left them short of the conference match-play bracket.

“We were really grateful to have another chance to come and play,” Howell said.

Before they arrived in the Arizona desert, Howell spoke to his team about turning the NGI into a springboard to the next level. A wild Sunday afternoon leaderboard seems like ample preparation for anything next season could throw at Texas State.

“We feel like we’re a regional team,” Howell said, “so we’re like this week kind of starts our climb into next year. We kind of used that as motivation getting ready for the tournament. Win, lose or draw, we were just going to try to make sure we finished on a good note.”

Editor’s note: In May 2022, the NCAA announced it would allow schools to play in one season-ending event, similar to college basketball’s NIT. By July 2022, the inaugural National Golf Invitational was created in a partnership between Golfweek and Ak-Chin Southern Dunes, with Golfweek’s Lance Ringler serving as the Invitational’s tournament director.

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With new lineup, Utah Valley looking to win National Golf Invitational in first postseason appearance

“We have to go win this thing.”

After a hard day of work in the desert, Joe Jensen took his Wyoming team to the shade of a nearby tree and let them take a breath of relief. The second round of the National Golf Invitational at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona, was a battle for the Cowboys. Jensen wanted his men to know he was proud of the fight.

“I am proud of my group because I know we slipped, and for them to fight back the bulk of the day, which they did a great job of, and so as a coach that makes me proud,” he said. “Because as I told them, their attitude stayed the same, they were still engaged, we didn’t get off to the best start but we kept fighting and fighting.”

Wyoming started the day with a one-shot lead and ended it four shots behind second-round leader Texas State. Oh, but the second round of the inaugural NGI was so much more complicated than that.

As the day wore on, seven different teams rotated through the lead. On a day like this, every shot counts, and Wyoming had to truly grind.

“There were a lot of hard-fought pars on par 5s, and the strategy,” Jensen said, “and I could go on and on and on about the thought process of gosh, let’s just make par on this and get out of here.”

To Jensen, playing for the inaugural NGI title is an “unbelievable” feeling – so much so that he knows he’ll have to work not to betray the process that helped get his team to this point. Don’t expect Jensen’s enthusiasm level to change or his team’s morning routines to waiver.

Like Jensen, Texas State head coach Shane Howell liked the fight he saw in his team, particularly on the back nine. The Bobcats turned around a shaky opening stretch and went 11 under coming in to take the lead.

“Proud of the guys for hanging in there after an up-and-down front nine today,” he said. “It allowed them to come home strong on the back nine and give them a chance tomorrow.

“We are so grateful for the opportunity to be at the NGI and the guys are looking forward to the final round tomorrow.”

On Sunday, Utah Valley will join Wyoming and Texas State in the final grouping. The Wolverines, at 5 under, trail by six. Head coach Chris Curran’s squad has had a lot of experience in that position this season, having won three tournaments in the spring season.

“I think our message is just going to be, hey you’re not sleeping with the lead, you’ve got no pressure, let’s come out firing tomorrow and try to go shoot the lowest score that we can and count them up at the end,” he said.

In a lot of ways, this Utah Valley team has shattered the norms for Wolverine golf. Brady McKinlay won four individual titles in a row in the fall and qualified for an NCAA regional, making him ineligible to compete this week. Caden Weber won the Bash at the Beach in March. Curran thinks the whole roster fed off those performances – particularly McKinlay’s stretch.

“They practice with him and play with him every day and see what he’s doing and they’re like, well I can hang with him,” Curran said. “It really elevated the expectation level of everybody else.”

For the first time in a decade coaching Utah Valley, Curran thinks any guy in the starting five could win the individual title if he gets hot. This week, Curran is discovering just how deep his roster goes with McKinlay out as well as Kai Iguchi, who competed in the PGA WORKS Individual Collegiate Championship.

“It’s kind of like a new crew for us,” Curran said. “We were joking around a little bit saying this is the first qualifier for next year just with who we’ve brought.”

Utah Valley’s NGI lineup includes redshirt freshman Braden O’Grady, who has never teed it up in competition with the Wolverines before this week. O’Grady transferred to Utah Valley in December after a year at Western Washington and was just outside the traveling squad throughout the spring season.

“He never really got a chance to get into the lineup and then kind of with how things have transpired, we were like, we’ve got to get this kid some reps,” Curran said. “He’s come in and done a great job for us.”

Utah Valley is on track to break its program scoring record at the NGI this week, which is just another line in a historic season.

This is Utah Valley’s first postseason appearance, and they’re drawing some inspiration – and competition – from the men’s basketball program. In March, the Wolverines advanced to the semifinals of the National Invitational Tournament, the event comparable to the NGI in men’s golf.

“We’re now kind of joking that well, we have to do better than our basketball team did,” Curran said. “We have to go win this thing.”

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