Oklahoma State outduels Oklahoma by four shots to capture team crown in National Invitational Tournament

   They are the Big 12’s Big Three, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Texas, and you can’t write the story of the NCAA Championship in the last four years without mentioning at least two of them each year.

   Oklahoma State made the match-play bracket in 2017 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., in 2018 at its home course, Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla. and in 2019, the last NCAA Championship contested, at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. It was Oklahoma, however, that won the NCAA crown at Rich Harvest Farms. Oklahoma State did earn the program’s 11^th NCAA title on its home course at Karsten Creek. But a young Texas team denied the Cowboys a repeat by knocking them off in the semifinals at The Blessings before falling to Stanford in the Final Match.

   So, it wasn’t a huge surprise to see the Big 12’s Big Three finish atop the leaderboard when the National Invitational Tournament wrapped up Sunday at Omni Tucson National’s Catalina Course in Tucson, Ariz. Oklahoma State, No. 8 in the latest Golfstat rankings, outdueled No. 2 Oklahoma by four shots as each piled on the birdies over the 7,167-yard, par-72 Catalina Course layout. No. 6 Texas was another 12 shots behind the Sooners in third place.

   Oklahoma State opened with a 13-under-par 275 that left it a shot behind Oklahoma following the first round of Saturday’s double round. The Cowboys then went off for a 16-under 272 in Saturday afternoon’s second round to take a three-shot advantage over Oklahoma, which carded a pretty solid 12-under 276 of its own, going into Sunday’s final round.

   The wind kicked up in Sunday’s final round, but it didn’t seem to bother the Cowboys or the Sooners much as Oklahoma State somehow ripped off the low team round of the tournament, an 18-under 270, while Oklahoma chased its ancient rival home with a pretty spectacular 17-under 271 of its own. The Cowboys finished with a 47-under 817 total while Oklahoma was left to figure what exactly it had to do in settling for runnerup honors with a 43-under 821 total.

   Oklahoma did get to take the individual trophy back to Norman as Garett Reband, a redshirt senior from Fort Worth, Texas and No. 10 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), fired a final round of 6-under 66 to earn a two-shot victory over Oklahoma State’s Eugenio Chacarra, a sophomore from Spain who transferred in from Wake Forest, and Texas’ Pierceson Coody, a junior from Plano, Texas and No. 11 in the WAGR.

   Reband, who took up the NCAA on its offer of a fifth year of eligibility to players who had the spring of their senior season stolen by the coronavirus pandemic, had fired rounds of 67 and 68 in Saturday’s double round and was two shots behind Illinois’ Adrien Dumont de Chassart, a junior from Belgium. But Reband kept his foot on the gas with his final-round 66 for a 15-under 201 total.

   Reband led the way as the Sooners opened with a 14-under 274 and added a 12-under 276 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before keeping the heat on Oklahoma State with their final round 271. They didn’t win, but it’s kind of hard to say they didn’t play well.

   Texas struggled, if you can call 4-under 284 struggling, in the opening round, but bounced back with a 13-under 275 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 14-under 274 that left the Longhorns in third place with a 31-under 833 total.

   San Diego State, which snuck up on some people with its victory in the Southwestern Invitational at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Villages, Calif. in January, outperformed its No. 41 ranking as the Aztecs finished two shots behind Texas in fourth place with a 29-under 835 total. San Diego State put together a pair of 8-under 280s in Saturday’s double round and then moved up the leaderboard in the final round with a solid 13-under 275.

   Tournament host Arizona, out of the Pac-12 and ranked 17^th, and the Big Ten’s best team, No. 4 Illinois, shared fifth place, ending up just a shot behind San Diego State, each landing on 28-under 836. The Wildcats fired rounds of 11-under 277 and 10-under 278 in Saturday’s double round and trailed Oklahoma State by only eight shots before closing with a 7-under 281. The Fighting Illini did Arizona one better in Saturday’s double round with a pair of 11-under 277s that left them just seven shots behind Oklahoma State before they finished up with a 6-under 282.

   No. 37 New Mexico was a shot better than Illinois in Saturday’s double round, adding a 12-under 276 to its opening round of 11-under 277, but the Lobos struggled when the wind came up for Sunday’s final round, posting a 9-over 297 to finish in seventh place in the strong 18-team field with a 14-under 850 total.

   Chacarra led the way for Oklahoma State, firing a sparkling 6-under 66 in Sunday’s final round to get his piece of second place, along with Coody at 13-under 203. Chacarra had added a 4-under 68 to his opening-round 69 in Saturday’s double round.

   Backing him up for the Cowboys was Arman Gupta, the sophomore from Concord, N.C. who made a spirited run to the semifinals of last summer’s U.S. Amateur at Oregon’s spectacular Bandon Dunes. Gupta just kept getting better at the Catalina Course, adding a 4-under 68 to his opening-round 70 and closing with a 5-under 67 that left him in a tie for seventh place with Illinois’ Dumont de Chassart at 11-under 205.

   Bo Jin, a freshman from China, sandwiched a 5-under 67 with a pair of 70s to finish among the group tied for 12^th place at 9-under 207 for the Cowboys. Jin reached the final of the 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio before falling to Preston Summerhays.

   Austin Eckroat, a junior from Edmond, Okla. and No. 14 in the WAGR, was right there when the Cowboys won the title in 2018 and reached the semifinals two years ago at The Blessings. Eckroat and James Baumgartner, a freshman from Germany, rounded out the Oklahoma State lineup as they both ended up among the group tied for 17^th place at 6-under 210.

   Eckroat was typically outstanding in Saturday’s double round, opening with a 6-under 66 before adding a 3-under 69. He struggled to a 3-over 75 in the final round, but his teammates picked him up. Baumgartner’s opening-round 74 was a throwout for the Cowboys, but he bounced back with a 3-under 69 in Saturday afternoon’s second round before firing a critical 5-under 67 in the final round that Oklahoma State absolutely had to have to hold off Oklahoma.

   Coody, one of the twin grandsons of 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody on the Texas roster, was right there with Oklahoma State’s Chacarra the whole weekend. Coody added a 69 to his opening round of 4-under 68 before firing a sparkling 6-under 66 in Sunday’s final round to get his piece of second place along with Chacarra at 13-under 203.

   New Mexico’s Sam Choi, a junior from Anaheim, Calif. and No. 27 in the WAGR, headed a group of three players tied for fourth place at 12-under 204. Choi and Arizona’s Brad Reeves, a graduate student from Woodbridge, Calif., were in lockstep all weekend as each added a 5-under 67 to an opening-round 68 before closing with a 69.

   The third member of the trio at 12-under was Oklahoma’s Jonathan Brightwell, a redshirt senior from Charlotte, N.C. Brightwell was a four-year standout at North Carolina Greensboro who decided to take the extra year of eligibility he was granted by the NCAA at Oklahoma. Brightwell carded a pair of 3-under 69s in Saturday’s double round before finishing up with a sparkling 6-under 66.

   Dumont de Chassart survived some fierce spring winds to earn a share of the Big Ten’s individual title two years ago at the A.W. Tillinghast gem that is Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course. He jumped in front of the pack by adding a scintillating 7-under 65 to an opening-round 68 in Saturday’s double round. He cooled off with an even-par 72 in Sunday’s final round to share seventh place with Oklahoma State’s Gupta at 11-under 205.

   Rounding out the top 10 were three players—Iowa State’s Trip Kinney, a senior from Waukee, Iowa, Southern California’s Kaito Onishi, a senior from Bradenton, Fla., and San Diego State’s Steve Sugimato, a senior home boy from San Diego – who finished in a tie for ninth place, each landing on 10-under 206.

   Kinney added a 5-under 67 to his opening-round 71 before finishing up with a 68 while Onishi and Sugimato had identical splits each adding a pair of 4-under 68s to an opening-round 70.