Summy's fast finish leads Oklahoma to team crown in Southern Highlands Collegiate

 

   It was odd to have an eight-team match-play bracket in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. last spring without a Big 12 team in the mix.

   Oklahoma hardly had what you would call a bad postseason as the Sooners won the team crown in the Big 12 Championship played on the challenging Prairie Dunes Country Club layout in Hutchinson, Kan. and in challenging conditions.

   Oklahoma was the runnerup as the two seed in the NCAA’s Norman Regional played on its home course, the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club, with Drew Goodman, now a junior home boy from Norman, Okla. and No. 24 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and Ben Lorenz, now a senior from Peoria, Ariz. and No. 20 in the WAGR, finishing 2-3, respectively, in the individual standings.

   Oklahoma never got it going at Grayhawk, though, and it’s no secret that they set the bar a little higher than that in Norman.

   Beginning in the summer, Oklahoma will join the deepest conference in college golf, the Southeastern Conference. It’s a football move, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out on the golf course.

   Oklahoma beat a loaded 15-team field this week, capturing the team title in the Southern Highlands Collegiate, which wrapped up Tuesday at Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nev. There are a ton of college golf tournaments this time of the year, but the Southern Highlands has evolved into one of the top-tier events.

   With the wind playing some tricks over the 7,570-yard, par-72 Southern Highlands layout, particularly during Monday’s second round, it was Oklahoma that dealt with the adversity the best.

   The Sooners opened with a 4-under 284 and grabbed a three-shot lead over Atlantic Coast Conference power North Carolina going into the final round by gutting out a 3-over 291 in Monday’s second round.

   Behind a sizzling 6-under 66 by Jase Summy, a sophomore from Keller, Texas, Oklahoma finished up with a 7-under 281 to end up with an 8-under 856 total and a three-shot victory over hard-charging Auburn, a future rival for the Sooners in the SEC.

   Summy had opened with a 1-under 71 and matched par in Monday’s second round with a 72. His final-round surge left him with a 7-under 209 total and a runnerup finish, a shot behind individual champion Ian Gilligan, a junior at Florida from Reno, Nev. and No. 33 in the WAGR.

   Gilligan opened with a sparkling 5-under 67 and a 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round left him two shots behind pace-setting Jack Lundin, a senior at Missouri from Sioux Falls, S.D. and No. 79 in the WAGR, going into the final round.

   Gilligan closed with a solid 2-under 70 to finish with an 8-under 208 total to claim his second career collegiate victory and his first as a Gator.

   The win also earned Gilligan, who began his college career at Long Beach State, a sponsor’s exemption into next fall’s Shriners Children’s Open, a PGA Tour stop held at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. For a kid from Reno, playing in a PGA Tour event in his home state will be a little extra special.

   Auburn, behind Brendan Valdes, a junior from Orlando, Fla. and No. 29 in the WAGR, and Jackson Koivun, the Tigers’ talented freshman from Chapel Hill, N.C. and No. 11 in the WAGR, closed with the best team round of the tournament, a sparkling 11-under 277, to earn runnerup honors with a 5-under 859 total, three shots behind Oklahoma.

   Valdes sparked Auburn’s final-round surge with a 5-under 67 that left him alone in third place in the individual standings with a 6-under 210 total, a shot behind Oklahoma’s Summy. Valdes matched par in the opening round with a 72 before adding a 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round.

   Koivun had registered back-to-back 2-under 70s in the first two rounds before closing with a 1-under 71 to finish in a tie for fourth place with Missouri’s Lundin at 5-under 211.

   Auburn won the team crown as a three seed in the Auburn Regional on its home course, the Auburn University Club, last spring and finished six shots out of a playoff for the final spot in the match-play bracket in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk.

   Finishing in third place, seven shots behind Auburn with a 2-over 866 total was Oklahoma’s ancient Big 12 rival Texas, which will join the Sooners in the move to the SEC this summer. The Longhorns matched Oklahoma’s opening round of 4-under 284, but struggled a little in blustery conditions in Monday’s second round with a 7-over 295 before finishing up with a 1-under 287.

   Texas, which was defending the national championship it won in 2022, advanced to the NCAA Championship last spring by finishing in fifth place as a three seed in the Bath Regional, but, like Oklahoma, never got it going at Grayhawk.

   Reigning NCAA and SEC champion Florida, behind individual champion Gilligan, finished two shots behind Texas in fourth place with a 4-over 868 total. The Gators grabbed the lead with an opening round of 10-under 278, but struggled mightily in the difficult conditions in Monday’s second round with a 301 before finishing up with a 1-over 289.

   Perennial Big Ten power Illinois was just a shot behind Florida in fifth place with a 5-over 869 total as the Fighting Illini opened with a 2-over 290, struggled to a 302 in Monday’s second round and closed with a 1-under 287.

   Illinois was one of the last eight teams still standing for match play in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk last spring, the Illini falling to Florida State in a really tight quarterfinal match.

   Reigning Mountain West champion San Diego State finished two shots behind Illinois in sixth place with a 7-over 871 total, the Aztecs opening with a solid 6-under 282 and staying in the hunt with a 10-over 298 in Monday’s second before closing with a 3-over 291.

   North Carolina, No. 1 in somebody’s poll, only trailed Oklahoma by three shots going into the final round after adding 7-over 295 in Monday’s second round to its solid opening round of 5-under 283. But the Tar Heels could only manage a 6-over 294 to finish in seventh place with an 8-over 872 total that left them just a shot behind San Diego State in seventh place.

   North Carolina reached the NCAA Championship’s final four at Grayhawk last spring after claiming the top seed in qualifying for match play before falling to ACC rival Georgia Tech in a hard-fought semifinal.

   Backing up Summy for Oklahoma was Goodman, who finished in a tie for sixth place with Texas’ Tommy Morrison, a sophomore from Dallas, Texas and No. 91 in the WAGR, at 4-under 212. The always steady Goodman signed for back-to-back 2-under 70s in the first two rounds before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Ryder Cowan, a freshman from Edmond, Okla., was solid for the Sooners, sandwiching a 2-over 74 in Monday’s second round with a pair of even-par 72s to finish in the group tied for 21^st place with a 2-over 218 total.

   Lorenz contributed a 1-under 71 to Oklahoma’s strong finish as he finished among the group tied for 34^th place with a 4-over 220 total. Lorenz opened with a 1-over 73 and added a 4-over 76 in Monday’s second round.

   Rounding out the Oklahoma lineup was Jaxon Dowell, a redshirt junior and another Edmond guy who finished in a tie for 41^st place with a 5-over 221 total. Dowell opened with a solid 1-under 71 before adding a pair of 3-over 75s in the final two rounds.

   Missouri’s Lundin opened with a sizzling 6-under 66 and took a two-shot lead in the individual standings into the final round after adding a 2-under 70 in Monday’s second round. Lundin slipped back in the final round with a 3-over 75 to fall back into a tie for fourth place with Auburn’s Koivun at 5-under.

   Texas’ Morrison finished strong with a 5-under 67 in the final round that left him in a tie for sixth place with Oklahoma’s Goodman at 4-under. Morrison had matched par in the opening round with a 72 before adding a 1-over 73 in Monday’s second round.

   New Mexico’s Albert Boneta, a redshirt senior from Spain, finished a shot behind Goodman and Morrison in eighth place with a 3-under 213 total. Boneta opened with a solid 3-under 69 and added a 2-over 74 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 2-under 70.

   Nathan Petronzio, a graduate student from Bee Cave, Texas, gave Texas a second player inside the top 10 as he finished in a tie for ninth place with San Diego State’s Shea Lague, a junior from Jamul, Calif., and Georgia’s Connor Creasy, a graduate student from Abingdon, Va., each landing on 2-under 214.

   Petronzio added a 3-under 69 in Monday’s second round to his opening round of 1-under 71 before closing with a 2-over 74.

    After opening with a 2-under 70, Lague matched par in each of the final two rounds with a pair of 72s. Creasy got off to a nice start with a 3-under 69, but struggled a little to a 3-over 75 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 2-under 70.

   Auburn got a routinely consistent performance from redshirt junior Carson Bacha, the PIAA Class AAA champion in 2019 as a senior at Central York. Bacha struggled a little in the tough conditions of Monday’s second round with a 4-over 76 after opening with a 1-under 71, but he contributed a 3-under 69 to the Tigers’ strong finish to end up among the group tied for 15^th place at even-par 216.