Had a little excitement here in the Philadelphia area over the weekend, so it took me a little bit to catch up on the Ameri Ari Invitational …
The Mauna Lani Resort Golf Club at Kohala Coast, Hawaii is where program records go to die.
Propelled by an opening round of 26-under-par 262 over the 6,913-yard, par-72 Mauna Lani layout, -- program record, of course -- Oklahoma State, a pretty notable college program, finished with a 64-under 800 total -- program record, naturally -- to cruise to a five-shot victory over Atlantic Coast Conference power North Carolina for the team title in the annual birdie-fest that is the Ameri Ari Invitational, which wrapped up Saturday at Mauna Lani.
It was the second straight team victory for the Cowboys, No. 9 in the latest Scoreboard, powered by Clippd, rankings as they closed out their fall campaign with a 3-1 win over SMU in the match-play final of the Jackson T. Stephens Cup at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club to close out their fall campaign.
Oklahoma State remained behind in the Big 12 as ancient rivals, Texas and Oklahoma, a rivalry that burns especially hot on the golf course, bolted for the Southeastern Conference.
After their spectacular opening round, the Cowboys added a 17-under 271 in Friday’s second round before closing with another fairly sizzling final round, a 21-under 265, that enabled them to get it to 64-under.
North Carolina, No. 6 in the Scoreboard rankings, was right on Oklahoma State’s heels the whole way as the Tar Heels added a 21-under 267 in Friday’s second round to their opening round of 20-under 268 that left the Tar Heels trailing the Cowboys by just two shots heading into the final round.
North Carolina’s final round was pretty strong, a 23-under 265, but it wasn’t near enough to catch Oklahoma State as the Tar Heels finished five shots behind the Cowboys with a 59-under 805 total.
Oklahoma State’s old rival, Texas, No. 5 in the Scoreboard rankings, was another three shots behind North Carolina in third place with a 56-under 808 total.
The Longhorns, behind individual champion Tommy Morrison, a junior from Dallas, Texas and No. 11 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), opened with a relatively pedestrian 16-under 272. The Longhorns got it going in Friday’s second round with a 19-under 269 before closing with a 21-under 267.
Those were program records in total (808) and relation to par (56-under) for 54 holes for the Longhorns.
Texas had already opened the spring portion of the wraparound 2024-2025 season with an impressive victory in the Southwestern Invitational at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif. just a couple of weeks ago.
Morrison broke his personal single-round college record when he finished with a 9-under 63 that enabled him to catch North Carolina’s Hampton Roberts, a sophomore from Cary, N.C., and force a playoff for the individual crown after each landed on 21-under 195.
Morrison then birdied the first playoff to claim the first individual title of his college career. Kind of surprising, such is Morrison’s prodigious talent. Morrison had opened with a 5-under 67 before adding a 7-under 65 in Friday’s second round.
Those two rounds left Morrison trailing Roberts by four shots going into the final round after the talented Tar Heel added a spectacular 11-under 61 in Friday’s second round to his opening round of 5-under 67. All Roberts did was birdie 10 of his last 13 holes in a round that tied the program record and broke the record in relation to par.
Roberts closed with a 5-under 67 to finish tied at the top of the leaderboard with Morrison at 21-under.
Oklahoma State was led by Ethan Fang, a sophomore from Plano, Texas and No. 25 in the WAGR who finished in a tie for third place with Auburn redshirt senior Carson Bacha, the 2019 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Central York and No. 44 in the WAGR, each ending up three shots behind the top two at 18-under 198.
Fang, a quarterfinalist in last summer’s U.S. Amateur at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., opened with a sparkling 8-under 64 before adding back-to-back 5-under 67s in the final two rounds.
Oklahoma State reached the NCAA Championship last spring by finishing in third place as a five seed in the Rancho Sante Fe Regional, but was unable to earn a spot in the match-play bracket at the La Costa Spa & Resort in Carlsbad, Calif. After capturing the team title in its Big 12 Championship swan song at Whispering Pines Golf Club last spring, Texas rolled to the team title as a three seed on its home course in the Austin Regional, but the Longhorns failed to threaten for a spot in the match-play bracket at La Costa.
North Carolina was the top seed on its home course in the Chapel Hill Regional and advanced to the NCAA Championship by finishing in third place. The Tar Heels did earn a spot in the match-play bracket at La Costa, falling to ACC rival Florida State in the quarterfinals.
It was Bacha and Auburn, of course, that did win the national championship, the program’s first, with a 3-2 victory over Florida State in the Final Match at La Costa.
Bacha’s tie for third place in the individual standings at Mauna Lani led the SEC champion Tigers to a fourth-place finish in the team standings with a 53-under 811 total that left them three shots behind Texas.
Auburn, in its first action since capping its fall schedule with a victory in the East Lake Cup at the East Lake Club in Atlanta, started slowly with an 8-under 280. The Tigers built some momentum with an 18-under 270 in Friday’s second round before going positively bonkers – even by Ameri Ari standards – with a final round of 27-under 261.
Bacha just kept getting better all week at Mauna Lani as he added a 6-under 66 in Friday’s second round to his opening-round 68 before closing with a sizzling 8-under 64 to join Oklahoma State’s Feng at 18-under. That 18-under 198 total for Bacha? Program record for 54 holes at Auburn, of course.
It has been the golden age of men’s golf at Auburn and Bacha has been right in the middle of it.
“It was a great week out here in Hawaii,” Bacha told the Auburn website. “The weather was great and the course was very scoreable. Played really solid all week. I kept the ball in play and took advantage on the easier holes.
“I’m proud of the team for pulling it together that last couple of days and putting up a great final round.”
A couple members of the Big Ten’s newly minted West Wing, Oregon, No. 38 in the Scoreboard rankings, and UCLA, No. 13 in the Scoreboard rankings, accounted for the next two spots in the Amer Ari team standings as the Ducks finished in fifth place with a 48-under 816 total, five shots behind Auburn, and the Bruins another shot behind Oregon in sixth in the 20-team field with a 47-under 817 total.
Oregon, which failed to advance to last spring’s NCAA Championship as a four-seed in the Baton Rouge Regional, opened with a sizzling 20-under 268 and added a 16-under 272 in Friday’s second round before closing with a 12-under 276.
UCLA, which failed to advance to last spring’s NCAA Championship as a six seed in the Stanford Regional, was steady at Mauna Lani, adding a 14-under 274 in Friday’s second round to its opening-round 272 before closing with its best round of the week, a 17-under 271.
Backing up Fang for Oklahoma State was Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson, a freshman from Sweden who finished in a tie for seventh place with Auburn’s Ryan Eshleman, a redshirt senior from Birmingham, Ala., and Pacific’s Carlos Astiazaran, sophomore from Tucson, Ariz., each ending up with a 15-under 201 total.
Falhberg-Johnsson added a 4-under 68 in Friday’s second round to his opening-round 67 before closing with a sparkling 6-under 66.
Gaven Lane, a sophomore from Argyle, Texas, gave Oklahoma State a third finisher in the top 16 as he ended up in a large group tied for 16th place at 12-under 204. After opening with a modest 1-under 71, Lane got in the spirit by ripping off a 7-under 65 in Friday’s second round before closing with a 68.
Preston Stout, a sophomore from Richardson, Texas, announced his presence at Mauna Lani with a spectacular opening round of 10-under 62 that fueled the fast start for the Cowboys. Stout struggled in the second round with a 4-over 76, but bounced back in the final round with a solid 5-under 67 as he landed in the group tied for 24th place with an 11-under 205 total.
Rounding out the lineup for Oklahoma State was Eric Lee, a sophomore from Fullerton, Calif. who transferred to Stillwater after a year at California. Lee finished in a tie for 35th place with a 9-under 207 total.
Lee was a highly-coveted recruit after he reached the semifinals of the 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon before falling on the 20th hole to eventual champion Wenyi Ding of China. At Mauna Lani, Lee opened with a 3-under 69 and added a 1-under 71 in Friday’s second round before closing with a solid 5-under 67.
Oregon’s Eric Doyle, a senior from San Diego, Calif., took fifth place in the individual standings with a 17-under 199 total that left him a shot behind Fang and Bacha. After blitzing Mauna Lani in the opening round with a 9-under 63, Doyle added a 67 in Friday’s second round before closing with a 69.
UCLA’s Kyle An, a junior from Aliso Viejo, Calif., was another shot behind Doyle in sixth place with a 16-under 200 total. An sandwiched a 6-under 66 in Friday’s second round with a pair of 67s.
Eshleman backed up Bacha for Auburn with his share of seventh place with Oklahoma State’s Fahlberg-Johnsson and Pacific’s Astiazaran at 15-under. It was Eshleman’s 10th career top-10 finish at Auburn.
Eshleman added a 4-under 68 in Friday’s second round to his opening-round 69 before blitzing the Mauna Lani layout by contributing a 9-under 63 to Auburn’s final-round surge.
Astiazran sandwiched a 69 in Friday’s second round with a pair of 6-under 66s.
Jackson Koivun, Auburn’s sensational sophomore from Chapel Hill, N.C. and No. 2 in the WAGR, gave the Tigers a third finisher inside the top 10 as he was among a trio of players tied for 10th place at 14-under 202.
Koivun added a 5-under 67 in Friday’s second round to his opening-round 69 before closing with a routinely sparkling 6-under 66.
Koivun, Bacha, Texas’ Morrison and Oklahoma State’s Fang were among the 16 players who spent a weekend in December at golf courses in the Jupiter, Fla. area auditioning for a spot on the U.S. Walker Cup team, which will be contested against Great Britain & Ireland this summer at the iconic Cypress Point Club on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula.
Joining Koivun in the tie for 10th place at 14-under were Stanford’s Ratchanon Chantananuwat, a freshman from Thailand and No. 61 in the WAGR, and Morrison’s Texas teammate Luke Potter, a junior from Encinitas, Calif. and No. 55 in the WAGR.
Chantananuwat opened with a sparkling 6-under 66 and added a 67 in Friday’s second round before closing with a 69. After adding a 4-under 68 in Friday’s second round to his opening-round 69, Potter made a big move up the leaderboard with a strong finish as he recorded a 7-under 65.
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