Saint Joseph’s Michael O’Brien, a senior from West Chester,
Ohio, blitzed Kilmarlic Golf Club with a sizzling 10-under-par 61, breaking the
course and tournament record on his way to the individual title in the Old
Dominion/Outer Banks Intercollegiate, which wrapped up Tuesday in Powell’s Point,
N.C.
O’Brien hung around the Philadelphia area over the summer
and competed in some of the Golf Association of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania
Golf Association events, qualifying for the match-play bracket in the BMW
Philadelphia Amateur at Stonewall and claiming qualifying medalist honors in
the R. Jay Sigel Match Play Championship at the Hawks’ home base at Llanerch
Country Club.
He entered the final round of the ODU/OBX Intercollegiate
tied for fifth place after opening with a 4-under 67 Sunday over the
6,515-yard, par-71 Kilmarlic layout and adding a 1-under 70 in Monday’s second
round. He was four shots behind the leader, North Dakota State’s Andrew
Israelson, a junior form Staples, Minn. who had set a hot pace with rounds of
66 and 67 to open the tournament.
But O’Brien really got it going in Tuesday’s third round,
his 61 giving him a 15-under 198 total and a four-shot victory over North
Dakota State’s Van Holmgren, a junior from Plymouth, Minn., whose 11-under 202
total was a program record for a 54-hole tournament by four shots.
I got a heads-up on O’Brien’s remarkable final round at the
PIAA Championships from his former teammate, Ross Pilliod, who was at the
Heritage Hills Golf Resort supporting younger brother Henry, a senior at Berks
Catholic. Ross Pilliod completed a solid four-year career with the Hawks last
spring.
Holmgren and Israelson teamed up to lead North Dakota State
to the team crown as the Bison broke the program record for a single round with
their final round of 12-under 272 and the program record for a 54-hole
tournament with their 26-under 826 total.
North Dakota State opened with a 7-under 277 Sunday and
matched that total with another 277 in Monday’s second round before its finishing
flourish.
Host Old Dominion, out of Conference USA, matched North
Dakota State for the low team round of the tournament with the Monarchs’ second
round of 12-under 272 that enabled them to pull within a shot of the Bison. Old
Dominion closed with a 9-under 275 to finish just four shots behind North
Dakota State at 22-under 830.
Georgetown, out of the Big East, was another eight shots
behind Old Dominion in third place at 14-under 838 after a pretty strong finish
of its own, an 8-under 276.
Drexel, out of the Colonial Athletic Association, was two
shots behind the Hoyas in fourth place at 12-under 840. After opening with a
4-under 280, the Dragons fired a 7-under 277 in the second round before closing
with a 1-under 283.
Saint Joseph’s, behind O’Brien’s scintillating 61, closed
with a 7-under 277 to finish four shots behind Drexel in fifth place in the
15-team field at 8-under 844. The Hawks, out of the Atlantic 10, opened with a
1-under 283 before matching par in the second round with a 284.
Holmgren led the way for North Dakota State, closing with a
68 for his 11-under 202 total. He trailed his teammate Israelson by a shot
after two rounds after following up a 69 with a 6-under 65.
Israelson opened with a 66 and added a 67 before falling
back in the final round with a 3-over 74 as he finished in a tie for fourth
place at 6-under 207.
Lucas Johnson, a junior from Moorhead, Minn., gave the Bison
three players inside the top six as he finished among the group tied for sixth
place at 5-under 208. Johnson matched par in the opening round with a 71 and
added a 3-under 68 before closing with a 69.
Nate Deziel, a sophomore from East Grand Forks, Minn.,
closed with a 2-under 69 to finish among the group tied for 42nd
place a 4-over 217. Brock Winter, a freshman from Stillwater, Okla., didn’t
post a score in the second round, but bounced back with a final round of
5-under 66 that was the low round of the day for the Bison and sparked their
surge to the title.
Old Dominion’s Gustav Fransson, a junior from Sweden, fired
a final round of 6-under 65 to finish alone in third place in the individual
standings, four shots behind North Dakota State’s Holmgren at 7-under 206.
Fransson’s Old Dominion classmate and fellow Swede Rasmus
Konradsson shared fourth place with North Dakota State’s Israelson at 6-under.
Konradsson sparked the Monarchs to their strong second-round showing with a
7-under 64 before closing with a 1-under 70.
Leading the way for Drexel was junior Stephen Cerbara, the
2015 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Holy Ghost Prep who matched par in
the final round with a 71 to join the group tied for 13th place at
3-under 210. Cerbara was steady throughout the tournament, opening with a
2-under 69 and adding a 1-under 70 in Monday’s second round.
Angelo Giantsopolous, a junior from Canada, was in the hunt
for the individual title after he added a 3-under 68 to his opening-round 67
that left him tied for third place. A final-round 76 dropped him back to the
group tied for 16th place at 2-under 211.
Two of Giantsopolous’ Drexel teammates were also in that
group at 2-under. Senior Connor Schmidt, a Peters Township product, was coming
off a program-record smashing runnerup finish in the Elon Phoenix Invitational.
Schmidt, the 2018 Pennsylvania Amateur champion, closed with the low round of
the day for the Dragons, a 3-under 68. He had opened with a 1-over 73 and added
a 1-under 70 in the second round.
Also landing at 2-under for the Dragons was Jeffrey
Cunningham, a junior from West Palm Beach, Fla. Cunningham opened with a 1-over
72 and added a 2-under 69 in the second round before finishing up with a
1-under 70.
Backing up O’Brien for Saint Joseph’s was junior Wills
Montgomery, who starred scholastically at Downingtown East. Montgomery, who has
been playing some pretty good golf for the Hawks this fall, matched par in the
opening round with a 71 and added a solid 3-under 68 in the second round before
closing with a 74 to finish among the group tied for 28th place at
even-par 213.
Sophomore J.T. Spina, who was a PIAA Class AAA qualifier in
each of his final two seasons at Pope John Paul II, finished among the group
tied for 39th place at 3-over 216 after closing with a 2-under 69. Senior
Richard Riva, who starred scholastically at Lancaster Catholic, was another
shot behind Spina in the group tied for 42nd place at 4-over 217.
Riva followed up a pair of 1-over 72s with a final-round 73.
Rounding out the Saint Joseph’s lineup was senior Tommy
Lewis, a Central Bucks East product who ended up among the group tied for 65th
place at 228. Lewis’s best round was a 4-over 75 in the second round.
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