Pak leads the way in Seminole Intercollegiate victory for host Florida State

    You put Seminole in the name of your men’s college golf tournament this spring, there’s a decent chance that Florida State is going to win the thing.

   Just kidding, sort of. These are strange times what with a worldwide pandemic and below-zero weather in Dallas, among other abnormalities. Pretty sure last month’s Camp Creek Seminole Invitational at Camp Creek Golf Club in Watersound, Fla. was thrown together to give as many Atlantic Coast Conference teams -- forbidden from competing by the conference in the fall --  that wanted to a chance to get a tournament under the belts for a wraparound 2020-2021 season that, because of the pandemic, will just be a 2021 season.

   Oklahoma, for instance, was supposed to start the spring portion of its campaign – the Big 12 teams did get to play some golf in the fall – at something called the All-American Intercollegiate. It was supposed to be played last week in Humble, Texas, but it had to be cancelled when the North Pole decided to take up residence across the South in the United States last week, like all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

   So, the Sooners, No. 1 in the latest Golfstat rankings – the first updated rankings of the spring will be indicated in this post – gave Florida State a call and asked if it could tee it up in this weekend’s Seminole Intercollegiate and, well, college sports in the age of the pandemic is just a giant pickup game, so Florida State said, sure, come and play.

   It was the 45^th Seminole Intercollegiate, which concluded Sunday at Golden Eagle Country Club in Tallahassee, Fla., so this event’s been around for a while. Florida State defeated Wake Forest in a playoff to take the team title in last month’s Camp Creek Seminole Invitational, but it didn’t need a playoff to capture the title in the Seminole Intercollegiate.

   Behind John Pak, a senior from Scotch Plains, N.J. and No. 7 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), No. 17 Florida State claimed a nine-shot victory over perennial power Oklahoma State, ranked 14^th, and the aforementioned Sooners, who were five shots behind their in-state rival in third place.

   The Seminoles grabbed the lead following a sparkling 11-under-par 277 in Friday’s opening round over the 6,965-yard, par-72 Golden Eagle layout and never looked back. They added a 6-under 282 in Saturday’s second round during which No. 21 Liberty creeped within two shots of them.

   But Florida State closed it out in style, the Seminoles’ 9-under 279 was the best round of the day in Sunday’s final round as they finished with a 26-under 838 total.

   Oklahoma State was the best team in college golf with Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff in the lineup as the Cowboys captured the program’s 11^th NCAA title on their home course at Karsten Creek Golf Club in 2018, and reached the semifinals of the last NCAA Championship that was contested in 2019 at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. before being stunned by Big 12 rival Texas.

   Oklahoma State might not be that good these days, but the Cowboys are still good. After posting back-to-back 5-under 283s in Friday and Saturday’s first two rounds, Oklahoma State closed with a solid 7-under 281 to earn runnerup honors with a 17-under 847 total.

   Oklahoma has a recent national championship on its resume, the Sooners capturing its first NCAA crown since 1989 in 2017 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill. The Sooners reached the final of the East Lake Cup at the end of the fall portion of their season before falling to Pepperdine.

   In its first appearance of the spring, Oklahoma opened with a lukewarm 1-over 289, but then ripped off the best team round of the tournament, a sparkling 12-under 276 in Saturday’s second round. The Sooners closed with a 1-under 287 to finish alone in third place, five shots behind Oklahoma State at 12-under 852.

   Liberty rode a fantastic first two days by individual champion Alexandre Fuchs, a junior from France, to put a little heat on Florida State. But Fuchs and the Flames cooled off in Sunday’s final round with a 4-over 292 leaving them alone in fourth place, a shot behind Oklahoma at 11-under 853. Still, hardly a bad showing when you’re running with the big dogs.

   Fuchs established a career-best when he opened with a sizzling 7-under 65 Friday. Then he did it again, firing another 65 in Saturday’s second round, his 14-under 130 total giving him a six-shot lead in the individual chase. Fuchs finally backed off with a final-round 75, but his 11-under 205 was still good enough to hold off the hard-charging Pak for the individual crown.

   It was eight shots back to North Carolina State in fifth place, although the Wolfpack’s No. 80 ranking figures to improve off the performance. After an opening round of 1-over 289, N.C. State fired a 10-under 278 in Saturday’s second round before cooling off with a final round of 6-over 294 that left it with a 3-under 861 total.

   Perennial American Athletic Conference power South Florida, ranked 33^rd, was a shot behind N.C. State in sixth place at 2-under 862, the Bulls sandwiching an even-par 288 in Saturday’s second round with a pair of 1-under 287s.

   It was 11 shots back to Georgia Southern in seventh place, the Eagles’ landing on 9-over 873. Georgia Southern cut seven shots off its opening-round 295 by matching par in Saturday’s second round with a 288 before closing with a 2-over 290.

   No. 29 North Florida, one of the really sneaky-good college programs in the golf mecca of Florida, was two shots behind South Florida in eighth place in the 15-team field that included a Florida State B team, at 11-over 815. The Ospreys opened with a 2-over 290 and added a 5-over 293 before closing with a 4-over 292.

   Pretty sure Pak’s lofty WAGR status made him an automatic qualifier for captain Nathaniel Crosby’s U.S. Walker Cup team, which will take on Great Britain & Ireland in the middle of the college postseason in May at Crosby’s iconic home course, Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla.

   Pak wore the Red, White & Blue in the late summer of 2019 when the U.S. staged a second-day rally to claim a 15.5-10.5 victory over GB&I in the Walker Cup Match at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. The U.S. swept to wins in eight of the 10 Sunday singles matches and Pak was one of those winners.

   Pak, the ACC individual champion in the spring of 2019, opened with a 3-under 69 at Golden Eagle Friday and added a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s second round. He was nine shots behind Fuchs, but closed with a 5-under 67 and nearly caught Fuchs, finishing a shot behind the individual winner at 10-under 206.

   Backing up Pak for Florida State was Cole Anderson, a redshirt sophomore from Camden, Maine who was under par all weekend in finishing in a tie for sixth place at 6-under 210. Anderson, who opened with a 1-under 71 Friday, was low Seminole with a clutch 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round before finishing up with a 2-under 70.

   Brett Roberts, a freshman from Coral Springs, Fla., was the low Seminole in Florida State’s fast start with a 5-under 67 in the opening round. He struggled to a 75 in Saturday’s second round before finishing up with a 1-under 71 that left him among the group tied for 11^th place at 3-under 213.

   Vincent Norrman, a graduate student from Sweden, and Frederik Kjettrup, a freshman from Denmark, gave Florida State five players among the top 16 individual finishers as they landed in the group tied for 16^th place at 2-under 214.

   In between its two Seminole events, Florida State teed it up in the Timuquana Collegiate at Timuquana Country Club, a Donald Ross classic in Jacksonville, and Norrman claimed the individual title, although Florida State finished in sixth place in a strong field.

   Norrman sandwiched an even-par 72 in Saturday’s second round at Golden Eagle with a pair of 1-under 71s. Kjettrup contributed a 2-under 70 to Florida State’s fast start in the opening round and added a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round before finishing up with a throw-out 1-over 73.

   Oklahoma State was led by Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra, a sophomore from Spain who sandwiched an even-par 72 in Saturday’s second round with a pair of 68s to finish alone in third place in the individual standings at 8-under 208, two shots behind Pak. Lopez-Chacarra, a transfer from Wake Forest, was the runnerup to Norrrman in the Timuquana Collegiate.

   Oklahoma’s Patrick Welch, a junior from Aliso Viejo, Calif., and Florida Gulf Coast’s Van Holmgren, a senior from Plymouth, Minn., finished in a tie for fourth place, each landing on 7-under 209, a shot behind Lopez-Chacarra. Welch added a 4-under 68 to his opening-round 69 before matching par in the final round with a 72. Holmgren was the closest pursuer to Fuchs through two rounds as he added a 5-under 67 to his opening-round 69 to get it to 8-under before cooling off in the final round with a 73.

   Joining Florida State’s Anderson in the tie for sixth place at 6-under 210 was West Virginia senior Matt Goetz, a product of The Kiski School. Goetz fired a 5-under 67 in Saturday’s second round after matching par in the opening round with a 72 and closed with a 1-under 71.

   N.C. State’s Benjamin Shipp, a graduate student from Duluth, Ga., and Oklahoma State’s Bo Jin, a freshman from China, finished in a tie for eighth place at 5-under 211.

   Shipp posted a 5-under 67 in Saturday’s second round after opening with a 1-under 71 before finishing up with a 73. Jin, who lost to Preston Summerhays in the U.S. Junior Amateur final at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio two summers ago, also got it going in Saturday’s second round with a sparkling 6-under 66 after opening with a 1-under 71. Jin stumbled a little in the  final round with a 74.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the individual standings was Liberty’s Kieran Vincent, a redshirt junior from Zimbabwe who closed with a 3-under 69 to finish alone in 10^th place at 4-under 212.

   Florida Gulf Coast, which finished in ninth place at 12-over 876, a shot behind North Florida, had a familiar name in the lineup as graduate student Michael O’Brien, a four-year standout at Saint Joseph’s from West Chester, Ohio, finished alone in 78^th place at 233.

   O’Brien, who reached the final of the BMW Philadelphia Amateur Championship at Lancaster Country Club last summer before falling to Zach Barbin, improved five shots from an opening-round 80 with a 75 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 78.

   The second-highest finisher for James Madison, which finished in 13^th place with an 890 total, was redshirt freshman Neal Shipley, a senior on Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s 2018 PIAA Class AAA team champion. Shipley was solid the first two days, adding a 1-under 71 to his opening-round 72, but struggled in the final round with an 80 to finish among the group tied for 49^th place at 8-over 224.