Arkansas captures team crown in Palmas del Mar Collegiate as Drexel, Temple open their spring campaigns

 

   I’m a little late on this as the Palmes del Mar Collegiate teed off on Super Bowl Sunday and wrapped up February 13^th, but it was the spring opener for Drexel and Temple, so I still wanted to get to it …

   Well, Drexel wasn’t going to win every tournament it teed it up in during the wraparound 2023-2024 season.

   The Dragons had played in four tournaments in the fall portion of the schedule and won them all. A couple were local events, including Drexel’s victory in the City 6 Championship, a one-day shootout held at Sunnybrook Golf Club.

   But Drexel capped its 4-for-4 fall by claiming the team crown in the ODU/OBX Intercollegiate, beating 14 teams at Kilmaric Golf Club in Powell’s Point, N.C. in October.

   The Palmas del Mar Collegiate, played at at the Palmas del Mar Golf Club’s Flamboyan Course in Humacao, Puerto Rico brought together a 16-team field that featured some teams from Power 5 conferences.

   Arkansas, out of probably the deepest conference in college golf, the Southeastern Conference, rolled to its second team win of the season as the Razorbacks, behind John Daly’s kid, John Daly II, a redshirt sophomore from Clearwater, Fla., and John Driscoll III, a graduate student from Lake Mary, Fla., rolled to a seven-shot victory over tournament host North Carolina Greensboro, a Southern Conference entry.

   Arkansas opened with a 7-under-par 281 over the 7,122-yard, par-72 Flamboyan Course layout, a Rees Jones design, and added a 12-under 276 in the second round that gave the Razorbacks a share of the lead with UNCG going into the final round.

   Behind 3-under 69s from Daly and Jacob Skov Olesen, a fifth-year player from Denmark, Arkansas registered a solid final round of 8-under 280 to finish with a 27-under 837 total.

   Arkansas, one of 13 SEC teams to be awarded a berth in the NCAA regionals last spring, finished second as a six seed in the Salem Regional, although the Razorbacks were unable to make any noise in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   The Spartans trailed Arkansas following an opening round of 3-under 285 before posting the best team round of the week, a sizzling 16-under 272, in the second round that gave them a share of the team lead going into the final round. UNCG closed with a 1-under 287 to finish seven shots behind Arkansas in second place with a 20-under 844 total.

   UNCG failed to advance out of the Las Vegas Regional as a nine seed last spring.

   Kennesaw State, an ASUN representative, was just a shot behind UNCG in third place with a 19-under 845 total as the Owls were solid throughout, opening with an 8-under 280 and adding a 281 in the second round before closing with a 284

   A couple of Big Ten entries, Michigan, behind individual champion Hunter Thomson, a junior from Canada, and Rutgers accounted for the next two spots in the team standings, the Wolverines finishing in fourth place with a 16-under 848 total that was three shots behind Kennesaw State and the Scarlet Knights ending up fifth with a 14-under 850 total, two shots behind their Big Ten rival.

   Michigan opened with a 3-under 285 and added a 283 in the second round before finishing up with a solid 8-under 280.

   Thomson had a lot to do with the strong finish by the Wolverines as he ripped off a scintillating eight-birdie, no-bogey round of 8-under 64 in the final round to nail down his first collegiate victory after four runnerup finishes with a 15-under 201 total, the second-best score in relation to par in program history.

   Thomson had added a 69 in the second round to his opening round of 4-under 68 and was in fifth place, but only two shots behind the leader, UNCG’s Symon Balbin, a graduate student from Pinehurst, N.C., going into the final round before sweeping past the field with his final-round fireworks.

   Rutgers added a 287 in the second round to its opening round of 2-under 286 before closing with a rush, a sparkling 11-under 277, to move up the leaderboard.

   Elon, one of Drexel’s Coastal Athletic Association rivals, and Wofford, another Southern Conference entry, finished in a tie for sixth place, six shots behind Rutgers, each landing on 8-under 856.

   The Phoenix added a 1-over 289 in the second round to their opening-round 291 before finding their groove in the final round, closing with a 12-under 276.

   The Terriers also finished up strong with a final round 7-under 281 after opening with a 1-under 287 and matching par in the second round with a 288.

   Drexel, in its spring opener, finished in 10^th place with a solid 5-under 859 total. The Dragons shook off some rust as they added a 1-over 289 in the second round to their opening round of 2-under 286. Behind a sparkling 4-under 68 from Oscar Maxfield, a graduate student from Salt Lake City, Utah, Drexel closed with a 4-under 284.

   It was also the spring opener for Temple and the Philly Owls, an American Athletic Conference entry, finished in 12^th place in the 16-team field with a 1-over 865 total. After matching par with a 288 in the opening round, Temple added a 2-over 290 in the second round before closing with its best round of the tournament a 1-under 287.

   As I’m putting this post together Temple is already back at it, teeing it up in the Wexford Intercollegiate at the Wexford Plantation’s Arnold Palmer Signature  Course on Hilton Head Island, S.C. I’ll report on that outcome when I break down Temple’s individual finishers in the Palmas del Mar at the end of this post.

   Daly and Driscoll led the way for Arkansas as they were part of a trio of players tied for seventh place at 8-under 206.

   Driscoll was just a shot out of the individual lead going into the final round after adding a 5-under 67 in the second round to his opening-round 69. Driscoll matched par in the final round with a 72. After opening with a 1-under 71, Daly contributed a 4-under 68 to Arkansas’ second-round surge before closing with his solid 69.

   Skov Olesen backed up the top two for Arkansas as he matched Daly’s final-round 69 to finish alone in 11^th place with a 6-under 210 total. Skov Olesen had opened with a 71 before adding a 2-under 70 in the second round.

   Matthis Lefevre, a junior from France, gave Arkansas a fourth finisher in the top 12 as he finished among the group tied for 12^th place with a 5-under 211 total. Lefevre was solid, sandwiching a 71 in the second round with a pair of 2-under 70s.

   Rounding out the Arkansas lineup was Christian Castillo, a senior from El Dorado, Calif. who finished in the group tied for 48^th place with a 3-over 219 total. Castillo sandwiched a 1-under 71 in the second round with a pair of 2-over 74s.

   Manuel Lozada, a junior from Argentina, competed as an individual for Arkansas and made a strong case for a spot in the Razorbacks’ first five as he joined his teammate Lefevre in the group tied for 12^th place with a 5-under 211 total. After opening with a 1-over 73, Lozada registered back-to-back 3-under 69s in the final two rounds.

   Mercer’s Tobias Jonsson, a senior from Sweden, carded his second straight 5-under 67 in the final round, but couldn’t quite catch Michigan’s Thomson as Jonsson settled for a solid second-place finish in the individual chase with a 13-under 203 total that was two shots behind Thomson. Jonsson had opened with a 3-under 69.

   Connecticut’s Tommy Dallahan, a senior from Simsbury, Conn., finished alone in third place, two shots behind Jonsson with an 11-under 205 total. Dallahan recorded back-to-back 3-under 69s in the first two rounds before closing with a 5-under 67.

   Dallahan went 2-0-1 in the Big East Match Play to help the Huskies claim the title the previous weekend at Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.

   Kennesaw State’s Claes Borregaard, a junior from Denmark, finished a shot behind Dallahan in fourth place with a 10-under 206 total. Borregaard sandwiched a 6-under 66 in the second round with a pair of 2-under 70s.

   Wofford’s Matthew Larkin, a fifth-year player from Atlanta, Ga., and Rutgers’ Xavier Macoux, a graduate student from Concord, Mass., finished in a tie for fifth place, each ending up a shot behind Borregaard with a 9-under 207 total.

   Larkin closed with a sparkling 6-under 66 after opening with a 71 and adding a 2-under 70 in the second round. Marcoux got off to a good start with a 4-under 68 in the opening round and added a 70 in the second round before closing with a 3-under 69.

   Joining Arkansas’ Daly and Driscoll in the trio tied for seventh place at 8-under was Elon’s Matt Doyle, a junior from Summerville, S.C. Doyle started and finished strong with an opening round of 5-under 67 and another 67 in the final round, but he struggled a little in the second round with a 2-over 74.

   UNCG’s Balbin rounded out the top 10 as he finished alone in 10^th place with a 7-under 209 total. Balbin had the individual lead going into the final round after adding a 5-under 67 in the second round to his opening-round 68, but he backed off in the final round with a 2-over 74.

   Maxfield led the way for Drexel as his final-round 68 left him in the group tied for 12^th place with a 5-under 211 total. Maxfield had opened with a 1-under 71 before matching par in the second round with a 72.

   Drue Nicholas, Drexel’s talented senior from Egg Harbor Township, N.J., backed up Maxfield for the Dragons as he finished in the group tied for 21^st place with a 2-under 214 total. Nicholas matched par in the final round with a 72 after posting back-to-back 1-under 71s in the first two rounds.

   Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa, a senior from Zimbabwe, finished in the group tied for 44^th place with a 2-over 218 total as he sandwiched a 2-over 74 in the second round with a pair of 72s.

   Caleb Taylor, a sophomore from Woodbine, Md., finished among the group tied for 48^th place with a 3-over 217 total as he matched par each of the final two rounds with a pair of 72s after opening with a 3-over 75.

   Rounding out the Drexel lineup was Griffin Mitchell, a senior from New Albany, Ohio who finished in the group tied for 57^th place with a 4-over 220 total. Mitchell sandwiched a 3-over 75 in the second round with a pair of even-par 72s.

   Graduate student Liam Hart, the PIAA Class AAA champion as a junior at Holy Ghost Prep in 2017, competed as an individual at Palmas del Mar and finished in the group tied for 71^st place with a 7-over 223 total. Hart struggled to a 6-over 78 in the second round after opening with a 75, but finished strong with a final round of 2-under 70.

   Leading the way for Temple was Graham Chase, a senior from Charlotte, N.C. whose final round of 4-under 68 left him in the group tied for 21^st place with a 2-under 214 total. Chase carded back-to-back 1-over 73s in the first two rounds.

   Aidan Emmerich, a sophomore from Swampscott, Mass., also got it in in red figures for the Philly Owls as he finished among the group tied for 30^th place with a 1-under 215 total. Emmerich closed with a 1-over 73 after recording back-to-back 1-under 71s in the first two rounds.

   Junior Joey Morganti, a Havertown resident who starred scholastically at St. Joseph’s Prep, finished in the group tied for 57^th place with a 4-over 220 total. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Morganti struggled to a 5-over 77 in the second round before finishing up with a solid 1-under 71.

   Morganti defeated Drexel’s Maxfield and Villanova’s Peter Weaver in a playoff to capture the individual crown in the City 6 Championship at Sunnybrook last fall.

   Ethan Whitney, a senior from Westminster, Mass., finished in the group tied for 63^rd place with a 5-over 221 total as he matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 2-over 74 in the second round before closing with a 75.

   Rounding out the Temple lineup was Michael Walsh, a junior from Shelburne, Vt. who finished in the group tied for 77^th place with a 225 total. Walsh matched par in the second round with a 72 after struggling to a 6-over 78 in the opening round before closing with a 75.

   Temple head coach Brian Quinn brought along freshman Matt Vital, a three-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Bethlehem Liberty, to Puerto Rico to compete as an individual. Vital, who flashed some talent during his career as a junior player, carded back-to-back 4-over 76s in the first two rounds before closing with a 75 to finish in the group tied for 83^rd place with a 227 total.

   Bucknell junior Jake Maddaloni, who helped The Haverford School win back-to-back Inter-Ac League titles in 2018 and 2019, competed as an individual at Palmas del Mar and finished among a trio tied for 80^th place with a 226 total. Maddaloni bounced back from an opening round of 4-over 76 with a solid 21-under 70 in the second round, but struggled in the final round with an 80.

   Temple wrapped up the Wexford Intercollegiate Tuesday, finishing in ninth place at the Wexford Plantation’s 6,884-yard, par-72 Arnold Palmer Signature Course that looks like it was playing pretty tough.

   Temple posted rounds of 300 and 296 in a double round Monday before closing with a 304 in Tuesday’s final round at Hilton Head for a 36-over 900 total.

   The Owls were led by Emmerich, a transfer from Michigan State who finished in a tie for 20^th place with a 6-over 222 total. Emerich matched par in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 72 after opening with a 1-over 73 before closing with a 77.

   Georgia State claimed the title with a 9-over 873 total.