Shipley surges to individual title, leads Ohio State to team crown in Southwestern Invitational

 

   You really have to give Neal Shipley, a graduate student at The Ohio State University, a lot of credit.

   A member of Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s 2018 PIAA Class AAA championship team, Shipley started his college career at James Madison and was a very good player in the Dukes’ final years in what was then known as the Colonial Athletic Association.

   I first learned that Shipley was headed for Columbus when he surged to a victory in the Pennsylvania Amateur at Llanerch Country Club in the summer of 2022.

   Llanerch, site of the 1958 PGA Championship, is one of the Philadelphia area’s most underrated great golf courses. You want to know how you can tell Llanerch is a great golf course? Good players win there and Shipley keeps proving that point. In the rich golf tradition of western Pennsylvania, Neal Shipley is making a name for himself.

   Shipley, No. 69 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), unleashed a closing kick with a 6-under-par 65 in Wednesday’s final round of the Southwestern Invitational to capture the individual title by a shot and lead the Buckeyes to a one-shot victory over UNLV in the team competition at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif.

   The Southwestern has become somewhat of the traditional opening salvo in the spring portion of the wraparound college golf season and it was really nice showing for a cold-weather Big Ten team to finish atop a 13-team field, including some West Coast teams that don’t experience the kind of weather limitations that players at a school like Ohio State do.

   Everybody in the Big Ten is playing for second place each spring as powerful Illinois has won 13 of the last 14 conference championships.

   After finishing in a tie for fifth place in a Big Ten Championship shortened to 36 holes by a weekend of dreadful weather last April at Galloway National Golf Club at the Jersey Shore, Ohio State was seeded fifth in the NCAA’s Auburn Regional.

   Behind the regional’s individual champion, Maxwell Maldovan, a senior from Uniontown, Ohio and No. 23 in the WAGR, the Buckeyes, advanced to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. by finishing in fourth place.

   There’s a cut following three rounds of team competition in the NCAA Championship to the low 15 teams and Shipley dragged the Buckeyes to that last day of team play. He was tied for the individual lead after three rounds and the Ohio State had to survive a playoff with Texas Tech to extend its season one more day, but the Buckeyes made it.

   They didn’t make the top eight that advance to match play, but top 15 is top 15. Shipley, probably a little worn out from all the extra effort, struggled to a final-round 79 at Grayhawk and finished in a tie for 29^th place in the individual standings.

   A couple of months later, there was Shipley with a gritty run to the final of the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club, the William Flynn gem in Colorado. In the round of 32, Shipley needed 20 holes to get past Callum Scott, a Texas Tech junior from Scotland who would represent Great Britain & Ireland in the Walker Cup Match at the Old Course at St. Andrews a couple of weeks later.

   Guess you’d have to say Shipley’s 4 and 3 loss in the scheduled 36-hole final at Cherry Hills to Alabama sophomore Nick Dunlap has been flattered these last couple of weeks with Dunlap winning The American Express on the PGA Tour as an amateur and promptly turning pro.

   In the Southwestern, Shipley ripped off six birdies in an eight-hole stretch from the ninth through the 16^th holes and finished with eight birdies overall in his final round to finish with a 12-under 201 total.

   Shipley had opened with a 2-under 69 over the 6,800-yard, par-71 North Ranch layout and added a 4-under 67 in Tuesday’s second round that left him in a tie for fifth place, four shots behind the leader Tucker Clark, a junior at Colorado from Paradise Valley, Ariz. who had posted a sizzling 8-under 63 in the second round.

   Shipley’s final-round surge, though, was good enough to earn him his first collegiate victory.

   Ohio State had opened with a 1-over 285 and, behind a sparkling 6-under 65 from Maldovan and Shipley’s 67, surged into first place with a sparkling 11-under 273 in Tuesday’s second round.

   A solid final round of 3-under 281 left the Buckeyes with a 13-under 839 total, one shot better than UNLV, a Mountain West Conference representative.

   The Runnin’ Rebels entered the final round in a tie for second place Colorado, in its final year as a member of the Pac-12, and the Big 12’s Texas Tech, each two shots behind Ohio State. This all may be a little hard to keep track of, but Colorado will join Texas Tech in the Big 12 in the fall.

   UNLV had opened with a 5-under 279 behind the low individual round of the tournament, a scintillating 9-under 62 by Caden Fioroni, a senior from San Diego, Calif. The Runnin’ Rebels added a 3-under 281 in Tuesday’s second round and a final round of 4-under 280 left them just a shot short of Ohio State with a 12-under 840 total.

   UCLA, another stalwart in the once-proud PAC-12, which will disintegrate, at least in its present form, this spring, and reigning Mountain West champion San Diego State, finished in a tie for third place, each landing on 9-under 843, three shots behind UNLV.

   The Bruins, playing close to home, were solid throughout adding a 3-under 281 in Tuesday’s second round to their opening round of 4-under 280 before closing with a 1-under 283.

   The Aztecs, who failed to advance to the NCAA Championship last spring as a four seed in the Salem Regional, bounced back from an opening round of 1-over 285 with a 7-under 277 in Tuesday’s second round before finishing up with a 3-under 281.

   Another Pac-12 entry, Washington, behind individual runnerup Taehoon Song, a senior from South Korea, finished alone in fifth place with an 8-under 844 total, a shot behind UCLA and San Diego State. After opening with a 2-over 286, the Huskies added a 4-under 280 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 6-under 278 that was the best team round of the final round.

   Song fueled that final-round surge as he signed for a sizzling 7-under 64 in the final round to finish just a shot behind Shipley in second place in the individual chase with an 11-under 202 total. Song opened with a 1-under 70 before adding a 3-under 68 in Tuesday’s second round.

   Texas Tech and Colorado, which began the final round in a tie for second place with UNLV, each closed with a 1-over 285 to finish in a tie for sixth place with a 7-under 845 total.

   Texas Tech, which advanced to the NCAA Championship with a fourth-place finish as the top seed in the Norman Regional last spring, had grabbed the team lead with an opening round of 7-under 277 before adding a 1-under 283 in Tuesday’s second round.

   After struggling to an opening round of 6-over 290, Colorado surged up the leaderboard with the best team round of the week, a sparkling 14-under 270, in Tuesday’s second round.

   Backing up Shipley for Ohio State was Jack Vojtko, a freshman from Stow, Ohio who made a spectacular collegiate debut by finishing among the group tied for 17^th place with a 2-under 211 total. After matching par in the opening round with a 71, Vojtko carded back-to-back 1-under 70s in the final two rounds.

   Looks like Ohio State head coach Jay Moseley has a keeper with Vojtko, the new kid in town.

   Moldovan, as evidenced by his lofty spot in the WAGR, gives Ohio State a formidable 1-2 punch at the top of the lineup along with Shipley. Moldovan survived a sectional qualifier and teed it up in the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club last summer and then survived the 36-hole cut and played the weekend.

   Moldovan contributed that 65 to Ohio State’s second-round surge after opening with a 1-over 72. He closed with a 4-over 75 to finish alone in 22^nd place with a 2-under 212 total.

   Adam Wallin, a senior from Sweden, matched par in the final round with a critical 71 for the Buckeyes as he finished among the group tied for 32^nd place with a 3-over 216 total. Wallin opened with a 3-over 74 before also matching par with a 71 in Tuesday’s second round.

   Rounding out the Ohio State lineup was Patrick Schmucking, a fifth-year player from Germany who finished in the group tied for 53^rd place with an 8-over 221 total. Schmucking had a pair of 2-over 73s in the first two rounds before finishing up with a 4-over 75.

   Jackson Chandler, a fifth-year player from Dublin, Ohio, competed as an individual for Ohio State in the Southwestern and had a solid showing, finishing in the group tied for 38^th place with a 4-over 217 total. After opening with a 1-over 72, Chandler added a 3-over 74 in Tuesday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   UNLV’s Fioroni and Texas Tech’s Tyran Snyders, a senior from South Africa and No. 59 in the WAGR, finished in a tie for third place in the individual standings, each landing on 10-under 203, a shot behind Washington’s Song.

   Fioroni, who represented UNLV as an individual in the Las Vegas Regional last spring, cooled off following his opening-round 62 with a 2-over 73 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 3-under 68.

   Snyders got off to a fast start with a 5-under 66 in the opening round, followed it up with a 3-under 68 in Tuesday’s second round and finished up with a solid 2-under 69.

   Houston’s Santiago De La Fuente, a senior from Mexico and No. 54 in the WAGR, finished a shot behind Fioroni and Snyders in fifth place with a 9-under 204 total. De La Fuente added a 3-under 68 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 67 before closing with a 2-under 69.

   De La Fuente captured the individual title and led the Cougars to the team crown in the American Athletic Conference last spring. Houston failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as a nine seed in the Auburn Regional.

   Colorado’s Clark and San Diego State’s Tyler Kowack, a sophomore homeboy from nearby Del Mar, finished in a tie for sixth place at 8-under 206, two shots behind De La Fuente.

   Clark’s blistering 63 in Tuesday’s second round came on the heels of an opening round of 2-under 69 as he held the individual lead going into the final round. Clark cooled off with a final round of 3-over 74.

   Kowack added a solid 4-under 67 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 69 before closing with a 1-under 70.

   UCLA’s Omar Morales, a junior from Mexico, finished a shot behind Clark and Kowack in eighth place with a 6-under 207 total. Morales, who survived a sectional qualifier and teed it up in last summer’s U.S. Open at L.A. Country Club, added a 3-under 68 to his opening-round 70 before closing with a 2-under 69.

   Morales’ teammate, Luke Powell, a freshman from Laguna Niguel, Calif., and California’s Ethan Fang, a freshman from Plano, Texas, rounded out the top 10 in the individual standings as they finished in a tie for ninth place, each landing on 5-under 208.

   Powell got off to a fast start with a 4-under 67, added a 2-under 69 in Tuesday’s second round and finished up with a 1-over 72.

   Fang, part of a fairly loaded freshman class at Cal, closed with a solid 3-under 68 after registering back-to-back 1-under 70s in the first two rounds.