Penn State’s Alex Creamean, a senior from Winnetka, Ill., has been on a nice little roll as the fall portion of the wraparound 2026-2027 season has been playing out for the Nittany Lions.
Creamean finished in third place in the Moraine Intercollegiate, hosted by Miami of Ohio, which wrapped up Tuesday at Moraine Country Club in Kettering, Ohio with a 3-under-par 210 total that helped the Nittany Lions finish in seventh place in the 16-team field with a 17-over 869 total.
I want to focus a little more closely on the showing by Creamean and the Nittany Lions in last week’s Cullan Brown Intercollegiate, hosted by Kentucky at Lexington Country Club in Lexington, Ky., where Creamean finished in a tie for fifth place and led Penn State to a fifth-place finish in the team standings in a tough field that featured some Southeastern Conference entries.
I will try to touch on all of Penn State’s outings up to this point as head coach Mark Leon tries to build a foundation that might be capable of giving the Nittany Lions, playing out of the Big Ten, a chance to earn its first NCAA regional appearance since 2018.
Tennessee was the runaway winner of the Cullan Brown, which wrapped up Oct. 6th, with a 22-under 830 total over the 7,255-yard, par-71 Lexington Country Club layout.
The Volunteers have been a middle-of-the-pack team in the powerful SEC, but that might be changing with the arrival in Knoxville of Tyler Watts, a freshman from Huntsville, Ala. who is the No. 2 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
The Cullan Brown was particularly intriguing as it marked the college debut of Watts, who had spent the early part of the season representing the United States in a riveting edition of the Walker Cup Match, the Red, White & Blue ultimately surrendering the Cup with a 13.5-12.5 loss to Great Britain & Ireland at Lahinch Golf Club in County Clare, Ireland.
The kid was the youngest winner of the Sunnehanna Amateur, an Elite Amateur Series event held at Sunnehanna Country Club, an A.W. Tillinghast gem in Johnstown, in the summer of 2025 when he was going into his senior year in high school.
He became the youngest winner of the Northeast Amateur, another Elite Amateur Series staple held at Wannamoisett Country Club, the Donald Ross gem in Providence, R.I., in the summer of 2026.
Got a chance to watch Watts do this thing in a big spot in August in the U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course. He fell to eventual runnerup Jay Leng Jr., 1-up, in the round of 16, but Watts’ poise under pressure was really impressive for anybody, let alone a teen-ager.
It seems unlikely that Watts will stay at Tennessee for four years, but for this season, he makes the Volunteers a force to be reckoned with.
Watts is joining a pretty talented bunch, too.
One of the co-medalists in the Cullan Brown was Tennessee’s Christian Pardue, a junior from Arlington, Tenn. who shared the top spot on the leaderboard with Vanderbilt’s Carlos Astiazaran, a senior from Tucson, Ariz. who was competing as an individual as they each landed on 9-under 204 at Lexington.
Pardue had three rounds in the 60s, opening with a 3-under 68 and adding a 2-under 69 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a sparkling 4-under 67 to earn his first collegiate victory.
Tennessee just kept getting better as the tournament wore on. The Volunteers opened with a 2-under 282 and added a 6-under 278 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a sizzling 14-under 270. Their 22-under total gave them a 22-shot victory over SEC rival Mississippi State.
It was in that final round when Watts flashed his considerable talent, firing a 6-under 65 that enabled him to climb into a tie for third place in the individual standings with Xavier’s Kellen Dean, a junior from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., each recording a 6-under 207 total that left them three shots behind Pardue and Astiazaran.
Watts stood at even-par entering the final round as he opened with a 1-over 72 and added a 1-under 70 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round.
Tennessee had a third top-10 finisher as Jackson Herrington, a junior from Dickson, Tenn. and No. 73 in the WAGR, ended up in a group of four players tied for eighth place at 2-under 211.
Herrington sandwiched a 2-under 69 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round with a pair of even-par 71s.
Tennessee earned a trip to the NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. by finishing in fifth place as the three seed in the Bryan Regional last spring.
The Volunteers came up just short of a spot in the match-play bracket at La Costa as they finished in a four-way tie for seventh place and failed to survive a playoff among those four teams for the final two quarterfinal berths.
Mississippi State only trailed Tennessee by three shots going into the final round of the Cullan Brown as the Bulldogs opened with a 6-under 278 and added a 1-over 285 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round.
A final round of 5-over 290 left Mississippi State alone in second place at even-par 852, 22 shots behind the Volunteers.
Mississippi State was led by Yago Horno Mateo, a freshman from Spain who landed in the group tied for eighth place at 2-under. Horno Mateo sandwiched an even-par 71 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round with a pair of 1-under 70s.
Mississippi State punched its ticket to the NCAA Championship at La Costa last spring by finishing in fifth place as a seven seed in the Bermuda Run Regional. The Bulldogs never got it going at La Costa and failed to earn a spot in the match-play bracket.
North Carolina State, an Atlantic Coast Conference representative, finished two shots behind Mississippi State in third place with a 2-over 854 total.
The Wolfpack added a 2-over 286 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to their opening-round 287 before closing with a solid 2-under 281.
N.C. State failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as a nine seed in the Bermuda Run Regional last spring.
Host Kentucky, another SEC representative, was another shot behind N.C. State in fourth place with a 3-over 855 total.
The Wildcats were solid in the opening-day double round, adding a 2-under 282 in the afternoon to their opening-round 281. Kentucky closed with an 8-over 292.
Kentucky also teed it up in the Bermuda Run Regional last spring and failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as a 10 seed.
Really nice showing by Penn State as the Nittany Lions struggled in the opening-day double round, adding an 8-over 292 in the afternoon to their opening-round 293. But with Creamean leading the way with a 4-under 68, Penn State closed with a sparkling 12-under 272 to finish in fifth place in the 15-team field with a 5-over 857 total.
Creamean matched par in the opening round with a 71 and added a 2-under 69 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with that 68 that left him in a tie for fifth place with Western Kentucky’s Will Easterlin, a sophomore from Americus, Ga. with a 5-under 208 total.
Backing up Pardue, Watts and Herrington for Tennessee was Rudy Sautron, a senior from France who finished among the group tied for 12th place with a 1-under 212 total. Sautron contributed a sparkling 4-under 67 to the Volunteers’ strong finish after opening with a 1-over 72 and adding a 73 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round.
Rounding out the Tennessee lineup was Pennson Badgett, a freshman from Pilot Mountain, N.C. who finished in the group tied for 25th place at 2-over 215. Badgett matched par in the opening round with a 71 and added a 1-under 70 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a 2-over 74.
Tennessee’s depth was on display as Bruce Murphy, a graduate student from Atlanta, Ga. competing as an individual, joined his teammate Herrington in the foursome tied for eighth place at 2-under.
After opening with a 2-over 73, Murphy put together a sparkling 4-under 67 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before matching par in the final round with a 71.
Two other Volunteers competing as individuals, Chase Kyes, a sophomore from Birmingham, Ala., and Luke Smith, a sophomore from Canada, finished in the group tied for 21st place at 1-over 214.
Kyes opened with a solid 2-under 68 and added a 3-over 74 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a 72. Smith was really solid, opening with a 1-under 70 before adding a pair of 1-over 72s in the final two rounds.
SEC power Vanderbilt didn’t send a full team to the Cullan Brown, but Astiazaran, one of the four Commodores competing as individuals, got a share of the individual medalist honors with Tennessee’s Pardue with a 9-under total.
Astiazaran, a transfer from Pacific, trailed Western Kentucky’s Easterlin by a shot going into the final round after Astizaran added a sparkling 5-under 66 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to his opening-round 69. He closed with another 2-under 69 to get a share of first place.
Really nice showing by Xavier’s Dean as he added a 1-under 70 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to his opening-round 68 before closing with a 69 to share third place with Tennessee’s Watts at 6-under, three shots behind the co-medalists.
Dean helped the Musketeers capture the Big East crown last spring.
After opening with a 1-under 70, Western Kentucky’s Easterlin ripped off a sizzling 7-under 64 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to take a one-shot lead into the final round.
Easterlin closed with a 3-over 74 to fall back into a tie for fifth place with Penn State’s Creamean at 5-under.
A couple players from Big 12 representative Cincinnati earned top-10 finishes in the Cullan Brown as Timmy Hollenbeck, a senior from Mason, Ohio, finished alone in seventh place with a 4-under 204 total and Brayden Miller, a sophomore from Goshen, Ind., rounded out the quartet tied for eighth at 2-under.
Hollenbeck added a sparkling 4-under 67 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to his opening-round 70 before closing with a 1-over 72. Miller posted back-to-back 1-under 70 in both ends of the opening-day double round before matching par in the final round with a 71.
Backing up Cremean at the Cullan Brown was senior Tim Peters, a State College homeboy who was a two-time PIAA Class AA qualifier at St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy and began his college career at Millersville. Peters closed with a 2-under 69 to finish in the group tied for 25th place at 2-over 215. He had opened with a pair of 2-over 73s in the opening-day double round.
It’s been a solid fall for freshman John Curran, a member of Devon Prep’s PIAA Class AA championship team as a junior in 2023. Pretty sure Curran took a gap year before ending up at Penn State.
Curran and fellow Nittany Lion Jackson Saroney, a sophomore from Syracuse, N.Y., finished among the group tied for 36th place, each ending up with a 4-over 217 total.
Curran struggled a little in the opening-day double round, opening with a 5-over 76 and adding a 74 in the afternoon. But he closed with the best round of his fledgling college career, a sparkling 5-under 67.
Saroney contributed a 4-under 68 to Penn State’s final-round surge. Saroney had opened with a 2-over 73 before adding a 76 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round.
Will Preston, a junior from Grand Rapids, Mich., rounded out the Penn State lineup as he finished in the trio tied for 76th place with a 229 total. Preston struggled in the opening-day double round, adding a 7-over 78 in the afternoon to his opening-round 79, but finished up with a solid 1-over 72.
Junior Hunter Stetson, winner of the Bert Linton Invitational for the Inter-Ac League’s individual championship as a sophomore at Episcopal Academy in 2021, was in the lineup for N.C. State and finished in a tie for 68th place with a 225 total.
Stetson, a Golf Association of Philadelphia major champion after capturing the title in the Patterson Cup in 2025 at Waynesborough Country Club, added a 5-over 76 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to his opening-round 77 before closing with a solid 1-over 72.
Stetson got to play a home game in the U.S. Amateur when he earned a spot in the field at Merion’s East Course in August. Stetson failed to earn a spot in the match-play bracket as he opened with a 7-over 77 at Philadelphia Country Club and added a 6-over 76 in the second round at Merion.
Creamean was right back at it for Penn State in this week’s Moraine Intercollegiate in Ohio.
He opened with a 3-under 68 and added a 1-under 70 in the afternoon of Monday’s double round before closing with a 1-over 72 to finish in third place with a 3-under 210 total, one of just six players in the field to finish under par for the tournament.
It was Creamean’s second straight top-five finish.
After opening with a 5-over 289, Penn State matched par with a 284 in a solid team effort in the afternoon of Monday’s double round. The Nittany Lions closed with a 296 to finish with a 17-over 869 total.
Penn State had opened its season by again co-hosting the Canadian Collegiate Invitational, which wrapped up Sept. 14th at the Oviinbyrd Golf Club in MacTier, Ontario.
The Nittany Lions finished in eighth place in the 13-team field with a 41-over 893 total.
Peters led the way for Penn State north of the border as he finished in the group tied for 15th place with a 5-over 218 total.
Creamean got his senior season off to a solid start at Oviinbyrd as he finished in a tie for 18th place with a 7-over 220 total.
In its second start of the fall campaign, Penn State finished last of 16 teams against a tough field in the Windon Memorial, hosted by Big Ten power Northwestern, which wrapped up Sept. 29th at the Onwentsia Club in Lake Forest, Ill.
The Nittany Lions opened with a 5-over 285 and added a 293 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a 292 to finish with a 30-over 870 total.
Curran made his college debut in the Windon Memorial and was the leading Lion, ending up in the group tied for 55th place with an 8-over 218 total. Curran opened with a 1-over 71 and added a 72 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a 75.
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