Virginia men's golf team (UVA Athletics Photo)
TOLEDO, Ohio—Auburn wasted no time making a statement in their season debut at the Inverness Intercollegiate. After 36 holes on Monday, the Tigers looked primed to sweep both the individual and team titles at the famed Inverness Club, seeking their 8th consecutive title at this event. The Virginia Cavaliers had other plans.
Superstar sophomore Jackson Koivun came out firing, posting rounds of 63-65 to get to 10-under to open up a commanding seven-stroke lead over Virginia’s Bryan Lee and Oklahoma’s Drew Goodman at 3-under. Behind their young phenom, Auburn fired rounds of 271-277 to shoot 4-under, the only team under par, building a five-stroke cushion over Texas Tech heading into Tuesday’s final round. Oklahoma sat in third at 2-over, with Virginia in fourth at 4-over.
Last season belonged to the national champion Auburn Tigers, and their blistering start suggested their momentum hadn’t waned. With Koivun holding a seven-shot lead and the team five strokes clear, the question remained: could anyone catch them?
As it turned out, Auburn could be caught—but Koivun could not.
Starting the final round eight strokes behind, Virginia mounted a furious comeback, firing a tournament-best 6-under 270. Led by the no. 2 ranked player in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings Ben James, the Cavaliers leapfrogged Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Auburn, sealing a dramatic victory with a blistering back-nine.
James shot 3-under 66, while Paul Chang and Josh Duangmanee each added rounds of 3-under 66 and 1-under 68, respectively. A 1-over 70 from Bryan Lee rounded out the Virginia scoring. The Cavaliers combined for seven birdies on the final nine, igniting just as Auburn’s scoring faltered.
Virginia finished as the only team under par at 2-under, four strokes clear of second-place Auburn, who shot a final-round 6-over 282. Oklahoma, positioned to make a run before a string of late bogeys, tied for third with Vanderbilt at 3-over.
Koivun and his Auburn teammates started the final round steady, with Koivun making birdie on the par-4 9th hole after eight straight pars. Brendan Valdes, Reed Lotter, and Ryan Eshelman turned at a combined 3-under, pushing Auburn’s team score to 7-under. Virginia, however, was just as strong. In addition to nine straight pars from Bryan Lee, Ben James carded a 2-under 32, while Chang and Duangmanee matched Auburn’s front nine with 1-under 33s of their own.
With nine holes to play, Auburn’s lead began to slip as Virginia kept pushing. The putts stopped falling, unfortunate bogeys were made, and the scoring fell stagnant. The Tigers briefly lost the lead with five holes left but regained it after clutch birdies from Valdes and Koivun on the par-4 15th. Koivun maintained his individual lead but was focused on the team race. They would soon fall behind for good.
“We play for a team here. We play for Auburn… I just try to put up a good score for the team, and hopefully, that leads to an individual win,” Koivun said in a Tuesday morning interview with ESPN.
Oklahoma’s Matthew Troutman started a back-nine push for the Sooners with back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14, but a missed short par putt on 15 killed their momentum. A double bogey on the par-4 17th sealed the Sooners' fate.
While Koivun secured the individual title, he couldn’t close the deal for the team. After playing his first 15 holes bogey-free, he stumbled with three consecutive bogeys on holes No. 16, 17, and 18. Virginia had posted a 6-under 270, with Ben James making a birdie on 18 to lock in their score at 2-under. Auburn, now one stroke back, needed birdies from Koivun on his last two holes. After hitting his approach into the right fescue on 17 and leaving his par putt short, he dropped another stroke. A final bogey on 18 sealed Auburn’s fate.
Koivun, who had made just two bogeys over his first 51 holes, carded three straight to finish his round. He had played holes 16-18 in 3-under on Monday, but struggled to 3-over on Tuesday. Though he hung on for a two-shot individual victory, Koivun was certainly disappointed with his finish.
Koivun’s nearest competitor, SMU’s Enrique Dimayuga, fired a final-round 64 to finish at 7-under, two shots back. College of Charleston’s Kieron Van Wyk shot 4-under 65 to finish T3 with Virginia’s Ben James at 5-under. Texas Tech’s Tim Wiedemeyer rounded out the top five at 4-under.
No. 14 ranked amateur in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings Jackson Van Paris led the Commodores in scoring in Toledo and finished in solo sixth, with John Broderick not far behind at T7. Gordon Sargent, the No. 3 ranked amateur in the world, fired rounds of 72-74-67 to finish T33 at 8-over.
Following the team victory and individual top-5 finish, Virginia’s Ben James will tee it up in the PGA Tour’s Procore Championship in Napa, California, starting this Thursday.
Auburn’s early dominance unraveled in the face of Virginia’s relentless push, reminding everyone that momentum in golf can shift in an instant. As the college golf season begins to unfold, two things are clear: Virginia is here to stay, and the Auburn Tigers will be back.
ABOUT THE
Inverness Intercollegiate
54-hole men's college tournament hosted by
University
of Toledo. Team (best four scores out of five players
each round) and individual competitions.
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