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USA Today
19-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Ohio State scores redemption win at NGI; Utah State's Enrique Karg earns indy title in playoff
Ohio State scores redemption win at NGI; Utah State's Enrique Karg earns indy title in playoff Had Ohio State's season ended last month, it would have been on a sour note indeed. The Buckeyes, in a rebuilding year, finished fifth at the Big 10 Championship and missed an NCAA Championship bid. But three weeks after their year could have been over, head coach Jay Moseley and his team are carting a postseason trophy back across the country to the heartland, and that's something Moseley has never done. On Sunday, Ohio State finished off a seven-shot victory in the third National Golf Invitational at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona. Ohio State made an NCAA semifinal run a year ago this time, but that was with four distinguished seniors on the roster. After failing to score an NCAA regional bid earlier this month, Moseley's team committed to some areas of improvement and bought into a different side of the postseason: the NGI. This win amounts to a huge shift in momentum, especially considering that Ohio State's only two team wins this season, as Moseley noted, came in their backyard. 'To come out where we're unfamiliar with the desert golf conditions, to come out on top and get a win with a little bit of a target on our back was really good,' he said. National Golf Invitational: Scores The Buckeyes trailed Utah State by a shot on the first day, had leapfrogged them by the end of 36 holes and slowly pulled away over the course of Sunday's final round. Three Ohio State players finished in the top 7 individually, and the Buckeyes led the field in birdies ''Fight' has been our mentality all spring, so they did a good job hanging in there, taking advantage of the chances when we got them and making some birdies down the stretch was really cool,' Moseley said. 'It was a great team win.' While Ohio State, on the other side of its senior exodus, spent the week finding out what its next chapter can look like, a similar transition period awaits Utah State in the fall. The NGI amounted to the final ride for graduates John Cook, Julio Arronte and Esteban Jaramillo. The Aggies made six team birdies in the first three holes on Sunday and hung within a few shots of Ohio State all day. 'We beat them on Day 1, so I think they were like, 'OK we can do this,'' Utah State head coach Dean Johansen said. That sophomore Enrique Karg was the man to lead them is a good sign for Utah State. Karg, of Guadalajara, Mexico, only finished inside the top 20 in one start during the regular season. At Southern Dunes, he came out of the gate with a bogey-free 7-under 65 and parlayed that into a Sunday playoff victory for his first individual title in a year. Karg is a player who struggled with a lot on his plate this past year – from school to golf to family. 'I had a rough spring this year,' Karg said. 'I had a lot on my mind, and it was a lot of up and down so playing good in this event, it was very good for me.' Karg felt he took advantage of his distance all three rounds and put himself in favorable positions, reaching several par 5s in two and leading the field in par-4 scoring. The week wasn't all smooth sailing, however, and Johansen watched Karg fight for a second-round 70 to stay in the tournament. 'The mark of a true human being is how they handle adversity, and you couldn't tell from 5 feet to 500 yards if he was making a bogey or a birdie,' Johansen said, 'and I love that.' Karg, who finished the week at 12-under 204, had to play an extra hole with Richmond's Carson Baez for the individual title, and nearly holed his 70-foot birdie putt on that extra trip down the 18th to do it. His tap-in par was good enough. He Facetimed his family back home in Mexico right away. As a result of his win, Karg earns an exemption into the Southeastern Amateur, which he'll add to the lineup of other amateur events (the Memorial Amateur in Sacramento, California, the Mexican International Amateur in Guadalajara and a U.S. Amateur qualifier) he has planned for the summer. As this Utah State team scatters, Cook, Arronte and Jaramillo are headed for professional careers. Johansen knew early week it would be emotional to see them go. This team's international makeup is largely thanks to the work of assistant coach Erik Skinner, who took Johansen's idea to expand the roster globally and 'found some of the best young men – phenomenal kids,' Johansen said. He has always been interested in the whole player, not just level of golf talent. Johansen began his day on Sunday with an early workout before driving a couple miles down the road for a protein shake. When he pulled into a gas station, he met Cook, one of his three seniors. Cook, who has committed himself to getting healthy these past three years, was out on a morning run before the round. Cook, as a runner, demonstrates exactly the level of commitment this senior class gave to Utah State. Nevermind that they all reassembled post-graduation for a final tournament – Cook ditched a full cycle of marathon training, skipping the Ogden (Utah) Marathon on Saturday to be here with his team instead. And that, funny enough, was how Johnson lost it, three hours before his team ever hit a shot. 'I was driving back to the hotel and he was running alongside the road and I just started tearing up,' said Johansen, who has praised the character of his whole squad this week. 'I'm so proud of the young man he has become.'
USA Today
18-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Ohio State is looking for a different kind of postseason purpose at National Golf Invitational
Ohio State is looking for a different kind of postseason purpose at National Golf Invitational The past two postseasons have been dramatically different for Ohio State. A year ago, the Buckeyes lineup included four seniors and a redshirt freshman, and that squad battled all the way to the semifinal match at the NCAA Championship. This year, at No. 75 in the national rankings after a fifth-place finish in the Big 10, they weren't selected to the NCAA Championship field at all. Head coach Jay Moseley realized his team would probably be on the outside looking in as they traveled home from the conference championship on April 27. He gave his team a bit of tough love. 'Look, this isn't how our season is supposed to end,' he told them that evening, 'and that should leave some pain and suffering that gets you guys fired up and ready to go for next year.' His men agreed. National Golf Invitational: Scores The next morning, however, Moseley started talking with his administration about competing in the National Golf Invitational. He called a meeting with the team at noon that day and met with a squad that still had the deer-in-the-headlights look of being at such a low point 14 hours earlier. Regardless, the team aligned on what a different kind of postseason event could do in terms of building momentum for next season. The NGI is in its third year, and this year more than ever it's apparent that it can mean different things to different teams. Ohio State, for example, leads the 10-team field at 18 under through 36 holes, but the Buckeyes started the day trailing Utah State by a shot. The Aggies haven't been selected to the postseason since 1981. Only one player on this season's 10-man Ohio State roster has played in an NCAA regional. The core of Moseley's lineup this season included three sophomores and two freshmen. Through two rounds, Moseley's decision to rally his squad for an NGI start looks like a savvy coaching move indeed. Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona, is a course where Moseley sees a lot of scoring opportunities. Scores were slightly higher in Saturday's second round across the board as winds picked up, but Moseley liked the venue as much as the tournament itself because he felt like it was a golf course that would create opportunities to work on some targeted areas of development for Ohio State – namely, wedge play. 'Wedge play this spring has certainly not been up to our standards so coming out here we felt like we could really get a good sense of where we've made progress the last couple weeks,' Moseley said. 'For the most part, we've done a really good job of creating scoring opportunities, hitting wedges close to be able to roll in some putts, making some birdies, which has been good to see.' There's another huge advantage to competing at Southern Dunes: The course is set to host a men's regional in 2026 and, as Moseley noted, you have a one-in-six chance of going to any regional venue on a given year. 'We've kind of enjoyed being together – big eyes mindset, their approach this week has kind of been let's run it back one more time this year and leave everything out there and go out and play with as much belief and as much trust as we can in each other and get some momentum going into next year when essentially everybody is back for at least a couple years,' he said. Entering the final round, Ohio State has just a one-shot lead on Utah State, a team that just finished sixth in the Mountain West Conference Championship for its best conference finish in 12 years. The two teams have opened up a sizable gap on the rest of the field, with West Virginia sitting in third at 8 under and Oregon State fourth at 7 under. Oregon State's Bradley Smolinski and Utah State's Enrique Karg are tied for first in the individual race at 9 under. Joe Wilson IV has been Ohio State's leading scorer so far this week, and at 7 under, is only two off the individual lead. The junior underwent double hip and ab surgery 18 months ago and missed all of last season recovering. 'He's been a good shot in the arm for us coming off of basically nine months of no competition and not a lot of physical golf at all,' Moseley said. Timotej Formanek, a freshman from the Czech Republic, has adapted well to desert golf, too, this week and contributed rounds of 70-69. Ohio State leads the field in par-4 and par-5 scoring and has made more birdies than any team. 'We've definitely got some guys that can play well out here, we just need to sharpen up some wedge play and clean up some short game on the par 3s,' Moseley said. 'We'll be in a good spot coming down the stretch tomorrow, hopefully.'
USA Today
17-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Deep Utah State roster regroups for one last ride at National Golf Invitational
Deep Utah State roster regroups for one last ride at National Golf Invitational It would have been perfectly noble for Utah State's three graduating seniors to ride into the sunset two weeks ago after a sixth-place finish at the Mountain West Conference. That's the best conference finish for a Utah State team in 12 years. Every player finished under par – a program first. For one thing, the team had already dispersed – to Colombia, Mexico, Texas – but one of the best things about this team, from where head coach Dean Johansen is sitting, is that they indeed came back. Utah State hasn't played a postseason event since 1981. An invitation to the National Golf Invitational broke that nearly 50-year drought, and one very savvy travel coordinator at the university in Logan, Utah, brought the five men back from parts the world over to meet within an hour of each other at Phoenix International Airport. 'It means a lot to me personally – just the young men that they are, the sacrifice they're willing to make for their team and their coaches and their school,' said Johansen, who puts a premium on developing the whole player, and always has in his 25 years at the helm of the Aggie program. National Golf Invitational: Scores Utah State went 11 under in the opening round of the NGI at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona, for a one-shot lead on Ohio State. It's a course with which the Aggies are familiar, having played in the Wyoming-hosted Cowboy Classic here the past two years. 'This is our third event at this golf course in two years,' Johansen said. '. . . I think that's a pretty good advantage.' In all the teams he's coached, Johansen puts this one at the top of the list when it comes to depth of talent. That's a testament to him as well, considering that a small recruiting budget and cold, snowy weather make it no small feat to draw a squad like this one to Logan. 'It is validating,' Johansen said of the NGI opportunity, 'and these kids worked hard all winter long. We're hitting balls indoors, we're driving five and a half hours to find grass to play on for a weekend and they came out at the conference championship and played as good as we've ever played at the Mountain West, broke a few school records for us, best finish ever for us. . . . We weren't really planning on this (NGI start). They all were willing to come back from their respective countries.' For Esteban Jaramillo and Julio Arronte, that meant delaying the start of professional careers. Johansen's third senior, John Cook, already planned to hold off turning pro until playing the Utah State Amateur and the team's home course, Logan Country Club in July. Arronte contributed a 5-under 67 for Utah State on Friday that went a long way in pulling his team up the leaderboard. Sophomore Enrique Karg did two better, posting a bogey-free round of 7-under 65. 'All of the guys on the team, if you look at our spring and even last fall, any one of them can get it going at any time and just get on the birdie train and today, we had a ton as a team,' Johansen said. Karg leads the individual race with Utah Valley's Clement Lepine one shot behind him. The next 36 holes will be bittersweet for Johansen but fun to watch regardless. This team, he said, has made an impact not just on the program, but on the community. They're well respected at Logan Country Club, the team's home course where Johansen is also the golf pro, and they've already shown that they have the guts to overcome the realities of a Utah climate that's not particularly golf friendly. 'This is a win for us no matter how we finish in the tournament,' Johansen said when asked to look ahead at how an NGI berth positions his program for the future. 'It just elevates my program that we're in the postseason, how well they played today and I'm planning on them playing good the next two days.'
USA Today
16-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Rhode Island came from NIT country to prove itself at the National Golf Invitational
Rhode Island came from NIT country to prove itself at the National Golf Invitational In the Northeast, the National Invitational Tournament – the annual men's college basketball tournament for Division I teams that do not qualify for the NCAA tournament – truly resonates. That's especially true for a guy like Gregg Burke, head men's golf coach at Rhode Island. Burke, who grew up as a Providence College and Holy Cross basketball fan (and attended the latter school), recognizes that any comparison to the NIT will be received in an enormous way. And now he's living it. Burke's Rams received an invitation to the third annual National Golf Invitational this week, the men's college golf equivalent of the NIT. It's the team's first postseason appearance since the NCAA stopped selecting teams for the postseason according to districts. The invite perked administrative ears on Rhode Island's campus all the way up to the university president's office. Every fundraising phone call that Burke made to get here was a pleasure. 'Any reference to this being like the NIT of golf is monstrous for a school like Rhode Island because we have such tradition with the actual NIT,' Burke said. Now imagine being a member of the Rhode Island team that won four times in the fall season, climbed inside the top 160 of the national men's golf rankings and then scored that NGI invite. 'Pumped' doesn't begin to cover it. When Burke found out that a spot in the NGI field was possible, he initially kept it to himself. When the invite came through, he presented it casually to the team. At first they didn't believe him. 'Once they took grasp of it, it was pretty cool,' Burke said. Burke's career in athletics is layered, with experiences in everything from sports information to administration to NCAA tournament management. And so he took the week one step further. 'I've seen how people do it,' Burke said, referencing the hype in which many programs surround their postseason squads. 'When we officially got the invite, I went to our athletic director, who was super stoked, and said I want to do this big time.' Ultimately, Burke's goal was to make this postseason start special for the players who made it possible. He had new uniforms printed with the NGI logo for all three tournament rounds. It's a big opportunity for Rhode Island, one of three Atlantic 10 Conference teams (George Mason, Richmond) in the field at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona, and Burke wanted it to seem so for the players. The 10-team field also includes Ohio State from the Big 10, Oregon State from the West Coast and West Virginia from the Big 12. Rhode Island knows what it's up against but at the same time, this team came to play the golf course. And Burke loves a good underdog story – always has throughout his career. 'I kind of cut my teeth on the mentality that there's nothing that's insurmountable,' he said. '. . . We're here to try to play up and really prove to ourselves, as much as anyone else, that we can compete.' Freshmen Luke Stennett and Tyler Bruneau anchor Rhode Island's lineup. Stennett finished in the top 10 in all 10 tournaments he appeared in this season. Graduate student Sean Magarian has been a newcomer to this level of golf after transferring in from Assumption, an NCAA Division II school in Worcester, Massachusetts. Many coaches might not travel a senior to a postseason event like the NGI, choosing instead to use it as development for returners. Burke, however, looks at it as a tangible reward for all the work put in throughout the year, and so Magarian, who helped the Rams get to this point, completes the lineup. 'I'm really, really, really old-fashioned,' Burke said. 'My team has won like 28 times in my 14 years, it's not because I'm a swing coach. We have won on discipline and pride.' Burke's men studiously poured over their yardage books as they flew around the course with the first practice-round tee time of the day on Thursday. Only, Burke doesn't call it a practice round. 'We call it the pre-tournament round,' he said. 'We're here to see where we have to respect the golf course and where we can take advantage.' The major adjustment for his team on an unfamiliar desert layout has been in carry distance, especially off the tee. Only one player on Burke's team has played desert golf, so the sheer aesthetics – mountain views beyond the greens – only adds to the excitement. 'There's so many fairway traps, you really have to dial in your driver or, we're hitting irons off tees because it's flying further, so that's a change obviously but the climate is spectacular.'
USA Today
12-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
NGI: Another postseason title for Angelica Holman; Santa Clara breaks through in team race
NGI: Another postseason title for Angelica Holman; Santa Clara breaks through in team race Despite growing up in Fort Pierce, Florida, Angelica Holman came to the desert this week and something about Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona, just seemed right to her. 'It wasn't easy – I wouldn't say it was ever easy – it just suited my eye,' said Holman, the Eastern Michigan junior who led wire-to-wire on her way to the individual title at the National Golf Invitational. For Holman, this week marked a major breakthrough. She hasn't really felt she had a good handle on her game since last spring. But here's the crazy thing: Last spring, Holman also ended her season with a national title. Holman spent her freshman and sophomore seasons at Daytona State College, an NJCAA Division I school in Daytona Beach, Florida. Not only did Holman win the individual title at the NJCAA Women's National Championship in May 2024, but Daytona State finished as the top team. Holman went on to the University of Georgia from there but only spent the fall semester in Athens. She was on the roster but did not compete and transferred to play for Eastern Michigan coach Josh Brewer, who had recruited her to Georgia, at the midway point of the season. 'In the fall semester I think I just lost my swing and then it just took me so long to get it back,' she said. 'I think really relaxing and focusing on other parts of the game and more mental really helped me.' Holman teed it up seven times with the team this spring but with only one top-10 finish. She decided to enter the transfer portal, which she said was not only a personal decision but a very hard one considering that she loved her Eastern Michigan team and coaches. 'I'm just open to going anywhere now,' Holman said, 'hopefully closer to home.' National Golf Invitational: Final scores, standings Holman's rounds of 69-74-73 at Southern Dunes left her at even par for the week and one shot ahead of Mercer's Katie Scheck. Holman said she felt the most nervous in Sunday's final round, but eventually that went away. She was able to overcome back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 5 and 6 and played the rest of the day in 1-under par. 'It's amazing,' she said of winning the NGI title. 'It's just been so long since my game has been put together so it's really incredible for me.' Brewer said Holman largely found her way over the hump by herself. She's a beloved teammate and, as one of only two girls on Brewer's team who had a car on campus, was always generous to her teammates when it came to providing rides to and from practice. 'I'm happy for her because she's kind of stuck with it, kept believing and found a way to play her best golf at the end of the year,' Brewer said. Holman was perhaps an unexpected leader for an Eastern Michigan team that was without its star player Savannah de Bock after the sophomore from Belgium qualified for an NCAA Regional as an individual – becoming the first player in program history to play an NCAA postseason event in the process. That, however, meant de Bock was ineligible to play the NGI. Eastern Michigan started the final round in second place but 10 shots behind leader Santa Clara. By the end of the day, Brewer's squad had come within four shots of the team title. 'You want to win, but we gave ourselves at least a chance,' Brewer said, praising the resilience his team showed on Sunday as they posted a 4-over team score, the second-best team round of the day. Santa Clara has played the NGI all three years and finished in the top 5 in each of its past two trips to Southern Dunes. 'It was good to see that we could do it under pressure and that they stuck to their gameplan,' coach Krystal Kelly said of her team's win. 'I'm just so incredibly proud of them and everything they've accomplished this week.' At the beginning of the week, Kelly liked the plan her young team was following, and that plan didn't waiver even as Eastern Michigan attacked the course in a more aggressive way. At No. 16, a reachable par 5, for example, Eastern Michigan players went for the green in two. Kelly continued to coach her players to lay up there. The 17th hole is a short, challenging par 3 that Santa Clara played in 1 under. The closing hole is a par 4 with water where Kelly knows anything can happen, so she really didn't take a breath until freshman Proud Sriwongngam, playing in the No. 2 spot on Sunday, finished that hole. Kelly's consistent message to her team throughout the day was to stay patient. 'Ultimately I tell them, 'Be where your feet are,'' said Kelly, who played on the UCLA team that won the NCAA Women's Championship in 2004. This Santa Clara team has no seniors, and Kelly loved that no player ever gave up or took the cop-out of, 'hey, my score is not going to count.' For all five, the NGI title also marks the first time they have experienced a team victory. 'Just to see the reaction on their face when they knew we had won,' Kelly said, 'There's tears streaming down their face, it makes it all very worthwhile.' And for Kelly, there was another layer. Sunday was not only Mother's Day but her 43rd birthday. Her parents were in Arizona to cheer for their daughter's team and son Colt, 11, was at home, very much engaged with what was happening. 'He texted me yesterday, 'Go get 'em, Mom. I'm so proud of you.''
