The Sooners, winners of the Valero Texas Collegiate and the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational in the past few weeks, led by five going into the last round and despite what coach Ryan Hbyl described as ‘stubbing our toe down the stretch’ had too much in the tank for Colorado, who finished six behind at 36 under par.  

Kansas came in third  at 35 under par, its second top-3 finish of the fall, with Indiana in fourth (-34) and LSU, #5 in the most recent National Collegiate Golf Rankings, in fifth at 33 under. 

Oklahoma was anchored by three players who finished near the top of the leaderboard: Jase Summy (above), a 2023-24 All-Big 12 selection who finished T8 in this event last year, came in third, while junior Matthew Troutman and freshman Asher Whitaker (below) were both T12.

‘A lot of birdies and a lot of fun were had in Hawaii,’ remarked Oklahoma Head Coach Ryan Hybl, an inductee into the 2024 Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame. ‘So many of our guys collectively had a great week, which doesn’t happen that often. It was gratifying to get the job done. We head home happy, yet can’t wait to return.’

With a few holes to play, four individuals were tied for the lead and another six were within three shots. It all came down to the final hole as Jaxson Dowell (below), who started his round on the 18th and was attempting to go wire-to-wire after opening with an eight-under-par 63, birdied the par-3 17th to edge fellow Sooner Clark Van Gaalen by one shot.

Van Gaalen, a 6’4” freshman who was also playing as an individual, closed with a brilliant 64, which included three birdies in his last four holes. He finished at 16-under to earn his first career top-10.

With a round to go, Dowell explained that his goal coming into the week had not necessarily been to win. ‘When coach informed me that I was coming to Kā‘anapali to compete as an individual, his instructions were to build positive momentum that can be carried into the offseason.’

‘I wasn’t even supposed to be here until someone sadly got injured,’ he revealed after claiming his first college victory. ‘To play so well and cap it off with a win in Hawaii is a memory that I’ll cherish forever.’

Dowell, who made 20 birdies and led par-4 scoring across the 54 holes, becomes the third Kā‘anapali Classic individual medalist from Oklahoma after Luke Kluver in 2023 and Quade Cummins in 2019, and the eighth tournament champion to post a sub-200 score following his three-day total of 196 (-17).

Colorado senior Dylan McDermott (above) finished in third on 15 under par, his second top-3 of the season. It came as no surprise to Associate Head Coach Derek Tolan: ‘Dylan coming down the stretch was huge. Oddly enough, we weren’t too concerned about him because he is such a consistent player in the clutch moments.’

Tied in fourth place were Liberty’s Ike Joy, who shot a career-low 65 in the second round, and Indiana junior Clay Merchent, only the third Hoosier to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

Team Leaderboard | Individual Leaderboard

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