Bond, Stoller to meet (literally) for OGA State Amateur Championship
By Ken MacLeod
Going into his redshirt sophomore season at Oklahoma State, Collin Bond of Norman may need a hammer and chisel to crack that starting Cowboy lineup, which remarkably returns all five starters who won the NCAA Championship two years ago and lost in the semifinals this year.
To win the Oklahoma Golf Association State Amateur Championship however, he just has one man to beat.
Bond moved into Thursday morning’s championship match with a 2 and 1 victory over Bryan Vahlberg of Norman in the quarterfinals and a 5 and 4 victory over C.J. Phillips of Edmond in the semifinals Wednesday in searing 100-degree heat at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club.
Standing in his way will be Owasso’s Ben Stoller, for whom a victory would be quite a triumphant comeback. Stoller missed parts of two seasons of his collegiate career at Kansas State with putting yips but overcame them. He didn’t play a great deal in 2025-26 and has since transferred to the University of Louisiana Monroe for his final season.
Stoller survived a morning match with fellow Owasso resident and current University of Oklahoma golfer Cameron Cheek 1 up. That match came to the 18th hole with Stoller holding a one hole lead, but he pulled his second shot left of the green and made bogey. From the middle of the fairway Cheek went long on his second shot and after chipping back failed to convert a 10-foot par putt to send the match to extra holes.
The road did not get any easier for Stoller. His semifinal opponent was former pro and recent OGA Mid-Amateur winner Blake Trimble, who had been on cruise control throughout the tournament. But Stoller led most of the front nine and built the lead to two holes on the par-4 10th with a birdie.
Stoller was clinging to a one shot lead when they came to the downhill par-4 14th hole. From the right rough Stoller put his approach 30 feet past the hole. From the fairway Trimble hit a wedge that landed inside a foot from the hole, but spun back all the way off the green into primary rough. From there he fluffed the chip shot coming back and made bogey to fall two down. He was never able to eat into that lead as both players made birdie on the par-5 16th and Stoller closed it out with a par on 17 for the 2 and 1 victory.
“I had not had a shot react that way the entire tournament, so I was surprised,” Trimble said. “And then I hit a bad chip on top of it. That was a key hole in the match. I thought I was going to be getting all square and instead I’m two down. But Ben played very well and made all the key putts when he needed to. I wish him the best tomorrow.”
Although two both came up in the Oklahoma junior golf ranks, Bond and Stoller have never met or played together before. Stoller is several years the elder at 22. He said this is the seventh or eighth time he has played in the State Amateur and his previous best finish was the round of 16, Bond reached the round of 16 in 2025 in his first attempt.
Bond, whose OSU teammate Jaxon Bendelier led the qualifying Monday with a 7-under 64, is bidding to become the second OSU golfer outside that top five to capture a major OGA championship this summer. His teammate John Wild won the OGA Stroke Play Championship with an eagle on the final hole at Shawnee Country Club on June 24.
It’s a deep and talented Cowboy team but Bond was the regular sixth man throughout 2025-26 and he said he’s confident he’ll get a fair shot from coach Alan Bratton for more playing time. Winning the OGA State Amateur would be a well-respected prize to take back to Stillwater. Bratton won the same title in 2006 at Dornick Hills and has always treasured that victory..
