College roundup: Sooners fifth, records fall in The Clerico, UCO rolls
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Oklahoma men’s golf finished fifth at the Invitational at the Honors Course on Tuesday, marking the program’s 12th top-five finish in its last 13 regular season events.
Three Sooners – PJ Maybank III, Ryder Cowan and Matthew Troutman – placed inside the top 15 in the individual standings.
Fifth-ranked Oklahoma surged on the back nine to climb into third place and within two strokes of eventual champion Ole Miss, but could not hold the momentum over the closing holes and settled into fifth at the 54-hole tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Maybank III (T11, -1) was the lone Sooner under par for the week, carding rounds of 67-74-74 to finish 1-under and secure 12th place. The result marked the junior’s eighth career top-20 finish and first of the season.
Cowan (T13, E) opened with a 69 (-3) on Monday before posting rounds of 73 and 74 to finish even-par and tied for 13th. In 27 career events, the Edmond, Okla., native has now collected 16 top-20 finishes, including six in his last seven tournaments dating back to last season.
Troutman (T15, +1) earned a share of 15th at 1-over par, securing his 10th career top-20 finish in just 14 events. His 10 top-20 placements are the third most on the roster, trailing only Jase Summy and Cowan with 16 each.
Clark Van Gaalen (T23, +3) matched Summy for Oklahoma’s low round of the day, firing an even-par 72 to move up nine spots on the leaderboard and tie for 23rd.
Summy (T36, +7) tied for 36th at 7-over, snapping his streak of 13 consecutive top-30 finishes in regular season events.
Andrew Ramos (T60, +19), competing unattached, tied for 60th.
Seventh-ranked Ole Miss claimed the team title at 10-under par, led by Cam Tankersley, who shared medalist honors with Auburn’s Josiah Gilbert at 6-under. Sixth-ranked Virginia, third-ranked Auburn, 10th-ranked Vanderbilt and fifth-ranked Oklahoma rounded out the top five.
The Sooners return to action Sept. 29-30 at the Ben Hogan Collegiate at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Oklahoma won the event last season with an 830 (-10), finishing four shots clear of the field. At Colonial in 2024, Cowan, Troutman and Maybank III all recorded top-15 finishes.
Course record under assault in The Clerico at Hillcrest Country Club
BARTLESVILLE – The women’s course record at Hillcrest Country Club in Bartlesville was under assault for two days during The Lady Clerico hosted by Oral Roberts.
The tournament was won by Southern Mississippi at 3-under while ORU placed sixth. The previous low round by a female on the 1926 Perry Maxwell design was 69, but that was bested by two shots in the first round by Ryann Honea of Abilene Christian.
Timbre Shehee of Northern Colorado matched that 67 in the second round. The final round saw three golfers fire 67 – Julia Vollmer of Abilene Christian, Taylor Tribble of Southern Methodist and Louise Cuyvers of Southern Miss.
Vollmer was 7-under through 13 holes but had two bogeys coming in. Hillcrest Country Club is a par 72 course playing 6,247 yards for the event.
Honea from Abilene Christian won the individual title with a score of -11 (67-70-68). Her team placed second, thanks in part to the 11th place finish of Maddi Kamas, a transfer from Oklahoma City University and former Class 4A state champion from Kingfisher. Complete results are here.
Bronchos win NSU Classic at Page Belcher in Tulsa
TULSA, Okla. – Central Oklahoma won its second consecutive tournament to open the 2025-26 season Tuesday with the Bronchos taking home the title at the NSU Classic.
UCO shot 24-under par over three trips around Page Belcher Golf Club’s Stone Creek course. The Bronchos shot an 828 (274-276-278) through 54 holes on the 6,547-yard Par 71 course.
“We started off today great, and though we didn’t end well, it ended with a win,” UCO head men’s golf coach Derrick Thompson said. “We did enough to win and that’s what matters. Thankfully when we hit a tough spot it was at the end and had done enough up to that point.”
Central Oklahoma was as low as 32-under par for the tournament before a rough stretch to finish that included 11 bogeys on the final four holes. But it didn’t matter. UCO’s 828 was seven shots better than Central Missouri (835). Pittsburg State, Harding, and Arkansas Tech all shot an 845 to tie for third in the event.
Nick Canales was Central’s top finisher, coming in third place individually. The junior shot a 6-under 204 for the week, with rounds of 68, 65, and 71.
Bryant Polhill was three shots back in 11th place. His 207 included a 68-71-68 this week. Rhett Hughes was one back of Polhill, shooting a 3-under 208. Hughes fired rounds of 70, 69, and 69 this week.
Karsten Paciotti shot a 2-over 212 with rounds of 69, 73, and 70 to finish 21st individually. Baylor Bostick finished 31st in the tournament. He shot a 4-over 214, with rounds of 69, 71, and 74.
UCO came out firing on Tuesday. Hughes, Canales, and Bostick all birdied No. 1 and the birdie parade was on. Canales sank four birdie putts on the front nine and Hughes and Bostick sank three each. Polhill and Paciotti also had one birdie apiece.
Polhill caught fire soon after. He was even-par through 10 before reeling off five consecutive birdies on Nos. 11-15. Paciotti added three more on the back nine and Hughes added two more to give UCO 22 birdies in the final round.
Central Oklahoma is off for two weeks before hosting its own fall tournament Oct. 6-7. The Skip Wagnon Invitational, a 54-hole event, will be played then at KickingBird Golf Club in Edmond. UCO is also playing in Missouri Southern’s event at Shangri-La Oct. 20-21 and Dallas Baptist’s event at Rockwall Golf Club Oct. 27-28.