Koichiro Furuse Wins Bridgestone Collegiate, leads Tohoku Fukushi to team victory

March 25, 2025 | by Amit Pandey of AmateurGolf.com

Tohoku Fukushi (Adam Mackey Photo)

Furuse is a student athlete at Tohoku Fukushi, the alma mater of 2021 Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama

Koichiro Furuse, a student-athlete at Tohoku Fukushi University—the alma mater of 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama—put together three steady rounds to win the individual title at the Bridgestone Collegiate Invitational.

Playing at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, California, Furuse carded scores of 67-68-71 to finish at 10-under-par and win by two shots.

Furuse is ranked 312th on the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings and entered the final round with a two-stroke lead and stayed composed down the stretch, closing with a 71 to seal the victory. His teammate, Kaito Sato, bounced back from a tough second round with a 67 on the final day to join a three-way tie for second at 8-under.

Sato was matched by Masato Sumiuchi of Nihon University (69-68-71) and Xing Luo of North Alabama (68-69-71).

Last year, Furuse competed in seven ranked events, securing three top-10 finishes. His best result was a solo third place at the Shihoku Amateur Championship in May.

Tohoku Fukushi had another top-10 finish from Yura Shimura, who shot rounds of 72-71-70 to finish T-8 at 3-under, giving the team three players inside the top 10.
In the team standings, Tohoku Fukushi University was solid from start to finish, posting rounds of 279-283-279 to finish at 23-under-par.

That effort gave them a six-shot win over Santa Clara, who finished second at 17-under with rounds of 282-287-278.

Tohoku Fukushi also led the field in key statistical categories, including Par-4 and Par-5, scoring with averages of 4.05 and 4.53, respectively. They also made more birdies than any other team, tallying 55 over the three rounds.

Results: Bridgestone Collegiate Invitational

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Koichiro Furuse	, Japan	400	67-68-71=206
2	Kaito Sato	, Japan	300	68-73-67=208
2	Masato Sumiuchi	, Japan	300	69-68-71=208
2	Eric (Xing) Luo	Katy, TX	300	68-69-71=208
5	Cole Ponich	Farmington, UT	200	77-69-65=211

View full results for Bridgestone Collegiate Invitational

About the Bridgestone Collegiate Invitational

Koichiro Furuse Wins Bridgestone Collegiate, leads Tohoku Fukushi to team victory

The Bridgestone Collegiate Invitational is a 54-hole team and individual stroke-play event. The event features top-level NCAA Division I men’s golf programs and historically Black colleges and universities in addition to four high-ranking individual ...