The UC Berkeley freshman opened with a stunning 8-under 64, then backed it up with 70-70 to finish at 12-under 204 and claim the title by a massive 10 shots at Bayonet Black Horse (Bayonet Course) in Seaside, California.

The moment that effectively ended the tournament came early. Cox made a hole-in-one on the 201-yard par-3 4th in the opening round — the kind of shot that gets everyone talking — and it helped him surge into a five-shot lead after just 18 holes.

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He stayed steady the rest of the way. A second-round 70 stretched his advantage to 10 strokes, and even with the trophy basically in his hands, Cox didn’t take his foot off the gas. Another 70 in the final round sealed a wire-to-wire win that was never in doubt.

Behind him, Sam Baumuller, a redshirt freshman at St. Mary’s College, finished second at 2-under 214 with rounds of 74-69-71. In fact, Baumuller was the only other player in the field to finish the 54-hole event under par — a stat that says almost as much about the course as it does about Cox’s week.

The win adds another highlight to Cox’s quickly growing resume. Last summer, he played six ranked events and posted his best finish with a T-4 at the Uswing Mojing Junior World Championship. His junior track record includes a 2023 San Diego High School CIF title, a third-place finish at the AJGA PGA West Junior Championship, sixth at both the 2024 IMG Junior World Championships and AJGA Mizuno West Coast Classic.

This time, though, it wasn’t just a strong finish — it was dominance from the opening swing.