It took 21 holes, but Jackson Koivun of Auburn defeated Adam Wallin of Ohio State to send No. 6 Auburn to the championship match at the 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Championship at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
The Tigers took down No. 7 Ohio State 3-2 with match wins from JM Butler, Brendan Valdes, and Koivun. Ohio State got match wins from Tyler Sabo and Maxwell Moldovan.
Butler defeated Neal Shipley, a rematch of the semifinals of the 2023 U.S. Amateur, where Shipley defeated Butler.
The freshman standout won the 2024 Ben Hogan Award and the 2024 Haskins Award. He also won the SEC championships by an impressive six shots.
“I had a putt like that in regulation and I knew it had a little more break,” Koivun told the NCAA. “The pressure, the nerves definitely got to me a little bit. I don’t think I could have prepared myself for that. Playing for your friends, your teammates, your coaches, your entire university, it wears on you. For my match, I struggled at the start and he (Wallin) obviously played really well. I made a lot of pars down the stretch, and he fired two birdies at me to end regulation and force extra holes.”
Auburn will face No. 5 Florida State, who defeated No. 8 Georgia Tech 3-2 in the semifinals.
Christo Lamprecht, the No. 5 ranked player in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings, played for the first time since the opening round of stroke play. He fell to Luke Clanton 2&1 in his return.
Clanton, Tyler Weaver, and Frederik Kjettrup won matches to earn the Seminoles a spot in the championship match.
The top four seeds in the match-play portion all fell in the quarterfinals.
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY, THE AUBURN TIGERS WILL PLAY FOR A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP! #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/9QOct2BY7m
— Auburn Men's Golf (@AuburnMGolf) May 29, 2024
Georgia Tech defeated No. 1 seed Illinois 3-1 to advance to the semifinals. Illinois earned the top seed in the match play portion after putting on a clinic over the 72 holes of stroke play, shooting 6-under with rounds of 293-287-282-284 and winning by 16 shots.
Hiroshi Tai, Aidan Tran, and Bartley Forrester all secured wins for Georgia Tech.
No. 7 seed Ohio State defeated No. 2 seed Vanderbilt. In the match, Adam Wallin of Ohio State was all but done against Gordon Sargent of Vanderbilt after going two down with two holes left, but he made a 30-foot par putt on No. 17 and made a par on No. 18 to extend the match to 19 holes.
On the 19th hole, both Wallin and Sargent went into the front greenside bunker on the par-3 No. 16, and Wallin got up and down for par. Sargent missed his par putt, giving Wallin and Ohio State the win.
For Ohio State, Neal Shipley and Jackson Chandler won their matches to get the Buckeyes to three points.
Tyler Sabo also recorded a hole-in-one on the par-3 No. 8.
In a rematch of the ACC championship match, Florida State defeated North Carolina 3-2 after falling to the Tar Heels 3-2 at the ACC's. Brett Roberts, Tyler Weaver, and Luke Clanton won the three matches for the Seminoles.
Auburn defeated No. 3 Virginia 3-1 behind wins from Jackson Koivun, Carson Bacha, and Josiah Gilbert in the quarterfinals.
In the stroke play portion, Hiroshi Tai of Georgia Tech won the individual title after shooting three rounds of 67-77-70-71 to finish 3-under, one shot better than six golfers, including Gordon Sargent of Vanderbilt, the No. 1 ranked player in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.
Tai was the first-round leader after posting a 5-under 67. He started his first round on the back nine and birdied the par-5 10th. He turned to the front nine at 2-under and birdied holes No. 1, 2, 4, and 9 with a bogey on No. 5 to get into the clubhouse at 5-under.
Florida State and Auburn are both seeking its first men's golf national championship.
Cole Anderson vs. Carson Bacha (5:25 p.m. ET)
Tyler Weaver vs. Josiah Gilbert (5:35 p.m. ET)
Brett Roberts vs. Jackson Koivun (5:45 p.m. ET)
Frederik Kjettrup vs. Brendan Valdes (5:55 p.m. ET)
Luke Clanton vs. JM Butler (6:05 p.m. ET)