By Danielle Daniels
May 28, 2024
Ohio State finishes tied for third, its best finish at the NCAA Championship since winning in 1979
CARLSBAD, Calif. – What a day of golf it was for Ohio State at the NCAA Championship on Tuesday at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa. The day had it all. Smiles. Laughs. Hugs. High-fives. Emotions running from low to high and back again. And sadly, tears at the end.
The Buckeyes battled the top two-ranked teams in college golf on Tuesday, beating No. 2 Vanderbilt 3-1-1 in a thrilling quarterfinal match in the morning and then falling 3-2 to No. 1 Auburn in a dramatic semifinal match that wasn’t decided until the 21st hole of the final match.
For the team, the tears were more of joy than sadness. Yes, the season ended. But the run the last couple of weeks and the brotherhood strengthened this week in Carlsbad, brought more smiles than tears. The team featured four seniors who played a lot of golf together. And they helped carry Ohio State to its best finish at the NCAA Championship in 45 years.
The Buckeyes finished tied for third, which was their best finish since they won their second title in 1979.
“It was quite an unusual season in a lot of ways,” said head coach Jay Moseley. “There were points in the spring where we had some adversity that we didn’t handle so well and just didn’t play the way we expect and the standards that we have for ourselves and the team. I knew it would come together at some point, but you just never know when. We came in here with some really good momentum and we knew we were playing well. It was not a surprise to us at all to see the way we managed through stroke play. We felt great about how the golf course setup for us. We’ve got guys that can hit it in the short grass and hit greens. We just needed a couple more putts to drop.”
The loss to Auburn signaled the end of the careers for Jackson Chandler, Adam Wallin, Neal Shipley and Maxwell Moldovan. Those four players combined to play in more than 160 events and more than 500 rounds for the Buckeyes. And their names will be littered throughout the OSU record book.
Moldovan finishes his career with the lowest scoring average in OSU history at 71.25 and also has the most career rounds at par or better (86) and the most career rounds in the 60s (48). He had four career wins, 19 top 10s and 31 top 20s.
Chandler played some of the best golf of his career over the last two months. The Dublin, Ohio native had 14 career top 20s and finished in the top 7 in all five events he played on the OSU Golf Club. That included a runner-up finish at this year Robert Kepler Intercollegiate.
Wallin became the first Buckeye to finish in the top 10 at the NCAA Championship since 1995 as he held the 54-hole lead and finished in a tie for 8th at 1-under par. He had two career victories, 20 top 20 finishes and posted the lowest scoring average of his career this season at 71.73.
Shipley played the last two seasons at Ohio State and led the team this year in scoring at 71.35. He was the first Buckeye amateur to play in Masters since 1996 and he even made the cut. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native had six top 10s this season alone after coming into the year with just five in his previous four years combined.
For all of the talk of the seniors, redshirt-freshman Tyler Sabo certainly made a name for himself on Tuesday as well. He stood tall against the No. 15 ranked amateur in the world during his morning match and then was one of two Buckeyes to win their semifinal match in the afternoon. He also made a hole-in-one in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship. What freshman does that??
With a senior laden team, expectations were high for the Buckeyes this season. They played well in three events in the fall and then opened the spring with a win at the Southwestern Invitational. Shipley also picked up his first collegiate win at that event. The rest of the regular season didn’t quite meet the lofty expectations, but the Buckeyes were still confident heading west to Carlsbad. And they certainly showed they were one of the top teams in the country this week.
Now on to the matches.
NCAA Quarterfinals – Ohio State vs. Vanderbilt
The morning quarterfinal match was against No. 2 seed and No. 2 ranked Vanderbilt. The first match out between Chandler and Jackson Van Paris was level on the opening nine. They traded wins at Nos. 10 and 11 and then Chandler took the lead for good with a par at No. 12. He also won No. 15 with a birdie and halved No. 16 for a 3&2 victory.
In match two, Moldovan took a 2-up lead through five holes against Cole Sherwood, but Sherwood would win Nos. 6, 7 and 9 and would hold the edge the rest of the way in a 3&2 victory.
Shipley shot out of the gate against Matthew Riedel in match three, making birdies at holes 4, 5, 6 and 8 to build a 5-up lead at the turn. He would go on to win his match 4&2 and the Buckeyes led 2-1.
Wallin was playing in the morning marquee match against Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent. Wallin won the second hole and held the 1-up lead for the next nine holes. Sargent then won three consecutive holes to switch the board and led 2-up with two holes to play. Wallin won both the 17th and 18th holes with pars to level the match and they would go to an extra hole. Playing the par-3 16th, both players ended up in the front bunker. Wallin would get up-and-down for par while Sargent missed his par attempt, sending the Buckeyes through to the next round.
Sabo was in the last match of the day against William Moll, the No. 15 ranked amateur in the world. Sabo’s amateur ranking of 2,209 was brought up during the broadcast but the Ashland, Ohio native would go blow-for-blow with Moll down the stretch.
Moll took the early lead and seemed to have Sabo on the ropes at the par-3 eighth. Leading 2-up, Moll hit it to three-feet and looked to have another sure birdie. But Sabo hit his lob wedge just behind the hole and it spun back in for a hole-in-one. It was an amazing shot that seemed to flip the match. He then made birdie at No. 9, and they would make the turn all-square.
Sabo took a 2-up lead through 14 holes, but Moll would win Nos. 15 and 18 to send the match to extra holes. It would end tied as Wallin won his match just ahead of Sabo and Moll.
NCAA Semifinals – Ohio State vs. Auburn
After a quick lunch, the Buckeyes turned around and took on the No. 6 seed in match play but the No. 1 ranked team all season in the Auburn Tigers. And what a match it was.
The opening match was between Moldovan vs. Carson Bacha. Moldovan birdied the par-4 fourth hole to take a 1-up lead and never trailed the rest of the way. Another birdie at No. 15 gave him a 2-up lead but Bacha would force the match to the 18th hole. There, Moldovan put the first point on the board with a clutch birdie, wedging it close and rolling in the putt. It was a fitting end to his career.
Match two was between Chandler and Brendan Valdes. It was a true back-and-forth match with neither player leading by more than one hole the entire way. In the end, Valdes was able to hold on for a 1-up win and the team match was tied 1-1.
Sabo played in the middle match in the afternoon and he played beautifully against Josiah Gilbert. He won the second hole and then nearly had his second ace of the day, hitting it to two feet at No. 3 to take a 2-up lead. He held that lead for the rest of the match. Gilbert won No. 17 to force the match down No. 18, but an up-and-down birdie on the par-5 gave Sabo a thrilling 1-up victory. The confidence the young man will take from showing his game on a biggest stage in college golf will hopefully propel his career.
The fifth match between Shipley and J.M. Butler was a rematch of the US Amateur semifinal match that saw Shipley win and punch his ticket to the Masters and the US Open. Butler won the sixth hole with a birdie and wouldn’t give up the lead the rest of the way, winning 2&1.
That evened the score at 2-2 and meant Wallin would again have to turn around a 2-down deficit with two holes remaining. This time, he was playing this year’s Fred Haskins Award winner in Jackson Koivun. Wallin birdied No. 17 to get back to 1-down and made another clutch birdie at No. 18 to force extra holes.
Both players made par on the first extra hole, the par-3 16th. On No. 17, Wallin drove into the fairway bunker and Koivun found the left rough. Wallin hit his shot short-right of the green while Koivun flew his 9-iron past the pin to the back of the green. The ball leaped off the back of the green but was saved by the TV tower, knocking the ball down just steps off the back of the green. He would then get up-and-down. Wallin chipped his ball to four-feet and made another great par putt to force a third playoff hole.
On the par-5 18th, Wallin’s approach ran to the back of the green and Koivun’s approach from the greenside bunker settled under the hole, about five feet away. Wallin’s birdie attempt just missed on the right side of the hole and Koivun would make his birdie to win the match for Auburn.
The final match had everything a golf fan would want. Drama on every shot. Fans walking the fairways alongside the players. Teammates excited. TV cameras catching every movement. And both players performed under pressure. Hard to be disappointed with the outcome.
Quarterfinals – Ohio State defeats Vanderbilt 3-1-1
Match 1: Jackson Chandler (OSU) defeats Jackson Van Paris (VU) 3&2
Match 2: Cole Sherwood (VU) defeats Maxwell Moldovan (OSU) 3&2
Match 3. Neal Shipley (OSU) defeats Matthew Riedel (VU) 4&2
Match 4: Adam Wallin (OSU) defeats Gordon Sargent (VU) 19 holes
Match 5: Tyler Sabo (OSU) vs. William Moll (VU), halved
Semifinals – Auburn defeats Ohio State 3-2
Match 1: Maxwell Moldovan (OSU) defeats Carson Bacha (AU) 1-up
Match 2: Brendan Valdes (AU) defeats Jackson Chandler (OSU) 1-up
Match 3: Tyler Sabo (OSU) defeats Josiah Gilbert (AU) 1-up
Match 4: Jackson Koivun (AU) defeats Adam Wallin (OSU) 21 holes
Match 5: J.M. Butler (AU) defeats Neal Shipley (OSU) 2&1
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