NORMAN – Oklahoma men’s and women’s golfers dominated from start to finish at the inaugural Golf Coaches Association of America Amateur Series this weekend. The event, played at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club, featured 51 collegiate men’s and women’s golfers in a 54-hole event. Men’s golfer Quade Cummins was crowned champion and women’s golfer Libby Winans was the top woman in the field, finishing in third place and 12 strokes ahead of the next woman. Both men’s and women’s golfers competed in one tournament but used different sets of tees. The tournaments are recognized by WAGR points.
“I had a rough start on Saturday being 1-over thru 12, but I just stayed patient,” Cummins said after his win. “I played better in the first round than I did in the second round, I thought. The putts were just falling that second round. Today in the final round, I knew that if I stuck around and played the easier holes well that I would be in a good spot. Jake and Libby put some heat on me coming down the stretch but I just played my game and didn’t force anything.”
Two Sooners, Cummins and Jake Holbrook, shared the men’s lead after 36 holes at 9-under. In Sunday’s final round, the two Sooner golfers battled back and forth and went into the final hole tied at 13-under. Holbrook would bogey and Cummins would find a par to take home medalist honors. Cummins, an All-American, only carded four bogeys over 54 holes, while sinking 15 birdies, including seven plus an eagle in his second round of 64. Holbrook, a rising sophomore, carded three rounds in the 60s, setting 54-hole (204) and 18-hole (66) lows.
“Jake and I were tied coming down 18 and I tried to go for it, and I topped it and had a gap through the trees that ended up about seven feet from the pin,” Cummins said. “It’s a great feeling being able to win on your campus course and to put three rounds under par together is something I haven’t been able to do in a while, so it was nice.”
On the women’s side, it wasn’t nearly as close as women’s golfer Libby Winans distanced herself from the rest of the field to finish alone in third, setting a women’s course record in Saturday’s second round when she carded a 65. Winans’ 54-hole score of 205 bests her previous career record by one stroke, which she set at the 2018 Schooner Fall Classic. Winans tied Holbrook with a field-high 19 birdies across the two days.
“I had so much fun not only just playing at Jimmie Austin, but getting to play against some of our men’s team. It brought a different kind of pressure and such good competition,” Winans said after the final round. “My distance control was about the best I’ve seen, so that helped me play well. Really, it was just fun and playing against great competition elevates my game.”
Four other OU men’s golfers competed at Jimmie Austin and all finished inside the top 30, highlighted by Lane Wallace’s T18 finish. Wallace fired a 3-under 69 in the opening round and finished with a 75 and 73 to end his weekend at 1-over. Winans was the lone representative of the women’s team at the event.