NCAA men’s golf fall awards: Best team, MVP, most exciting tournament

The fall season in NCAA men’s golf is in the books and the early signing period is fast approaching, so what better time than to hand out some fall awards?

BEST TEAM: Auburn. Though Oklahoma State is ranked No. 1 in the country, the third-ranked Tigers are 3-0 against the Cowboys. Auburn was 13 shots better at Colonial, where it was runner-up, and beat Oklahoma State twice at the East Lake Cup, one of the Tigers’ three tournament titles this fall. Logan Reilly has continued to elevate his game alongside Walker Cupper Josiah Gilbert while Billy Davis and Alex Holder have become contributors. If Jake Albert can fully shake off his early struggles, Auburn will be favored to win a third NCAA title in four years.

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MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Max Herendeen, Illinois. Always a tough decision, but it’s made easier when the nation’s top-ranked player is the only top-50 player on the ninth-ranked team in the country. Herendeen’s importance to the Illini, of course, was already known; when he finished outside the top 35 five times last spring while failing to qualify for a tournament that he ended up winning, Illinois sputtered, losing the Big Ten Championship and failing to advance through NCAA regionals. But with Herendeen no longer affected by the pressures of being a world-class player, he’s enjoying some of his best golf yet – win, two more top-3s and nothing worse than T-15 in four fall starts.

BREAKOUT TEAM: Washington. With mid-majors such as East Tennessee State, Santa Clara and Liberty all in the top 30, I’m still going with the Huskies, who are ranked No. 18 in Thomas Sutton’s first season as head coach. Coming off two straight seasons in which Washington finished below .500, there were little expectations for this program out of the gates. But the Huskies started the fall with an impressive third at Sahalee and then won the St. Mary’s Invitational to cap the semester.

BREAKOUT INDIVIDUAL: Johnnie Clark, New Mexico. Not many remember that the big senior was originally part of the same Oklahoma State recruiting class as Preston Stout. But Clark played sparingly in two seasons with the Cowboys, then transferred prior to last season before enjoying a solid year – one win, No. 89 ranking. Now, he’s ranked seventh and owns three wins, which have all come in different countries. Clark has also lost to just two players in five starts this fall.

MOST DISAPPOINTING TEAM: Utah. Sure, Virginia, at No. 78, could be considered, but the Cavaliers also lost a slew of talent in Ben James, Bryan Lee and Paul Chang, and Hugo Le Goff just hasn’t materialized yet. But the Utes are ranked four spots lower despite boasting the 10th-ranked player in the country in Gabriel Palacios – a great comeback story by the way. Sergio Jimenez capped his fall with a T-7 at the Williams Cup, so there’s hope, but after those top two, it’s been a very frustrating few months for head coach Garrett Clegg.

MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER: Connor Graham, Texas Tech. Fresh off playing in a third Walker Cup, Graham now finds himself ranked No. 262 and without a top-35 finish in three starts. He’s made just 22 birdies all semester with almost a third of those coming in one round at Olympia Fields.

BEST TOURNAMENT PERFORMANCE BY A TEAM: Oklahoma State at Sahalee. The Cowboys are ranked No. 1 largely because of the way they started the fall – a 28-point victory over Florida at the Sahalee Players Championship. Eric Lee’s runner-up led four Cowboys at T-5 or better as Oklahoma State, at 4 under, finished as the only team under par on a tight, difficult layout. No team earned more points than the Cowboys did this week (approx. 134).

BEST TOURNAMENT PERFORMANCE BY A PLAYER: Ryder Cowan at the Gopher Invitational. It wasn’t the toughest field, but the Oklahoma senior proved that you can score big points (approx. 178) when you crush the field. Cowan shot 13 under, beat Georgia’s Mason Howell by six and bested the field average by almost 22 strokes. Georgia Tech’s Albert Hansson nearly topped Cowan’s performance recently at the Steelwood, shooting 20 under, winning by three and gaining a little over 161 points.

MOST EXCITING TOURNAMENT: Fallen Oak Intercollegiate. Looking at the final leaderboard – Arkansas, Illinois and South Carolina all tied for the win and Tennessee ended up a shot back – only tells part of the story. The Gamecocks shot the best final round (4 under), highlighted by two birdies in the difficult par-3 17th, to climb five spots on the leaderboard and post at 4 over along with Illinois, which got four back-nine birdies from Dane Huddleston, twice as many as any of the other Illini counters. Tennessee was in the final threesome, but with Jackson Herrington withdrawing with injury, the Vols had no margin for error. Final-hole birdies by Tyler Watts and Rudy Sautron helped, but ultimately, it wasn’t enough. Lev Grinberg turned in a 5-under 67 to lead Arkansas to the co-victory, which was punctuated by Illinois’ Max Herendeen holing a 40-footer for par at the last.

BIGGEST UPSET: Oral Roberts wins The Clerico. As highlighted by Jon Reehoorn’s The Differential, the Golden Eagles were No. 139 in the country with a 4-32-1 record before recording a 10-shot victory over a field that included then-fifth-ranked New Mexico. It was arguably the biggest upset since No. 103 UC Davis won the 2016 Stanford Intercollegiate over No. 1 USC and No. 8 Stanford.

MOST CLUTCH FINISH: Finn Koelle’s walk-off ace at Sahalee. The Washington senior not only won the Sahalee Players, one of the top fall events, by two shots, he did so with an ace on his 54th hole, the 214-yard, par-3 ninth. Now, Koelle posted his closing 66 well ahead of the final groups, but that doesn’t mean his finish was any less clutch.

TOP CONFERENCE. SEC. Nine of the top 14 teams, including Nos. 2-5. Shocker.

BEST MID-MAJOR: New Mexico. Jake Harrington continues to show why he’s one of the best coaches in the country. The Lobos posted three seconds and a win this fall and are ranked No. 11. Props to No. 20 East Tennessee State, No. 22 Santa Clara, No. 28 Liberty and No. 33 Toledo as well; mid-major golf is on the rise (roster limits?).