Santa Clara (Calif.) University made the 2,800-mile trek across the country a victorious one in the inaugural Myrtle Beach Golf Trips Intercollegiate at the Grande Dunes Resort Course.
The Broncos began the final round two shots clear of Campbell and the two teams battled to the wire in the 54-hole event. Santa Clara maintained a tenuous lead throughout the day, until Emil Nielsen eagled the par 5 17th hole, and his teammates Calder Overfelt and Alvaro Baumgart made birdie to provide breathing room in what ended up being a three-shot victory.
Santa Clara finished with a team score of 21-under par while Campbell was 18-under.
“It’s really an awesome way to start the season, especially with so many young guys on the team,” Santa Clara coach Andrew Larkin said. “We have four new players in the lineup, including two freshmen. It was a super, super fun (tournament). Between the setup of the course and the conditions, it was a first-class event.
Dylan Teeter (Texas El Paso), Jack Wieler (Elon) and JP Odland (Santa Clara) finished tied for medalist honors at 9-under par.
Coastal Carolina, the tournament host, enjoyed a strong outing with a fourth place showing. The Chanticleers finished at 12-under, a shot ahead of fifth place Elon. Owen Kim led the way for Coastal, finishing 7-under, good for a fifth-place individual finish while teammate Trey Crenshaw was one stroke back in a tie for sixth with Elon’s Garrett Risner.
Grande Dunes, the sprawling 7,578-yard Roger Rulewich design, was the star of the show, challenging golf’s rising young stars with its length and creativity.
“The greens were absolutely perfect,” Coastal Carolina coach Jacob Wilner said. “There is a lot of variety out here on the par 3s. We moved the tees around every day and every par 3 with the exception of No. 11 played completely different every day.”
The course has long been a favorite of high-level amateurs and traveling golfers. Grande Dunes features five holes along the Intracoastal Waterway, including the unforgettable, par 3 14th, which plays from an elevated bluff to a green that stretches 45 yards from front to back, providing plenty of creative pin positions.
“It was a lot of fun,” University of Maryland freshman Will Gregware said. “It’s a really nice course, pretty challenging. The greens were big, firm and fast.”
