Blake Vaughn out of the fairway, courtesy of Bob Stoner
Blake Vaughn out of the fairway, courtesy of Bob Stoner
Posted: Mar 04, 2025

Men's Golf Finishes 4th at Home Tournament

CHAPIN, S.C. - The Columbia College men's golf team finished 4th place out of 10 schools at their 2025 Koala Classic home tournament on Tuesday at the Timberlake GC in Chapin, SC.

Rival CIU won the tournament with a score of +28 over 596 while the Koala A team shot a two-day score of +71 over 639. Columbia shot the third-best score on Monday in round one with a 321 before improving by three strokes in round two with a 318. Div. II Erskine finished third (636) while St. Andrews was second (614). Indiana Tech was 5th and Bob Jones Univ. was 6th to round out the top finishers. Columbia's "B" team then came in 7th out of 10 with a two-day score of 670 including a quality round of 323 on day two.

Freshman Thomas Campbell led the Koala men by finishing in a tie for 3rd place with a +9 over 151 as he shot rounds of 77 on Monday and a +3 over 74 on Tuesday. CIU's Luke Hammond won the tournament with a +1 over 143 (71-72).

Fellow freshman Zachary Mock then came in a tie for 6th at +11 over 153 with rounds of 78 and 75 as he also improved on day two. Sophomore Ryan Lord and freshman Josh Brown then each tied for 14th place at +15 over 157. Lord shot rounds of 78 and 79 while Brown scored rounds of 80 and 77, also improving by three shots on day two.

AAC Golfer of the Week, senior Blake Vaughn, then placed next for CC coming in 20th at +20 over 162. Vaughn shot a +6 over 77 in round one but struggled to an 85 in round two. Freshman Jaxon Mock came in a tie for 31st place at +28 over 170 with rounds of 88 and 82 while freshman Gavin Ratliff was 39th at +35 over 177. Ratliff saw the biggest improvements between rounds as he struggled to a 98 in the first round, but came back strong with a 79 on day two, a 19-stroke improvement.

Freshman Hayden Ardis then placed 45th at 179 while Christian Hadley was 47th at 183. Ardis had rounds of 87 and 92 while Hadley shot 93 and 90. Stephen Swenson also placed 53rd with rounds of 104 and 95.

The Koalas next return to the links on March 17-18 when they head back up to NC to compete in the Sandhills Championship in Pinehurst.