If you are a golf fan, you probably spent a lot of time over the weekend with the Ryder Cup competition on TV. But you were missing the first ever Jim DeLapa Collegiate event at Point O’ Woods Golf & Country Club. Thankfully, you still have time this afternoon to catch the final round of competition at the Point, expected to wrap up about 4 pm Monday.
Here is a complete update on the DeLapa event from the weekend, supplied by the college coaches association that is organizing the new event alongside Point O’ Woods leaders.
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The opening two rounds of the inaugural Jim DeLapa Collegiate took place Sunday at Point O’ Woods Golf & Country Club. Hosted by Central Michigan and Head Coach Kevin Jennings, a Benton Harbor native who spent many summers caddying at the club alongside his brother JJ. This year’s tournament features 13 Division I teams from across the country. Cincinnati and Dean Muratore of Michigan lead the team and player leaderboards, respectively, after 36 holes.
Round 1
Led by Sam Baumuller’s 33 going out and Mitchell Hoey’s 33 coming in, Saint Mary’s (CA) used 11 birdies from counting scores for a nine-under 271. San Jose State also recorded 11 birdies from counting scores and 33s coming in from Keshav Mungali and Ivan Barahona for a nine-under 271 to pace the team leaderboard. Grand Canyon and Princeton ended the round three strokes behind the Gaels and Spartans.
Grand Canyon freshman Daniel Nilsson recorded seven birdies and was bogey-free during his final 13 holes for a six-under 64. San Jose State junior Mungali also made seven birdies to only one bogey for a six-under 64 for the individual lead. 11 players were within three shots of the lead, including San Francisco freshman Theo Anderson, whose eagle on the 444-yard par-4 6th hole and four birdies got him a five-under 65.
Round 2
Beginning the round T9 and 12 shots off the lead, Cincinnati carded 21 birdies and two eagles to guide their 10-under 270 to leapfrog up the team leaderboard and lead Princeton by two heading into Monday’s final round. 12 of those birdies and both eagles came on the back nine for the Bearcats, who were led by three counting scores of 32 or lower coming in.
“I was a little nervous actually coming in,” Cincinnati Head Coach Doug Martin said. “I was a little bit concerned with where we were with our preparation. We had horrible weather the last six or seven days in Cincinnati before we came here, and we did not have an opportunity to get out and play a shot on the golf course for a week until we got here. We had to go to our indoor facility, and I thought that that preparation was great, but it still wasn’t playing golf holes. When we started off the first round today, my concerns came about. We were not very good the first 18 holes and, to be honest, the first six to eight holes of the second round. We made the turn and started to find our groove. We made a couple of eagles on 13 and had a guy (senior Ryan Ford) make four birdies in a row and another (senior Connor McNeely) make two in a row with an eagle in between. I’m not sure what the answer is, but we’ve been preaching playing with patience since we got back to camp in the middle of August. Today was a perfect example of our guys being very patient.”
“Tomorrow is a new day to go out and compete,” continued Martin. “Our goal is to go out and shoot a score, like it is every day. We’ll have a good conversation tonight about how our patience prevailed today, and come out tomorrow with that same mentality.”
Martin is no stranger to Point O’ Woods.
“I have a history here, so it’s a pretty special place to come back to,” he said. “I played here in the Western Amateur in 1987, 1988, and 1989. I was a semifinalist twice, medalist in ‘89, and broke the course record in ‘89 shooting a 64. It didn’t last very long; (Phil) Mickelson came back the next year and shot 63. This place is special to me. I love the golf course. I’ve had multiple members come up to me and say they remember watching me play, which, Holy Toledo, that’s 36 years ago. This is a great place.”
Saint Mary’s (CA), Michigan, and San Jose State are one behind Princeton and three behind Cincinnati.
Muratore recorded six birdies and had bogey-free stretches of eight holes and six holes during his opening round 66. The sophomore from Dix Hills, New York then played the afternoon bogey-free for a six-under 64 that included six birdies, including three of his final four holes, to move up the individual leaderboard and lead by two strokes over Mungali.
“I made a lot of putts today,” said Muratore. “I drove the ball really well and played a lot in the fairway, which is key out here. You can get in some bad spots off the tee. I then hit it on the green to give myself some looks and made them.”
“It was a lot of fun coming down the stretch,” he continued. “This is the first time in a college event for me coming down the stretch in Round 2, so I’m going to try to stick to my process, stay focused, and do what I know how to do. I think I stuck to that pretty well today. I made two good birdies on the last two holes to keep it going.”
“This is a great place. It’s only about two hours away from our school. It’s a great golf course and this is a great event.”
The final round of the 2025 Jim DeLapa Collegiate will begin Monday at 8:30 am ET. Follow this link for tee times and this link for live scoring.
