PENFIELD, N.Y. – The University of Rochester golf team concluded its 2024-25 season on Friday afternoon at the NCAA Division III Championships at Midvale Country Club, closing out a record-setting campaign for the Yellowjackets.
Rochester ended the national tournament in a tie for 11th place with a four-round total score of 1,199 strokes, easily breaking the team record for lowest team score at an NCAA event. Rochester's finish ties/is the best for Rochester since finishing tied for eighth at NCAA's back in the 1993-94 season.
During the fourth and final round of the event, spanning both Thursday and Friday due to weather, Rochester finished with a team score of 296, also matching a program-record at the NCAA Championships, tying the single-round record set on three other occasions, including during last year's postseason. The score was the best of the week for Rochester by three shots.
To make up the final round, Rochester's four scoring golfers all shot 77 or better on the par-72 course layout at Midvale, spanning 6,632 yards.
Sophomore Arjun Aujla finished his first NCAA appearance strong, closing the tournament with a 1-under par round of 71. After starting with six pars in his final round, Aujla sandwiched two birdies around a bogey to wrap up his outward nine holes.
On the back nine, it was a similar scenario, with the sophomore notching five straight pars before recording a bogey on #15. Aujla got right back to red figures with a birdie on #16 ahead of finishing off the round with two pars. The sophomore finished the event in a tie for 59th place with a 4-round total of 305.
Fellow sophomore Shibo Wang notched an even par round of 72 during the fourth time around the course this week, signing for his best score of the tournament. Wang ended in a tie for 40th with a score of 300 for the four rounds.
Wang's scorecard over the final 18 holes featured five birdies, including four on his first ten holes. The five birdies were the most by a UR golfer this week across a single round. As a team, the Yellowjackets finished seventh among all 43 teams with 52 total birdies in the tournament.
First-year Alvin Su was Rochester's highest finishing golfer in the tournament, carding a score of 295 (7-over) to rank 20th individually in the field which featured 225 golfers at the start of the week. Su's 72-hole score is the fifth best all-time by a Rochester golfer at the NCAA Championships, and he becomes the 11th top-20 finisher at nationals in program history.
Su's final round was highlighted by an eagle three on the par-5 third hole. That saved what was a bit of a rocky start for the first-year, with bogeys on four other holes on his opening nine. On the back, Su shot under par on the par-5 tenth hole and came in with three other bogeys the rest of the way to close with a 76 (4-over) in the final round.
Rochester's final scorer in the fourth round was first-year Luke Evans who completed his round on Thursday, and was the only Yellowjacket to not have to wrap-up play on the final day. Evans shot a 77 (5-over) and was one of four Rochester golfers to birdie the par-5 tenth. That was the lone circle on the scorecard for Evans who wrapped up his tournament with a score of 307, tying for 68th place. The first-year from Texas notched 43 total pars in the 72-hole event, tying with Wang for the most on the team. That total ranked 21st among all players in the tournament.
Fellow rookie Eddie Ren closed out the championship with a score of 312, ranking 79th in the field. Ren had two birdies in his final round, finishing the event with 13 total birdies, closing out the tournament tied for 12th including all golfers in that statistic.
The 2024-25 season saw the Yellowjackets smash the single-season team record for scoring average. This year, Rochester averaged 292.93 strokes per round, breaking the previous best-mark of 300.6 set back in the 2019-20 season.
Additionally, Su broke the Rochester single-season scoring average record for an individual, finishing with a 72.80 scoring average across his 23.5 total rounds. That edges former All-American Nick Palladino who had a 72.86 average in the 2023-14 season.