Grand Canyon University and Miami (Ohio) University Crowned 2024 PGA National Collegiate Club Golf Association Spring Co-Champions

A number of tornadoes with winds over 100 mph passed through the Texoma area Saturday night causing major damage to I35 and surrounding communities. Due to the damage from the tornadoes and for the safety of the players and WinStar staff, the final round of the 2024 National Collegiate Club Golf Association (NCCGA) Spring Championship was canceled and scores from the first round were recognized as final.

With two courses used for the championship – Redbud and Scissortail – two teams and two individuals were recognized as co-national champions. Grand Canyon and Miami (Ohio) are the team co-national champions, while Logan Jaeger of Providence and Angelo Luciani of Grand Canyon are individual co-national medalists.

 “We want to thank the WinStar staff who worked tirelessly to put on a great event, but unfortunately, Mother Nature did not cooperate, and we had to cancel today’s final round,” said Branden Thompson, PGA, PGA Lead for the NCCGA. “On the bright side, it gave us the opportunity to crown two champions from both the team and individual competitions.”

Grand Canyon, coached by club president Ryan Woodworth, scored an even par (360) on the Redbud course and led the field by seven strokes.  

“The tournament was great. We just had some unfortunate circumstances that came up,” said Woodworth. “We had an idea this may happen with the weather forecast, so one of our goals yesterday was to play well and have the lead at the end of round one in case it did come up. It is unfortunate, but it is out of everyone’s control.”

Miami (Ohio), led by player/club president Kenny Knicker, shot a +14, leading teams who played on the Scissortail course by two strokes. It’s a bit of a full circle moment for Knicker who made the club team as a freshman and now five years later as the club president, led his squad to a spring national co-championship.

“Being the co-champion with Grand Canyon is awesome,” Knicker said. “We shot really well yesterday on Scissortail in really rough conditions with the wind, but we got it together and pulled through. We have a great team.”

Logan Jaeger of Providence, shot a 4-under (68) on Scissortail. Providence is led by PGA Member John Simmons and club president Kevin Legnard. Angelo Luciani of Grand Canyon shot a 4-under (68) on Redbud. Jaeger and Luciani shared medalist honors.

“Congratulations to Angelo, he played phenomenal yesterday and I’m really happy that I can share the co-championship with him,” said Jaeger, a junior. “Of course, it’s disappointing not being able to play today, but with the weather and the parts of the course under water after last night’s tornadoes – for safety and all, it makes sense. Hopefully everyone will get home safely.”

Jaeger and Luciani each were presented a red jacket, plaque and champions’ hat to commemorate their victories. The winning teams each got a plaque, and the members all received a champions' hat. The nine-player all-tournament team, including Sophie Holland of North Carolina State, was recognized with a pin flag. Holland was one of four women competing in the Championship and was one of 11 players who shot under par on the two courses with a -1 (71). The entire all-tournament team is listed below.

“I would have liked to go out there and ‘prove it’ rather than just competing for one day, but I felt like I played the best golf I could,” Luciani said. “I came out and gave it my all. I have a lot of support and encouragement from family and friends, and that’s what means the most. At the end of the day, it’s a win, but I do hope to get a few more of these red jackets.”

Angelo Luciani

Dillyn Schmidke

Lucas Hughes

Mark McCabe

Aaron Moore

Brandon Winters

Kaden Boyter

Caden Martinsen

Eli Yofan

Eric Schall

Connor Warns

Kyle Gruley

Luke Johnson

Kenny Knicker

Mac Milenius

Dom Sortor

Logan Jaeger, Providence, -4 (68) (Scissortail course)

Angelo Luciani, Grand Canyon, -4 (68) (Redbud course)

Carson Cusick, Arkansas, - E (72) Scissortail

Robert Peacock, Arkansas, -1 (71) Scissortail

Lucas Hughes, Grand Canyon, -2 (70) Redbud

Angelo Luciani, Grand Canyon, -4 (68) Redbud

Dillyn Schmidke, Grand Canyon, -2 (68) Redbud

Sophie Holland, North Carolina State, -1 (71) Scissortail

Logan Jaeger, Providence, -4 (68) Scissortail

Ethan Mangum, William & Mary, E (72) Scissortail

Cade Barone, Texas A&M, -2 (79) Redbud