Adams Claims 2nd Victory of '22-23 College Season at GCU Invite; NDSU Ties for 2nd

National

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Nate Adams shot a 7-under-par 64 at the GCU Championship Course on Monday afternoon in the second round of the GCU (Grand Canyon University) Golf Course, and that gave the North Dakota State junior from Maple Grove a one-stroke lead over TCU's Gustav Frimodt. Frimodt, a senior from Denmark, matched Adams' 64.

In Tuesday's final round, Frimodt never quite caught Adams, but he definitely made things interesting.

As is usual in college tournaments, there was a shotgun start, and both Adams and Frimodt started on No. 1. Adams birdied the 501-yard, par-4 first hole and followed it with five pars. Frimodt made no pars on the first six holes -- three birdies, three bogeys -- but when Adams bogeyed the seventh hole, they were right back where they started the day, with Adams one ahead. Frimodt bogeyed the ninth, then eagled the 546-yard, par-5 10th, bogeyed the par-3 11th (220 yards) and birdied the par-4 12th (488), which got him back to within one of Adams, who had birdied the 10th. Adams then birdied the 335-yard, par-4 13th.  

At that point, they hadn't tied a single hole. So, naturally, they tied each of the last five, beginning with a pair of birdies at the 335-yard 14th. They both parred each of the last four holes.

Adams closed with a 68, and as a result, he was able to claim a two-shot victory with a 54-hole total of 200 (13 under). Frimodt shot a final-round 69 on his way to 202. 

This was the second time Adams has won since he started his third season with the Bison last fall. After four top-5 finishes as a sophomore, but no victories, the former Pine to Palm champion earned his first college title in October at the ODU/OBX Intercollegiate, which he won by three strokes at Kilmarlic GC in North Carolina. 

This victory moved Adams up 120 places in the Golfweek NCAA Division I Rankings, to No. 465. Frigodt is No. 81 in the new rankings, which came out Wednesday.

Nathan Han of Columbia University started on No. 5, and he never really threatened Adams and Frigodt on Tuesday, at least not for his first 11 holes.  But the 2022 Ivy League Player of the Year birdied four of his last seven holes, posted a 67 and finished third with an aggregate of 203, which was good for third place. GCU's Sam Murphy, who was playing as an individual only, shot 66 and took fourth at 204.

Valparaiso's Caleb VanArragon, the MGA Player of the Year in 2022, sandwiched a 73 between two 69s, and the Valparaiso senior from Blaine wound up in a five-way tie for 11th at 211. Also in that fivesome was Adams' Bison teammate  Brock Winter, the former Minnesota state high school champion (2019) from Stillwater. Winter, who like Adams, is a junior at NDSU, closed with a 74. 

The contest between Adams and Frimodt for the individual title was close all the way to the finish, and so was the competition between their teams, except that NDSU, TCU were in a three-way race, along with host GCU. In the end, Frimodt and his TCU teammates took home the first-place trophy. The Horned Frogs started the final round two behind GCU and two ahead of North Dakota State. They put together a 285 for a cumulative 835 (17 under) and finished one ahead of both NDSU and GCU -- although if Murphy's 66 had counted for GCU, the Antelopes would have won by two. 


GCU Invitational 

At GCU Championship Golf Course

Par 71, 7,124 yards

Phoenix, Ariz.

Final results 

1. TCU                             270-280-285--835

T2. North Dakota State    277-275-284--836

T2. Grand Canyon U.       276-288-272--836

4. Kansas City (Missouri) 280-283-280--843

5. CSU-Fullerton               287-274-286--847

6. Columbia                       276-298-282--856

7. Creighton                       287-288-287--862

8. Pacific                            291-282-290--863

9. Drake                             290-287-290--863

10. Abllene Christian         289-299-281--869

T11. Valparaiso                 280-303-290--873

T11. Northern Colorado     287-305-281--873

13. California Baptist         289-300-289--878

14. South Dakota State     290-299-290--879

15. Nebraska-Omaha        298-292-291--881

16. Gonzaga                      296-296-295--887

Individuals

1. Nate Adams, NDSU            68-64-68--200

2. Gustav Frimodt, TCU           69-64-69--202

3. Nathan Han, Columbia         66-70-67--203

4. Sam Murphy, GCU               70-68-66--204

T5. Garrett Boe, CSU-Ful.        72-63-70--205

T5. Joshuaa Robards, KC         66-69-70--205

7. Nicky King, GCU                   65-74-67--206

8. Maxence Giboudot                66-71-71--208

T11. Caleb VanArragon, Val.   69-73-69--211

T11. Brock Winter, NDSU        65-72-74--211

T19. Gavin Cronkhite, NDSU  73-68-72--213

T24. Tristan Nelko, Creighton 70-72-72--214

T28. Nate Deziel, NDSU            73-71-71--215

T45. Ian Simonich, NDSU         71-75-73--219

85. Noah Boraas, S. Dakota St. 75-79-77--231