A look back at the best moments in college and amateur golf in 2025

Another year of college and amateur golf is scheduled.

As the year draws to a close, it’s time to look back at some of the best moments throughout the year in the collegiate and amateur game. It’s been an exciting year for fans who follow golf’s budding stars, whether they’re teenagers breaking out on the national stage or established players making history on their own journeys.

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Let’s take a look back at some of the biggest news of the year, starting with perhaps the biggest story.

The arrival of Mason Howell

First, Howell earned medalist honors in qualifying for the U.S. Open, making his first start in a major championship. He later earned medalist honors at the U.S. Junior Amateur. That wasn’t enough. He entered the U.S. Amateur Match Play slot through the playoffs, won the world’s largest amateur championship, and represented the United States on the Walker Cup team with a 2-1 record. Mason Howell is here.

Northwestern beats Stanford to win NCAA title

Only time will allow us to look at this result and truly gauge its importance to the sport, but Northwestern’s defeat of No. 1 Stanford in the championship game of the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship is perhaps the biggest upset in women’s college golf history. You never know what can happen in match play, but Northwestern pulled off a miraculous victory, earning the school its first championship in history.

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Walker Cup at Cypress Point

It’s hard to explain what a great week we had at the Walker Cup. Cypress Point is one of the golfing meccas of the world, ranked No. 1 on Golfweek’s list of best classic courses in the United States, and has been the perfect playing field for many of the top amateurs from the United States, Great Britain, and Ireland. The crowds were spectacular, the sights were breathtaking, and Cypress Point showed off its charm during prime time. It’s hard to understand why it wasn’t an unforgettable week for players and fans alike.

Megha Gunnu’s best moments

From one beautiful stretch of the Pacific Coast to another, the Bandon Dunes provided a spectacular setting for the 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur, and perhaps it’s fitting that Mega Ngannou found a way to come out on top. She has long been a star in the golf world, but her win at Bandon Dunes was her crowning feat on one of golf’s biggest stages. She had great performances all week in Oregon and was able to hoist the trophy after a solid week.

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Luke Clanton’s great run

Luke Clanton played professionally for more than half of the year, but the first five months of 2025 belonged to Clanton’s amateur matches. The former No. 1 earned his PGA Tour card thanks to his play in these events and dominated at the collegiate level, winning the Ben Hogan Award and nearly winning the Fred Haskins. He currently plans to win his first PGA Tour victory in 2026.

Lottie Ward’s amazing stability

From a former No. 1 Florida amateur to another amateur, Ward was consistently near the top of the leaderboard throughout the year. She won the Irish Women’s Open as an amateur and placed third at the Amundi Evian Championship, locking up her LPGA card and turning professional the following week. So what happens? She competed in and won the Women’s Scottish Open. She shot to fame after winning the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, but she was destined for stardom long before that.

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LPGA’s LEAP debuts

And how did Ward get her card? LEAP is the way. The program is similar to the PGA Tour University in that college players earn points based on performance in top collegiate and amateur events, offering a direct path to the tour, and Ward made a stellar debut by earning his card after finishing third at Amundievian. Don’t be surprised if Chiara Romero takes the same route to earn an LPGA card in 2026.

Division II History

This fall, there was a college golfer who made Division II history. Lee University senior Drew Zielinski won the Golfweek Frip Island vs. Bermuda Invitational, becoming the first player to win a D-II event that provides an exemption to participate in PGA Tour events. After that, he also participated in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, where he made a birdie at T-15, but fell short.

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College golfer saves man from drowning

Two Purdue Fort Wayne golfers jumped into an icy pond to save a drowning man. What an incredible and heroic story.

Two aces, same hole, same day

Neil Phillips had a day he’ll never forget in October. He aced not once on the same hole, but twice on the same day. Phillips started the first round on Monday with a 182-yard hole, pulling a 6-iron to make his first shot of the day. He shot an even-par 72 in the first round and returned to the eighth hole in the afternoon for his second shotgun start of the day. This time I hit it with a 7 iron. Even if the club is different, the result is the same. He hit his second ace in about six hours at the same spot where he hit his first ace.

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Carla Bernat Escuder joins Augusta Legends

Cebu. Jose Maria. Sergio. John. Carla. Carla Bernat Escudel added her name to the list of Spanish legends who won at Augusta National, becoming the first Spanish woman to win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

A 59 (during practice round)

I’ll come. The day he hits a 59 in a college golf event will happen soon, probably in the spring. It happened during a practice round earlier this year, when Utah’s Sergio Jimenez accomplished the feat. But how long will it take for that to happen in competition?

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: A look back at the best moments in college and amateur golf in 2025