PITTSFORD, NY (July 27, 2024) – For the second-straight year, the Monroe Invitational winner was decided in a playoff, as Cooper Smith (South Florida) outdueled Carter Loflin (Georgia), Drew Doyle (Louisiana State University) and Kyle Downey (Mid-am) on Saturday. All four players finished 72 holes at -7, forcing the 4-person playoff, beginning on the par-4 18th hole. Smith, Doyle, and Loflin each parred the first playoff hole, advancing to the second playoff hole, the par-4 10th hole. Doyle and Loflin bogeyed, while Smith parred the hole to earn the victory.

17-year old phenom Clark Van Gaalen (Oklahoma), who is set to be a freshman at the University of Oklahoma, provided a major highlight for the final round, shooting a course record 60 (-10) behind 10 birdies. The previous course record of 62 (-8) was set by several players, including Dustin Johnson, Adam Bell, and Justin Suh.

Van Gaalen was joined in a tie for fifth place at 6-under with Terry Ryan (Mid-am) who delivered the second-lowest round of the day with a 63.

In addition, Parker Bell (Florida) recorded the second hole-in-one of the tournament, pouring it in on No. 13. Bell finished 1-under for the tournament and in a tie for 16th place.

Round 4 Photos l Round 4 Scores

For most of the day, Drew Doyle was atop the leaderboard thanks to birdieing seven of the first 11 holes to move to 9-under for the tournament. Following Friday’s round, Doyle said he chatted with his host/caddy about hitting the ball well enough to be aggressive and go at pins in the final round. That was readily apparent for the first 11 holes before the rest of the round became more of a grind. Doyle’s first blemish came with a bogey on 14.

Said Doyle, “On 14 I kind of hit a wall.” “I pulled it left, was short side and didn’t have much. I just tried to chip it on to make a 5 and then I grinded my way in from there. Obviously nerves get you when you are leading a tournament with five holes left – not much you can do about that, except hold on.”

Loflin was the first to post a 7-under in the clubhouse after he shot his best round of the tournament with a 65. His highlight was an eagle on the par-5 9th.

Following a bogey on No. 17 to drop to -7, Doyle parred the 18th to stay in contention.

As the group behind Doyle, Rochester native Kyle Downey flushed a beautiful approach shot on No. 17 to within two feet to birdie and move to 7-under. He went on to par the 18th, joining Doyle and Loflin with a 7-under score.

That paved the way for Smith, who came into the day tied for second at 4-under par. Smith went out in a 33 with birdies on 3, 7, and 9 and a bogey on 6. After a streak of five pars, he drilled a birdie on the par-4 15th to move to 7-under and again made good on a birdie on No. 17 to claim the lead at -8.

Smith, however, ran into trouble with his drive into the sand on the right side of the 18th. He hit his approach shot short of the green and was unable to get up and down, leading to a dramatic 4-person playoff.

On the first playoff hole on No. 18, a missed chip near the green eliminated Downey with a bogey, while the three other players parred.

In the second playoff hole on No. 10, Doyle found the fescue and fell off the pace after hitting his next shot into the tree – he went on to make bogey. Doyle, who was playing in his last amateur event, was proud of the way he played and “happy to go out this way.” “This is definitely in my top three favorite amateur events of all time – I love this place, I really do. The course is great, the members are great, the people are awesome. Everything about it is awesome.”

Smith and Loflin each were on the green in two on the second playoff hole with Loflin facing a 40-foot birdie putt and Smith a 25-foot putt. Loflin hit his putt to within 8-feet, before Smith just missed his birdie putt. A tap-in par for Smith set the stage for Loflin to try and force a third playoff hole, however, his putt did not go down.

A redshirt senior at South Florida, Smith was proud of how he handled adversity and prevailed in the playoff. After the round he said, “It shows that I am growing as a golfer because I probably wouldn’t have done that a few years ago.” When asked what has changed since then, he remarked, “A lot of reps, a lot of playing, a lot of trying different stuff – but really just starting to believe in myself and that’s making me a lot better player.”

Clark has a quick turnaround for playing as he will compete back home in Florida on Monday for the local US Amateur qualifier. It was a big win for Smith who currently has a World Amateur Golf Rating of 715. “It’s awesome.” “This is definitely the biggest tournament I’ve won. These people running this tournament are amazing – it is probably the best event I have ever played in.” 

For the now-course-record-holder Van Gaalen, everything finally clicked on Saturday after previous rounds of 69, 74, and 71. Following the round he said, “It felt way better than the last three days.” “I had been hitting the ball great. I was putting good, but just could not score and could not get it to go in. Finally stuff started going the right way today.”

Despite having such a prolific round, Van Gaalen wasn’t aware that he had a chance at making history until his final hole. He went into the day looking to try and finish in the top 20 and ended up vaulting 34 spots into a tie for 5th place. “I had no clue what the course record was.” “It didn’t even occur to me until they told me on 9 (his final hole). I knew it was going to be close to the lead – that is what I was focusing on.”

The future is bright for Van Gaalen who is headed to Oklahoma as a freshman in the fall. “I have been waiting two years for this.” “I am really looking forward to that. I’m more excited than anxious or nervous. I am ready to get there and bring the heat.”

Other notable scores included Ashton McCulloch (Michigan State) and Jeffrey Zatorski (Texas) finishing tied for seventh at 5-under par.

Third-round leader Nicklaus Mason (Kansas State) finished tied for 9th place at 4-under, along with Calen Sanderson (Notre Dame) and Patrick Sheehan (Penn State).

In total, 18 players finished the tournament under par.