Kibare fourth for Dalton State at TPC Sawgrass
Senior Steve Kibare represented the Dalton State golf team last week and represented them well as he placed fourth overall at the PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Kibare sat in a tie for ninth after carding a 5-over 77 on the famed Stadium Course in his opening round last Monday. The Roadrunners’ standout posted three bogeys on the front nine before a birdie on No. 9 allowed him to make the turn in 38. He added three bogeys and six pars to finish his round.
On Tuesday, taking on the Valley Course layout at TPC Sawgrass, Kibare had three birdies and a double bogey for a frontside 35, while two birdies and seven pars gave him a backside 34 for a total of 3-under 69 as he climbed the leaderboard.
Back on the Stadium Course for the third and final round on Wednesday, Kibare posted red figures again, firing a 1-under 71. His round included an eagle 3 at the par 5 11th hole and three additional birdies, including one on the “Island Green” 17th hole, one of the most recognizable par 3’s in the world.
Yuqi Liu of the University of Michigan won the men’s tournament at 3-under par with rounds of 75, 68 and 70, while Xing Luo of North Alabama (74, 71, 69) was second at 2-under. Purdue’s Kentaro Nanayama (75, 70, 70) was third at 1-under, followed by Kibare (77, 69, 71) at 1-over and Delaware’s Sahasawat Ariyachatvakin (72, 71, 75) at 2-over.
The PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship, the most culturally significant championship in collegiate golf, annually hosts student-athletes enrolled in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions and other Minority-Serving Educational Institutions.
The tournament was created in 1986 to educate and inspire student-athletes to pursue career opportunities in the business of golf and beyond. It is considered the most culturally significant championship in collegiate golf (75 percent of the players in the 2023 tournament identified as “non-white”).
The individual competition is open to all minority men and women student-athletes playing collegiate golf at the Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, and NJCAA level, or participants who are enrolled in one of the PGA of America’s PGA Golf Management University Programs.
Kibare and the Roadrunners, ranked No. 1 nationally in the NAIA, will now tune-up for the NAIA Men’s Golf National Championship. The tournament will be played at Dalton Golf and Country Club May 2124. Admission is free to the public.
HOOVER EARNS NAIA AWARD
Kibare’s teammate, Brock Hoover, was also recently named the April 2024 NAIA SwingU College Player of the Month recipient as announced in partnership by SwingU and the Golf Coaches Association of America.
Hoover helped lead the Roadrunners to an 11-stroke team victory at the Roadrunner Classic on April 9 with a T4 finish. The senior from Woodstock, Ga., recorded seven birdies and a 2-over 218 (72-75-71) against a field that included eight of the top 10 ranked Bushnell/Golfweek NAIA Coaches Poll teams.
Before being named a First-Team All-Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) and Academic AllSSAC selection, Hoover won his second straight SSAC individual title on April 24 by two shots with 12 birdies, two eagles, and a 5-under 211 (67-72-72). Dalton State won the SSAC championship by five strokes.
The SwingU College Player of the Month is awarded to players from seven divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, HBCU, NCAA Division III, NAIA, NJCAA Division I, and NJCAA Division II — based on a voting committee made up of coaches from their respective divisions.