Augusta State got the result it wanted Sunday, an NCAA men’s golf championship, but the ending wasn’t what the Jaguars wanted.
Instead of a hole out from the fairway, as Henrick Norlander did Saturday, or something else positive that could set off a celebration, Sunday’s match play final at The Honors Course came down to a missed 4-foot par putt.
On the first playoff hole of the match between Augusta State’s Mitch Krywulycz and Oklahoma State’s Kevin Tway, Tway missed a 4-foot par putt on No. 1 to give Krywulycz the win and the Jaguars the championship.
Krywulycz said his initial feeling the moment the putt slid past the hole wasn’t one of elation. He said “pity” was the first thing he felt.
Follow this link to a hole by hole preview of The Honors Course
“No one deserves to have that sitting on their shoulders and I hope he doesn’t feel bad about it, but I know he probably can’t help it,” Krywulycz said.
Krywulycz said he felt the same way on No. 16 when Tway missed another short putt that kept the match all square.
Following Tway’s miss on No. 1, the Jaguars’ celebration on the green was quite muted, especially considering it was the program’s first national championship. None of the Augusta State players wanted to go too nuts with Tway and the rest of the Cowboys right there.
“That’s not the way you want to win a match,” Augusta State coach Josh Gregory said. “Are we excited? Yes, of course I was excited. Any coach would be lying to you if they said they weren’t excited when that happened, but I feel bad that it had to end that way for him.”
Full NCAA Men’s Championship Coverage
Article: Masters of The Honors