Host Hawai‘i’s Blaze Akana was the highest-ranked Rainbow Warrior at T30.

KĀ’ANAPALI — Oklahoma redshirt senior Luke Kluver was on a roll during his final-round 64, carding nine birdies en route to his individual win at the Kā’anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational.

Kluver becomes the second individual medalist from Oklahoma to win the Kā’anapali Classic (Quade Cummins; 2019) and the seventh tournament champion to post a sub-200 score following his three-day total of 195 (-18).

In an action-packed Saturday in which three different teams held the outright lead at some point, Oklahoma and East Tennessee State began Saturday tied for second place and five shots behind Liberty. After storming back to both finish at 42-under in the three-day event, the Sooners and Buccaneers were named as team co-champions. Oklahoma’s win is the program’s fourth team title on Maui (2015, ’19, ’22, 23).

Liberty placed in third (-39) for the second straight year, which was their best finish of the 2023 fall season. A two-way tie for fourth (-36) included North Florida and San Jose State.

“We started out like we needed to with lots of firepower and birdies,” said Oklahoma men’s golf coach, Ryan Hybl. “While not as consistent coming down the stretch as we would have liked, we were thrilled with our team and individual victories.”

Oklahoma was anchored by three players who finished in the top 20: Kluver (1), All-Big 12 selection Jase Summy (T8) and 2023 Junior President’s Cup selection PJ Maybank (T20).

When asked what it meant to play in honor of Maui’s wildfire victims, Hybl noted, “We have so much sorrow for the wonderful and caring people of Hawai’i. We will continue to support them in any way that we can.”

Not to be overshadowed, East Tennessee State also had three players finish in the top 20: Individual runner-up and 2022-23 PING All-American Honorable Mention Mats Ege (2), 2023 JT Poston Invitational winner Remi Chartier (T13), and sophomore Matty Dodd-Berry (T15).

“When we were three back with four holes to play, we hit great shots as they (Oklahoma) also hit great shots,” said East Tennessee State men’s golf coach, Jake Amons. “Our guys played solid in a really fun setting at Kā’anapali.”

Amons later added, “We had a great fall season with two team victories and all top-five finishes. When a teammate got sick, other guys stepped up. Depth is a great strength of this team.”

Finishing in solo second place, ETSU’s Ege was the 2022-23 Southern Conference Player of the Year, and recently competed for Team International in the 2023 Palmer Cup.

Kluver, a two-time Nebraska Junior Golfer of the Year (2017, ’18), didn’t rest on his laurels during the final round. “I knew that I couldn’t go out there and play like I had the lead. I knew that I would be chased,” he said. “My goal was to shoot in the mid-60’s and that’s truly what I did. It felt great to see the golf shots that I was hoping to hit.”

He further elaborated, “I had a good fall season. However, a year ago, I was struggling when I transferred to Oklahoma. I was not in the lineup, which frustrated me. Over the past 12 months, I put my head down and worked hard alongside a great group of guys and coaches. They really helped me get here today.”

Host Hawai’i posted their best 54-hole score in program history at 16-under (836). Individually, four Rainbow Warriors finished the event under par, led by Blaze Akana’s five-under par 208.

Other notables:

• Ryan Hybl celebrated his 40th team title during his tenure with the Sooners.

• CSUN broke their single-round scoring record on Saturday at 20-under (264).

• Sacramento State’s Zach Mate shot a career-low 65 (-6) in the second round.

A fundraising campaign launched last week to benefit Maui’s wildfire victims, including Kā’anapali Golf Courses’ own associates, has surpassed $10,000 in donations.

The tenth annual Kā’anapali Classic will be contested from Oct. 16-19, 2024.

A full list of scores can be found at Golfstat.