Ohio State junior Vaughn Harber closed the fall portion of the men’s golf season with his second top-10 finish of the autumn, tying for 10th place at 5-under par at the Preserve Golf Club Collegiate in Carmel, California, according to Ohio State Athletics. Harber posted rounds of 69, 68 and 74 for the Buckeyes, who finished seventh as a team at 3-under par in their final event before the winter break.
Harber did his best work on the longest holes at the Preserve, playing the par-5s at 7-under par for the week, Ohio State Athletics reported. He made 13 birdies across the three rounds, the most by any Buckeye in the field, and his opening 36 holes of 69 and 68 had him in contention before a final-round 74 settled him into the top 10.
Jack Vojtko was the only other Buckeye to finish under par, carding rounds of 71, 71 and 73 to tie for 23rd at 1-under, according to Ohio State Athletics. Vojtko made 12 birdies of his own, and he and Harber finished the fall with matching 72.25 scoring averages, a sign of the consistency at the top of the Ohio State lineup throughout the autumn schedule.
Behind the top two, Tyler Sabo finished 31st at 1-over par with rounds of 70, 73 and 74, and Giedrius Mackelis tied for 35th at 2-over after opening with back-to-back rounds of 2-under 70, Ohio State Athletics reported. Joe Wilson IV, competing as an individual, tied for 43rd at 4-over, while Timotej Formanek rounded out the Buckeye scoring five in a tie for 55th at 8-over.
The team race told a similar story of a strong start. Ohio State opened with rounds of 280 and 282 before a final-round 299 dropped the Buckeyes to seventh at 3-under for the tournament, according to the final standings published by Ohio State Athletics. The finish still left Ohio State under par as a team in its fall finale.
For Harber, the week in Carmel continued a fall in which he has emerged as one of the Buckeyes’ most reliable scorers. A second top-10 finish, the team’s best birdie total and the shared team-best scoring average give the junior a clear claim to the No. 1 spot in the lineup when play resumes.
Ohio State now pauses until mid-February, when the Buckeyes travel to Panama City Beach, Florida, for the Watersound Invitational, Ohio State Athletics said. The spring schedule will build toward the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA postseason, with Harber and Vojtko’s matching fall averages setting the standard the rest of the roster will chase.
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