Crew Canada NextGen member and Kent State College Sophomore Isaiah Ibit holds lead in Particular person competitors after 8-under 64 efficiency.
MacTier, Ont. – The College of Notre Dame Combating Irish have been in a position to carry over the momentum from their win finally yr’s occasion on Sunday, collectively capturing 12-under to take a three-stroke lead on the 2025 Canadian Collegiate Invitational at Öviinbyrd Golf Membership.
Nate Stevens of Northfield, Minn. led the cost for the defending champions on Sunday, rolling in six birdies to complete his opening spherical with a team-best 5-under 67. Stevens’ productive opening spherical was supported by his teammates Jacob Modleski of Noblesville, Ind. and Calen Sanderson of Newton, Pa. who each wrapped up their first rounds at three and 4 below par respectively.
“We performed right here effectively final yr, I had some good rounds too so loads of confidence on this course,” mentioned Stevens following his spherical. The Notre Dame product referenced his distinctive familiarity with the course’s winds to serving to higher his rating on Sunday and appears to keep up that very same grasp on the situations over the ultimate 36 holes.
“At the moment it was a unique wind than we noticed yesterday so I used to be ready having a pair further rounds. I hope we’re probably the most ready workforce within the discipline with what number of instances we performed right here,” he added.
Vying for his or her second title in as a few years, the Combating Irish could have the luxurious of doing so from a place of energy with the 18-hole lead and a slight edge over their closest chasers, the College of Michigan Wolverines. Nicolas Simon of Elk Grove Village, Ailing. fired a 4-under 68 to assist energy the Wolverines into rivalry, with the group set to start Monday’s second spherical three photographs off the tempo at 9-under.
Within the Particular person competitors, Crew Canada NextGen member Isaiah Ibit of Orleans, Ont. was ready to make use of Sunday’s hotter afternoon situations to steam previous clubhouse chief Stevens and take a three-stroke lead into Monday.
“It’s in all probability considered one of my favorite tournaments of the yr if not my favorite so its very nice to be again… simply sort of a dream weekend,” commented Ibit, who claimed his opening spherical of 8-under to be his greatest efficiency of his collegiate profession. “I felt actually good on the greens and hit some good putts at the moment,” he added.
An eagle on the par-5 ninth vaulted Ibit right into a tie with the clubhouse chief after beginning his spherical with birdies on Nos. two, six and eight to start his accession up the leaderboard. The Kent State College sophomore was in a position to distance himself from the pack on the flip, mixing in a trio of birdies on the tenth, twelfth and thirteenth to rocket to eight-under.
The low spherical ought to come as no shock for Ibit, who claimed final yr’s Canadian Junior Boys Championship, introduced by BDO, by capturing a 6-under 66 in his ultimate spherical to beat a two-stroke deficit and land his first victory of the 2024 marketing campaign. One other low spherical on the a hundred and twentieth Canadian Males’s Novice Championship, introduced by BDO, earlier this summer season almost clinched Ibit his second victory within the final yr. His clutch 6-under 64 within the occasion’s ultimate spherical secured the Ontarian in a playoff, solely to be defeated on the second gap by Declan O’Donovan of Sydney, Australia.
As for the opening spherical of the Crew Canada Choice Camp going down concurrently alongside this week’s Canadian Collegiate Invitational, Henry Dao of La, Prairie, Que. leads Emile Lebrun of Laval, Que. by a single stroke at 4-under. Dao enters the ultimate 36-holes of the Camp having pocketed a win already in 2025, undertaking the feat on the 2025 NextGen Quebec Championship for his third victory on the occasion.
The winner of this week’s Crew Canada Choice Camp will earn a secured spot on Crew Canada for the 2026 marketing campaign. Alexis Rouleau of Montreal, Que, Jager Ache of Woodbridge, Ont. and Austin Krahn of Chrstina Lakes, B.C. spherical out the highest 5 after 18 holes.
Each the 2025 Canadian Collegiate Invitational and Crew Canada Choice Camp will resume on Monday. Full leaderboards Canadian Collegiate Invitational may be discovered right here, whereas the remainder of the leaderboard for the Crew Canada Choice Camp may be discovered right here.
