AMHERST, VA. – CAA champion
Henric Bjelke of Campbell University completed his final round as a collegiate golfer Wednesday in the NCAA Amherst Regional at Poplar Grove Golf Club.
Heavy rainfall along the Eastern Seaboard forced the tournament to start Sunday afternoon and periodic delays caused the event to extend through Wednesday on the par-70 Sam Snead design.
A senior from Oslo, Norway, Bjelke finished 67th on the individual leader board at 15-over par (72-77-76—225). He played his final 10 holes Wednesday even par and completed the event ranked second in par-5 scoring (-4) while making nine birdies over 54 holes.
No. 7 Oklahoma (-10) won the event by four shots over No. 18 Vanderbilt (-6). No. 30 Tennessee (-5), No. 43 Wake Forest (-1) and No. 19 Pepperdine (+9) also earned berths in the NCAA Championship, May 23-28 at the Champions Course at the Omni LaCosta Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
As the low individual from a non-qualifying team, Sakke Siltala of Texas State (-5) also claimed a spot in the NCAA stroke play championship.
Jackson Van Paris won the individual title at 8-under par, three shots better than Siltala and Clark Van Gaalen of Oklahoma.
Bjelke completed his collegiate career with the 20th-lowest career stroke average (73.81) in CU men's golf history. He finished T9th in even, or under, par rounds (39) and 8th in rounds in the 60s (14). On Campbell single-season record books, Bjelke ranked T4th in rounds played (35), T6th in tournaments played (12), T7th in wins (2), T8th in rounds in the 60s (8), T10th in top 10 finishes (6), T13th in even, or under par rounds (16) and 28th in stroke average (72.54).
In his final collegiate season, Bjelke won twice among his six top 10 finishes in 12 starts including a first-place tie at the Palmetto Intercollegiate.
NCAA Amherst Regional
Amherst, Va. | Poplar Grove GC
May 11-14, 2025 | Par 70, 7212 yards
Final Team Results (top 5 qualify for NCAA Championship): 1. Oklahoma 276-285-269—830, 2. Vanderbilt 278-279-277—834, 3. Tennessee 271-285-279—835, 4. Wake Forest 284-290-265—839, 5. Pepperdine 280-292-277—849. 6. Arizona 286-278-286—850, 7. Arkansas 280-286-286—852, 8. Stanford 290-284-279—853, 9. LSU 286-289-279—854, 10. Kent State 282-292-283—857, 11. Florida Gulf Coast 282-283-296—861, 12. Princeton 284-301-283—868, 13. Howard 304-306-296—906.
Final Individual Leaders: 1. Jackson Van Paris (Vanderbilt) 67-67-68—202, T2. #Sakke Siltala (Texas State) 71-67-67—205, T2. Clark Van Gaalen (Oklahoma) 71-68-66—205, T4. Filip Jakubcik (Arizona) 71-65-70—206, T4. Gunnlaugur Arni Sveinsson (LSU) 72-68-66—206. # NCAA Championship individual qualifier
Campbell Individual: 67.
Henric Bjelke 72-77-76—225.
Poplar Grove Golf Club (Par 70, 7212 Yards)
Ranked as one of the top 50 courses in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Poplar Grove was the final course designed by Sam Snead along with Ed Carton and features bent grass tees, fairways and greens. Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the par-72 course extends to 7059 yards (but will play to par-70, 7212 yards for the regional) with fairways routed around a dammed section of Higginbotham Creek. Half a dozen holes are heavily influenced by the creek, with most of the other holes carved out of the dense woodland within the property. Poplar Grove has hosted multiple professional, NCAA Division I and amateur events.
