SAUCIER — Many of the most accomplished college golfers in America gathered here over the weekend for the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational. So, naturally, the individual champion hails from about 3,700 miles away in Gardabaer, Iceland.

LSU sophomore Gunnlaugur Arni Sveinsson, the world’s No. 11 ranked amateur golfer, shot rounds of 66, 70 and 67 for a 54-hole total of 13-under-par 203 for the victory, one shot better than Alabama’s William Jennings.

Tenth-ranked LSU and No. 17 Alabama tied for the team championship of the 14-team Fallen Oak Collegiate Golf Championship on Monday, but the biggest winner may have been the tournament itself, which continues to grow in stature and popularity in only its third year. The tournament is tri-hosted by Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss.

Played over three days amid gloriously sunny and mild autumn weather on one of the most spectacular golf courses anywhere, the tournament drew raves from coaches and players from some of the top teams across the nation. Said Iowa coach Tyler Stith, “I have been coaching college golf for 15 years and this one of the best tournaments I’ve ever been a part of. The tournament operations and hospitality is first-class and the golf course itself is as good as any we play in college golf. This is our third year to play here, and I sure hope we get invited back.”

Ole Miss, the highest-ranked team in the tournament at No. 4 in the country, finished fifth the tournament – an indication of the quality of the competition. Mississippi State finished ninth, three shots ahead of Southern Miss, which finished 11th.

Alabama came from 12 shots behind In the final round to share the team championship with LSU. Both teams finished 32-under par, three shots better than Big 10 golf power Illinois.

As most college golf tournaments do these days, the tournament had a huge international flavor. Matthew Dodd-Berry, who finished fourth, is from England. Mississippi State’s Ugh Malcor, who tied for 18th, is French. Southern Miss’s Matthew Javier, his team’s medalist at even par, is a member of the Canadian national amateur team and qualified for the Canadian Open on the PGA TOUR this past June.

While disappointed with his team’s fifth-place finish, Ole Miss coach Chris Malloy was thrilled with the success of the Fallen Oak event.

“This has definitely become one of the top four or five regular season golf tournaments in the country,” Malloy said. “Three years ago, we were asking teams to come here. Now, we have a waiting list to get here, including some of the highest-ranked teams in the country. This tournament is only going to get bigger and better.”

2024 NCAA individual champion Michael La Sasso shot 3-under-par for the tournament to finish 18th, a shot behind teammates Tom Fischer and Cameron Tankersley.

Said Malloy, “We just had a really bad second round on Sunday and never could really get it back together to make a run in the final round.”

Mississippi State was led by San Antonio senior Garrett Endicott, who finished 13th individually with a 4-under-par total. The Bulldogs pretty much shot themselves out of the competition with a 6-over par round on Saturday but were 4-under for the last two rounds.

Said State coach Dusty Smith, “We did a great job fighting this week. It wasn’t the start we needed in round one, but I was proud of the resilience we showed.”

Southern Miss coach Eddie Brescher, whose team won two tournaments earlier in the fall, believes his Golden Eagles are capable of qualifying for the NCAA Championship for the first time in school history next spring.

“We’re not that far away,” Brescher said. “We played a quality fall schedule and finished 54-17 against the teams we competed against. We didn’t have our best stuff this weekend, but we showed in the second round what we’re capable of when we finished 5-under-par for the day on one of the hardest courses around. I really, really like my team.”

Walker Wise of Tupelo finished with a 3-over-par total for USM, followed by Mississippi Amateur champion Jake Moffitt, who finished at 5-over despite a final round 76

Southern Miss and Mississippi State have completed their fall seasons, while Ole Miss will compete next week in the East Lake Cup at famed East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

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Final Fallen Oak team standings: 1. LSU and Alabama, 32-under-par; 3. Illinois, 29-under, 4. Arkansas, 18-under; 5. Ole Miss, 15-under; 6. Tennessee, 14-under; 7. UNLV, 3-uunder; 8. Georgia 1-under; 9. Mississippi State, 2-over; 10. Chattanooga, 3-over; 11. Southern Miss, 5-over; 12. Wisconsin, 8-over; 13. Iowa, 17-over; 14. South Carolina, 21-over.