Finn Koelle will never forget how he won his first collegiate event.
The senior at Washington made an ace on his final hole Sunday to win the 2026 Sahalee Players Championship at Sahalee in Sammamish, Washington. Koelle made a 1 on the par-3 ninth, which had a scorecard yardage of 214 yards for the final round. The hole-in-one capped off a stellar closing 6-under 66 to win by two shots over Oklahoma State senior Eric Lee.
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Koelle had seven birdies and the ace in the final round, finishing at 7 under for the tournament. He was one of only four players to finish under par for the 54-hole event. Illinois senior Max Herendeen, who led going into the final round, closed with a 78 and finished four shots behind Koelle.
Last month, Koelle finished third after stroke play at the U.S. Amateur, advancing to the Round of 32. He’s Washington’s best player and showed it in the first event of the year. Add in the hole-in-one on his final hole to win, hard to top that start to his senior season.
Oklahoma State won the team title, finishing at 4 under and besting Florida by 28 shots. Washington, Illinois and Duke rounded out the top five. Four Oklahoma State players finished inside of the top five, including Walker Cup duo Preston Stout and Ethan Fang (both T-5).
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Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor of Golfweek, covering college and amateur golf, the PGA Tour and plenty more. Follow Cameron on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: An ace to win a college event? Washington’s Finn Koelle did just that at Sahalee
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