Wednesday, May 20
Rutgers University
vs
NCAA Columbus Regional
Politano Caps Successful Freshman Season at NCAA Columbus Regional
May 20 | Men's Golf
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Rutgers men's golf freshman Lucas Politano concluded a historic debut season on Wednesday at the NCAA Columbus Regional, finishing 51st overall at 15-over-par after three rounds at Ohio State Golf Club's Scarlet Course.
Competing against one of the strongest postseason fields in the country, Politano represented Rutgers on college golf's biggest stage after becoming the first freshman under head coach Rob Shutte — now in his 14th season — to qualify for NCAA Regionals and the first Scarlet Knight individual to earn an NCAA postseason berth since Chris Gotterup in 2019-20.
The freshman from Brandon, Vermont opened the regional with a 4-over-par 75 on Monday before carding a 6-over-par 77 in Tuesday's second round. Politano closed the tournament Wednesday with a 5-over-par 76 to finish 51st overall at +15.
Hosted by Ohio State, the 13-team Columbus Regional featured national powers including No. 1 seed Florida, No. 2 Arizona State, No. 3 Stanford, Florida State, South Carolina and Oregon. Politano entered the event as the No. 7 individual seed, one of only 10 individual golfers selected to compete for a spot in the NCAA Championships.
Florida's Luke Poulter claimed medalist honors at even par, underscoring the difficulty of the Scarlet Course setup, where he was the only player to finish at par or better.
For Shutte, Politano's regional berth — and the experience gained competing against elite talent — speaks volumes about the freshman's trajectory.
"I don't have the stats to know how many total freshmen made it this year throughout the whole country or the region, but it's not too many," Shutte said. "For him to get here in this position shows how hard college golf is right now — it's never been stronger. There are so many great players."
"I know he beat a lot of the guys he played with at times this week, and it just kind of shows that he can play," Shutte added. "At the same time, I know he's super hungry and already looking at areas of his game he has to improve to get to the next level. For him to get this experience in his freshman year and get this far, it's only going to pay big dividends if he uses it the right way this offseason."
Despite not finishing where he hoped on the leaderboard, Politano viewed the week as an invaluable learning experience.
"Obviously, I wish I had some of my better stuff that I know I have," Politano said. "But it was a really good experience overall. We got to test my game in different weather and I just battled. It's tough playing championship setups when you're not on your best stuff and feel like you're behind the eight ball the whole time. But overall, experience-wise, it was great. I had a great time with Coach, and it's definitely something I'll remember for a while."
The NCAA Regional appearance capped one of the strongest freshman seasons in recent Rutgers men's golf history. Politano earned Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors after posting a 72.25 stroke average, seven rounds in the 60s and 11 rounds under par.
He consistently delivered throughout the season with top-15 finishes at the Marquette Intercollegiate, Palmas Del Mar Collegiate and Hoosier Collegiate, while tying for 23rd at the Big Ten Championships.
His breakthrough came at the Canadian Collegiate Invitational, where he rewrote the Rutgers record book with a runner-up finish, setting a new program 54-hole scoring record at 18-under-par while carding a 9-under round — the lowest round under par in school history.
Politano also leaves Columbus energized about the direction of the Rutgers program.
"I'm super excited for the team's future," Politano said. "We've got a really good core group, and I think it's important that we all improve the best we can over the summer. You could tell how strong our group was this year and how deep we are. We've got recruits coming in, hopefully add somebody from the portal, and I think we'll be right back in it. We're going to have a really good next few years."
Shutte echoed that optimism as Rutgers continues its upward trajectory.
"We've never been better positioned to continue the trajectory we've been on the last couple of years, just getting a little better every year," Shutte said. "We've got a nice group of guys that want to be here and love our culture. That's a big part of it, and it's pretty exciting."
Even amid the challenging conditions in Columbus, Politano found one early memory that stood out — a 30-foot birdie putt on the opening hole of the tournament, a fitting start to Rutgers' latest NCAA postseason moment.
"That was a good one to kind of get myself going," Politano said.
Competing against one of the strongest postseason fields in the country, Politano represented Rutgers on college golf's biggest stage after becoming the first freshman under head coach Rob Shutte — now in his 14th season — to qualify for NCAA Regionals and the first Scarlet Knight individual to earn an NCAA postseason berth since Chris Gotterup in 2019-20.
The freshman from Brandon, Vermont opened the regional with a 4-over-par 75 on Monday before carding a 6-over-par 77 in Tuesday's second round. Politano closed the tournament Wednesday with a 5-over-par 76 to finish 51st overall at +15.
Hosted by Ohio State, the 13-team Columbus Regional featured national powers including No. 1 seed Florida, No. 2 Arizona State, No. 3 Stanford, Florida State, South Carolina and Oregon. Politano entered the event as the No. 7 individual seed, one of only 10 individual golfers selected to compete for a spot in the NCAA Championships.
Florida's Luke Poulter claimed medalist honors at even par, underscoring the difficulty of the Scarlet Course setup, where he was the only player to finish at par or better.
For Shutte, Politano's regional berth — and the experience gained competing against elite talent — speaks volumes about the freshman's trajectory.
"I don't have the stats to know how many total freshmen made it this year throughout the whole country or the region, but it's not too many," Shutte said. "For him to get here in this position shows how hard college golf is right now — it's never been stronger. There are so many great players."
"I know he beat a lot of the guys he played with at times this week, and it just kind of shows that he can play," Shutte added. "At the same time, I know he's super hungry and already looking at areas of his game he has to improve to get to the next level. For him to get this experience in his freshman year and get this far, it's only going to pay big dividends if he uses it the right way this offseason."
Despite not finishing where he hoped on the leaderboard, Politano viewed the week as an invaluable learning experience.
"Obviously, I wish I had some of my better stuff that I know I have," Politano said. "But it was a really good experience overall. We got to test my game in different weather and I just battled. It's tough playing championship setups when you're not on your best stuff and feel like you're behind the eight ball the whole time. But overall, experience-wise, it was great. I had a great time with Coach, and it's definitely something I'll remember for a while."
The NCAA Regional appearance capped one of the strongest freshman seasons in recent Rutgers men's golf history. Politano earned Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors after posting a 72.25 stroke average, seven rounds in the 60s and 11 rounds under par.
He consistently delivered throughout the season with top-15 finishes at the Marquette Intercollegiate, Palmas Del Mar Collegiate and Hoosier Collegiate, while tying for 23rd at the Big Ten Championships.
His breakthrough came at the Canadian Collegiate Invitational, where he rewrote the Rutgers record book with a runner-up finish, setting a new program 54-hole scoring record at 18-under-par while carding a 9-under round — the lowest round under par in school history.
Politano also leaves Columbus energized about the direction of the Rutgers program.
"I'm super excited for the team's future," Politano said. "We've got a really good core group, and I think it's important that we all improve the best we can over the summer. You could tell how strong our group was this year and how deep we are. We've got recruits coming in, hopefully add somebody from the portal, and I think we'll be right back in it. We're going to have a really good next few years."
Shutte echoed that optimism as Rutgers continues its upward trajectory.
"We've never been better positioned to continue the trajectory we've been on the last couple of years, just getting a little better every year," Shutte said. "We've got a nice group of guys that want to be here and love our culture. That's a big part of it, and it's pretty exciting."
Even amid the challenging conditions in Columbus, Politano found one early memory that stood out — a 30-foot birdie putt on the opening hole of the tournament, a fitting start to Rutgers' latest NCAA postseason moment.
"That was a good one to kind of get myself going," Politano said.
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