SAN FRANCISCO – While Jackson Koivun was waiting for his turn on the 17th hole at San Francisco’s Olympic Club golf course, a less-talented colleague sliced a ball that whizzed only a few feet away from his head on a cloudy afternoon Monday.
Did it seem to rattle Koivun, who was decked out in navy blue pants and a crisp white shirt emblazoned with the Auburn logo?
Not at all.
In his return to Northern California, the 20-year-old San Jose native and top-ranked amateur in the world finished 2-under 68 on the first day of the U.S. Men’s Amateur championship.
“It’s great to be back,” Koivun said, adding, “Going over and being able to play well on the PGA tour was really fun. I’m happy to get back to amateur golf and try to build off those experiences.”
As he alluded to, Koivun finished tied for fifth at the Wyndham Championship, took part in the U.S. Open and placed top-15 in two other PGA competitions this summer.
Koivun is on a trajectory that could see him join other Bay Area luminaries such as Johnny Miller, Ken Venturi, Roger Maltbie and — perhaps — Tiger Woods as stars of the golfing world.
Long before the collegiate superstar rocketed up to the top of the USGA Amateur rankings as a teenager, Koivun was just a child growing up in San Jose, where he took an immediate liking to the sport.
“We gave him plastic clubs early on, but he didn’t really get serious until he was about eight,” Koivun’s mother, Meghan, said while surrounded by friends from their old neighborhood on Valley Glen Drive. “By then, he’d been competing down at the Santa Teresa Golf (Club) course.”
Contrary to the commonly reported assertion that Koivun relocated to North Carolina when he was a young child, the family actually did not move to Chapel Hill until the budding star turned 17.
With Koivun having committed to play for Auburn, his parents decided that living within driving distance of their son was important.
But even though Koivun loves living in the deep south – picking up fishing as a favorite non-golf hobby while in Alabama – he still has a soft spot for the West Coast.
“I’m still a Cali kid at heart,” Koivun said.
The California kid has dominated the country’s toughest conference. Koivun had arguably the greatest season in the history of college golf as a freshman in 2024.
He became the first to ever sweep the Fred Haskins, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson national awards while headlining Auburn’s first national championship team.
As a sophomore, Koivun proved his dominance was no fluke. He repeated as SEC Player of the Year and first-team All-American while being a finalist for the Haskins, Hogan and Nicklaus awards.
Though playing at the amateur level, Koivun has racked up endorsements through Name, Image and Likeness deals that pay him like a seasoned professional.
Investment advisor Betterment, along with Titleist, FootJoy and Foresight Sports employ him as a pitchman. Various outlets report the total endorsement valuation surpasses $1 million.
So why stay in college? Well, Koivun said money is not everything, and there are still things he wants to improve upon.
“NIL is definitely a little bit of a factor, but at the end of the day, if you want to go pro, (you can if) you’re ready,” Koivun said.
His parents said the family’s internal conversations about whether to turn professional are “constant,” but that the final decision rests with one person.
“We’re weighing all of the pros and cons, and we’re building a good team around him,” Meghan Koivun said. “But he’s the leader of that team, and it’s his decision, and ultimately, we’re going to support him in whatever he decides.”
As it stands, Koivun is set to return to Auburn for his junior year. And if he dominates the rest of the country’s most prestigious amateur tournament, as expected, it will show why the kid from San Jose is the best in the world.
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Other Bay Area names and faces
Koivun was far from the only Bay Area native competing for the crown in San Francisco.
Jaden Dumdumaya, a rising sophomore at USC, was a dominant force at De La Salle High, where he won two North Coast Section and CIF state titles.
Pepperdine’s William Walsh, the son of legendary Serra High football coach Patrick Walsh, had two birdies on the first day.
Florida’s Matthew Kress, a senior, was once a standout at Bellarmine. He helped lead the Bells to the West Catholic Athletic League team championship in 2018.
San Jose State’s Avinash Iyer (Dougherty Valley), USF’s Jacob Goode, Santa Clara University’s JP Odland and Baron Szeto (Campolindo) are also competing.
Fifteen-year-old Aston Lim, just a sophomore at James Logan High, is the youngest participant at the competition.