Isaiah Ibit took a brief hiatus from his sophomore season playing golf for Kent State. But he did so just to play more golf.
Ibit represented Team Canada at the World Amateur Team Championships — an event that brings the best young golfers together for a stroke-play team competition, with the winner receiving the historic Eisenhower Trophy. The 2025 rendition, held in Singapore earlier this month, featured 108 players from 36 different countries.
“Getting to fly halfway across the world and playing against some of the best players from the best countries, it was unreal,” Ibit told Golfweek on Tuesday morning at the 2025 Preserve Golf Club Collegiate hosted by Cal Poly, his first tournament since returning from Singapore.
Ibit’s week at the World Am Team Championships was highlighted by a 2-under 70 in the second round. He ultimately finished tied for 81st, which wasn’t up to his own standards, but simply being there was a major accomplishment in its own right. Past winners include the likes of Jon Rahm, Rickie Fowler and, way back in the day, Jack Nicklaus.
“I mean, just seeing players that have gone through [that event], it’s a bit surreal. It was a lot of fun. I may not have played the way I wanted to, but it was a great experience.”
Now, he’s back in the saddle in the U.S. as Kent State competes in its final tournament of the fall portion of the season at the Preserve Golf Club Collegiate at Santa Lucia Preserve, where Ibit carded a 1-over 73 in the first round but bounced back with a 1-under 71 in the second round
Just a sophomore, Ibit is already putting together a decorated college career. As a freshman, he boasted the second-best scoring average on his team, racking up seven top-10 finishes in 12 starts for the Golden Flashes and helping lead them to a Mid-American Conference title. That was enough to earn him recognition as the 2024-25 MAC Freshman of the Year.
The Canadian Collegiate Invitational has been particularly kind to Ibit since arriving at Kent State. It’s his home tournament not only because he’s from Canada, but because Kent State co-hosts the event with Penn State. Both programs are led by Canadian coaches. Ibit finished third there last month and second there in 2024, when he became just the fifth player to post three rounds in the 60s at a 54-hole event.
Later in his freshman campaign, at the Hal Williams Intercollegiate, he became the first Kent State golfer to accomplish that feat twice.
“I was just kind of happy to play every event,” Ibit said. “Not very many freshmen get a chance to do that, so I was just trying to take nothing for granted. “We had four seniors that obviously aren’t on the team anymore, but last year I learned a lot from them. Just taking in what I could and just asking questions whenever I could.”
Now Ibit — who grew up playing with his dad and younger brother at Camelot Golf and Country Club in Ottawa — is the centerpiece of a team with big goals for this spring. Kent State is the only school Ibit visited during his recruiting process and would like nothing more than to bring his program back-to-back league titles.
“We definitely want to repeat as MAC champions and head back to regionals. That’s definitely goal number one,” Ibit said. “Maybe sneaking a team win in there and maybe an individual win, but the focus is to just keep playing good golf. I think we’ve got a good group of guys. I think we can do some damage in the spring.”
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