The top-ranked Tigers captured their second NCAA men's golf title in three years — both at La Costa — with freshman Logan Reilly making the clinching putt on the 18th green. Jackson Koivun, Jake Albert and Cayden Pope also delivered points. Josh Kim earned UCLA's lone full point. It is only the second time in the match-play era a No. 1 seed has won the championship.
The 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship is in the books. Thirty teams. Six individual qualifiers. Six days at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California. Auburn finished it the way they started it — on top.
This is AmateurGolf.com's coverage hub from the week at La Costa.
Final Bracket
Championship Awards
Daily Recaps
Final: Auburn 4, UCLA 1
A freshman closes it out. The match-clinching putt for the 2026 NCAA Men's Golf Championship was hit by a player who had not yet finished his first year of college. Logan Reilly — the Auburn freshman who delivered a 7&5 demolition in the semifinal and three full match-play points across the week — got up-and-down on the 18th green to beat UCLA's Alex Papayoanou 1UP and lock in Auburn's third point. By that point Jake Albert had already closed out Tyler Loree 5&3, and Jackson Koivun had taken care of Baylor Larrabee 4&3. Cayden Pope finished 4UP over Kyle An. Josh Kim earned UCLA's only point, beating Josiah Gilbert 3UP. Auburn 4, UCLA 1.
How Auburn took control. Wednesday played in the strongest wind of the championship — UCLA coach Armen Kirakossian called the conditions the toughest of the week. Auburn ran off birdies on holes 7, 8 and 11, building leads in nearly every match before the back nine. "They made birdies on holes that, frankly, people all week were not making birdies on," Kirakossian said. "You just can't do much about that." Nick Clinard's read was the same in reverse: "I knew that we were good ball-strikers, and I knew that we could flight our golf ball. I felt pretty comfortable going into the round, but I know it's match play and anything can happen."
Koivun closes his junior year with the right answer. Twenty-four hours after answering the question of his form with a 1UP semifinal win over Preston Stout, Jackson Koivun anchored the title win by handling Baylor Larrabee 4&3. "I stayed really consistent and kept my foot down on the pedal," Koivun said. "Baylor is a great player, and I just happened to come out victorious." His junior season now includes a national team championship, the Ben Hogan Award, the Haskins Award, the No. 1 amateur ranking and a PGA Tour card already earned via PGA Tour University Accelerated. He has elected to stay an amateur for one more run.
Reilly's moment, in his own words. "It means the world and you can't dream of anything better, especially with the feeling of all the guys and the Auburn family behind you and supporting you," the clinching freshman said. "This is the craziest feeling, and I can't wait to bring home the trophy to the Plains."
The historical context. It is only the second time in the match-play era (since 2009) that a No. 1 seed has won the NCAA Championship — match play is notorious for upending stroke-play form, and Auburn became the rare team to ride the top spot all the way through. Auburn is now 7-2 all-time in match play; their .778 winning percentage trails only Alabama among programs with at least seven wins. And the Tigers have now won two of the three NCAA Championships contested at La Costa — 2024 and 2026 — sandwiching Oklahoma State's 2025 title.
The roster returns. Auburn has no seniors. The entire championship five — Koivun, Gilbert, Albert, Reilly, Pope — returns next spring, joined by the players in development behind them. "We're young and we don't have any seniors on the roster," Clinard said. "I thought the connectivity, the heart, the love and care for each other was really special." This is not a program enjoying a moment. It is the program in college golf.
UCLA, in defeat. "They played amazing today. They are a great team," Kirakossian said. The Bruins, who were 23rd in the country at the start of the week and under .500 at the midpoint of their spring, leave Carlsbad as national runner-ups with two freshmen (Josh Kim, Tyler Loree) and a sophomore (Baylor Larrabee) anchoring a roster that returns intact. "Our future is obviously really exciting," Kirakossian said. "I know that they're going to be really hungry to get themselves back in this position."
The matchup of the last two champions, decided 5-0. The Auburn-Oklahoma State semifinal — the 2024 NCAA champion vs. the 2025 NCAA champion — turned into a one-sided beat-down. Logan Reilly destroyed Eric Lee 7&5. Jackson Koivun beat Preston Stout 1UP on the 17th. Jake Albert took Gaven Lane 1UP. Josiah Gilbert closed out Ethan Fang 4&3 to clinch. Cayden Pope finished the sweep with a 3&2 win over Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson.
Koivun answers. Twenty-four hours after his 2UP loss to a Stanford freshman, Jackson Koivun drew Preston Stout — the world No. 1 amateur vs. the new individual national champion. Koivun raced out to a 3-up lead through four. Stout fought all the way back. Koivun closed it out 1UP on the 17th green.
UCLA over Arizona, 3.5-1.5. Josh Kim edged Taishi Moto 1UP. Tyler Loree handled Tianyi Xiong 3&2. Alex Papayoanou closed out William Wistrand 2&1 to clinch. Baylor Larrabee halved with Zach Pollo. Filip Jakubcik won Arizona's lone full point in the anchor.
Auburn 3.5, Stanford 1.5. Stanford freshman Nathan Wang beat Jackson Koivun 2UP in the morning's most striking individual upset. Auburn won the team match comfortably behind Reilly, Albert and Gilbert.
UCLA 3, Texas 2. The Bruins beat the 2-seed behind 1UP wins from Papayoanou, Larrabee and Kyle An.
Arizona 3, Vanderbilt 2. Zach Pollo edged Wells Williams 1UP for the clinching point.
Oklahoma State 3, Florida 2. The defending champions held off the Gators to keep the title defense alive.
Individual champion: Preston Stout (Oklahoma State), 274 (-14) | Runner-up: William Jennings (Alabama / Ind.), 275 (-13) | Stroke play winner: Auburn, 1102 (-26)
Stout closes it out. Preston Stout closed with 69 for a 72-hole total of 14-under 274 — the first Oklahoma State individual national champion since Matthew Wolff in 2019. He locks in exemptions to the U.S. Open at Shinnecock and the 2027 Masters. After opening at +1, Stout played the final 54 holes in 17-under.
Florida's stunning Monday. Florida entered the final round T10 at +1, then fired a 12-under team round to vault to T4 at -11 and clinch a match-play spot.
4-for-2 playoff drama. Stanford and UCLA survived a sudden-death playoff with North Carolina and Tennessee to claim the final two bracket spots. UCLA, of course, then played its way to the national championship match.
Team leader: Auburn, 838 (-22) | Individual leader: Preston Stout (Oklahoma State), 205 (-11)
Stout's 65. Preston Stout shot a bogey-free 65 — the lowest round of the championship — to take the individual lead at 11-under, climbing twelve spots in a single round. LSU posted 18-under 270 the same afternoon — the lowest team round of the entire championship — but came up just short of the match-play cut.
Team leader: Auburn, 556 (-20) | Individual leader: Filip Jakubcik (Arizona), 132 (-10)
Auburn takes over. Nick Clinard's team posted a 16-under 272 — the lowest team round ever recorded at La Costa in a men's NCAA Championship — to swing an eight-shot deficit into an eight-shot lead in 18 holes. Oklahoma State went the other direction in equally dramatic fashion, posting 14-under to climb from T20 to T4.
Team leader: UCLA, 280 (-8) | Individual leaders (T1): Ian Maspat (San Diego), Connor Williams (Arizona State), William Jennings (Alabama / Ind.) — 66 (-6)
UCLA opened with the lowest first-round score they have ever posted at La Costa — a foreshadowing of the final-round run that would eventually carry them to the championship match. Auburn sat second at -4. Oklahoma State signed for 295 (+7) and sat T20.
Takeaways from a Week in Carlsbad
Auburn is the program in college golf right now. Two national titles in three years. The reigning Hogan and Haskins winner on the roster for another season. A coaching staff that returns. A roster with no seniors. Nick Clinard now owns one of the most dominant three-year runs by any head coach in modern NCAA Championship history.
A freshman wrote the ending. Logan Reilly arrived on the Plains last summer. Less than twelve months later he made the clinching putt to win a national championship. Three match-play points in three days. The 7&5 dismantling of Eric Lee in the semifinal. The 1UP grind-out of Papayoanou on Wednesday afternoon. Auburn's depth is the headline; Reilly is going to be a name people learn this summer.
Preston Stout's championship will be remembered. Opening with a +1, climbing twelve spots Sunday, winning the individual title Monday by a single shot, standing in against Jackson Koivun in a Tuesday semifinal. Stout finished as the Haskins runner-up, the individual national champion, and one of the more compelling individual arcs in recent NCAA memory.
UCLA's runner-up finish is the Cinderella story of the modern era. A team ranked 23rd in the country, under .500 at midseason, T10 entering the final round of stroke play, needing a Monday playoff just to make the bracket — and then beating Texas and Arizona to play for a national title. Armen Kirakossian's program returns Josh Kim, Tyler Loree, Baylor Larrabee and most of the lineup. They will not be 23rd next year.
Walker Cup taking shape. Captain Mike McCoy now has Koivun (lock), Stout (lock), and a strong group of next-tier candidates in William Jennings, Logan Reilly, Baylor Larrabee, Will Hartman, Ben James and Connor Williams. The roster gets finalized at the U.S. Amateur in August. La Costa shaped that conversation in real time.
The amateur game is healthy. An individual qualifier finished second nationally. A senior playing for Louisiana strung together a 91-hole bogey-free streak before his run ended. A 7-seed ranked 23rd in the country reached the championship match. The bracket produced upsets, comebacks, a 5-0 sweep in a semifinal, and a freshman's clinching putt to crown a champion. Amateur golf, the kind we cover here every week, has rarely been more compelling than it was this week at La Costa.
Thanks for following along all week. AmateurGolf.com will be back with full Walker Cup coverage as the September matches at Lahinch approach.