NCAA regionals are 54 holes of high-pressure golf – sometimes ending with bigger upsets and more surprises than the national championship itself. It’s no guarantee that the top teams get to the national championship in this format. Plenty of can’t-miss teams have been on the outside looking in.
Teams were divided among six regional sites this week, with play starting Monday, May 13 and ending Wednesday, May 15. Only five teams advanced from each site to set up the 30-team national championship field.
Here's how it all played out.
NCAA Central Regional (University of Texas GC, Austin, Texas)
Team winner Texas (25-under 827)
Advancing teams: Texas, TCU, Clemson, Pepperdine, USC
Individual winner: Stefano Mazzoli, TCU; Steven Chervony, Texas; Cole Hammer, Texas (9-under 204)
Individual qualifier: Julian Perico, Arkansas
Scoreboard
Best performance: Texas won by 20 shots on its home turf. The Longhorns are the indisputable story of the week in Austin, but TCU made an admirable charge on the final day that deserves some attention.
For TCU, it’s the seventh NCAA finals appearance in the last 11 seasons, but the first since 2016. TCU was the No. 5 seed entering the week.
That was close: USC is too good to be left at home next week…especially for a second consecutive year. After Wednesday's performance, they won't have to be. The Trojans went 2 under in the final round to climb one spot and slip inside the cutline. When USC missed last year, it broke an 11-year qualifying streak.
“I’m really proud of the team for sticking together today,” USC senior Sam Kim said. “Coming up short last year really put a dent on us and I believe that’s what helped us push through this time.”
Worth noting: When USC climbed into the list of advancing teams, it means Arkansas dropped out. That’s not just a shame for Brad McMakin’s squad, it’s gut-wrenching. It hasn’t been an easy year for Arkansas, which had an 85-57 win-loss record entering regionals. Individual qualifier Julian Perico will be the sole representative of the home squad next week.
Information from USC Athletics used in this report
NCAA East Regional (TPC of Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
Team winner: Illinois (25-under 839)
Advancing teams: Illinois, Ohio State, Wake Forest, California, UNLV
Individual winner: Michael Feagles, Illinois (15-under 201)
Individual qualifier: Edwin Yi, Oregon (14-under 202)
Scoreboard
Best performance: Something stuck out to Mike Small about his Illinois team’s performance this week in Myrtle Beach. Not every team can enter a qualifying event and still compete. Illinois proved it can. The Illini leapfrogged Big Ten opponent Ohio State to win the regional title by five shots.
"They earned this Regional title for themselves and followed up on the Big Ten Championship victory,” Small said. “We have been trying to get them to grow and play with strength and purpose all year, and it all came together this week.
That was close: For Florida State, the No. 4 seed and a two-time winner this season, regionals literally came down to one hole. The Seminoles missing advancing by a single shot on Wednesday after playing their opening hole on Tuesday, the par-4 10th, in 7 over. It marks the second year that Florida State has missed the NCAA Championship by a single stroke.
Worth noting: It was tight around the cutline in Myrtle Beach. Only nine shots separated the fifth team from the ninth team.
NCAA Midwest Regional (University of Louisville GC, Simpsonville, Ky.)
Team winner: Oklahoma State (14-under 838)
Advancing teams: Oklahoma State, Auburn, Baylor, Louisville, North Florida
Individual winner: Tripp Kinney, Iowa State (7-under 206)
Individual qualifier: Jimmy Hervol, Connecticut
Scoreboard
Best performance: There’s a reason why Oklahoma State is Oklahoma State. The Cowboys trailed Auburn through the first two rounds in Louisville, but charged on Wednesday with a closing round of 7 under. That allowed them to leapfrog Auburn and win the regional title. It’s not as if Oklahoma State was ever in danger of not advancing, but it’s about more than that. This team wins.
Auburn had that mindset this week too, even if they came up four shots short of the trophy.
How about these stats from the Cowboys record book: Oklahoma State has now won four consecutive regional titles and has captured regional crowns in five of their six seasons under the direction of head coach Alan Bratton.
That was close: North Florida, with four hungry seniors in the lineup, recovered admirably from a tough first round, knocking off strokes each of the next two days to advance in the No. 5 spot with only two shots to spare. If you’re looking for a good sleeper pick – or at least an overlooked team to keep an eye on in Fayetteville – look no further.
Worth noting: Louisville made the most of its home advantage, climbing one spot on Wednesday into fourth. This will be just the fourth national championship berth for the Cardinals, and the first since 2016.
As head coach Mark Crabtree said, “As a coach, you preach that all year long about what it takes to be successful. You have to battle adversity and overcome it. I saw these guys battle at another level today and that's what we need to do every day we go play. We faced a challenge and we won."
NCAA Southeast Regional (University of Georgia GC, Athens, Ga.)
Team winner: Georgia (8-under 844)
Advancing teams: Georgia, Duke, Vanderbilt, SMU, Liberty
Individual winner: Davis Thompson, Georgia (8-under 205)
Individual qualifier: Billy Tom Sargent, Western Kentucky (3-under 210)
Scoreboard
Best performance: Georgia won as a team at home and sophomore Davis Thompson claimed the individual regional title. The Bulldogs led from the start of the week, and head coach Chris Haack called it a product of patience.
"Any time you win, it just gives you confidence," Haack said. "And then when you do it on a big stage, like the NCAA Regionals, it just gives you even more confidence. These guys work so hard. To see (Davis) finally get over the hump and do it on a stage like this in front of a lot of fans is pretty special."
That was close: When Liberty heads to Fayetteville, Ark., next week, it will be just the second NCAA finals trip in program history. The Flames moved down one spot on the leaderboard on Wednesday with an unspectacular round of 4-over 288 on Wednesday, but it was still enough to give them a three-shot edge on Tennessee in sixth place.
Scores were high in Athens. It took an 18-over 54-hole total to advance in the fifth position, as Liberty did, which is at least 10 shots (or as much as 39 shots) higher than the fifth-place team’s score in any other region.
Worth noting: SMU’s fourth-place finish and subsequent national-championship berth is the feel-good story of the day, on two levels. Jason Enloe has battled through personal grief this season after losing wife Katie to cancer last summer. As a team, the Mustangs suffered a setback this spring when Noah Goodwin had to withdraw from the Goodwin with a shoulder injury then Ben Wong signed an incorrect scorecard. SMU was disqualified, and ending up taking a loss to the entire 26-team field. That was a blow to the team's head-to-head ranking, which left a regionals berth in question.
NCAA Southwest Regional (Stanford University GC, Stanford, Calif.)
Team winner: Stanford (15-under 545)
Advancing teams: Stanford, Arizona State, North Carolina, Georgia Southern, LSU
Individual winner: Isaiah Salinda, Stanford (10-under 200)
Individual qualifier: Kyler Dunkle, Utah (6-under 204)
Scoreboard
Best performance: Make that a four-tournament winning streak for Stanford. The Cardinal finished at 23 under to win the regional hosted at their own course. If this streak is going to go any farther, well, there’s only one thing left to win.
This Stanford team looks 180 degrees different from the one that started the season. In its last four starts, Stanford is a combined 48 under.
"We're happy that we picked up our fourth win a row and we just want to keep this momentum going,” head coach Conrad Ray said. “Now anything is possible when you get a ticket to the big show."
That was close: LSU and Ole Miss effectively traded positions on Wednesday, meaning LSU took the fifth and final spot out of this regional. LSU had some ground to make up after an opening 7-over effort, but chipped away at that over the past two days. Remember what this LSU team is capable of: It’s a team that won the Prestige at PGA West in the early spring after going head to head down the stretch with Oklahoma State.
Worth noting: Georgia Southern advanced as the No. 10 seed. The Eagles have something of a secret weapon in Steven Fisk, who won four time straight in the fall and then won twice more times in the spring. Fittingly, he threw in an eagle at the par-5 first on Wednesday, which kick-started a back-nine 32 (Fisk started on No. 10).
Here’s another thing that helped the cause: For the week, Georgia Southern didn't have a player shoot over 72, and they were the only team in the regional to make that claim.
A 6-under 834 team total is the lowest for the program in its 15 regional appearances.
NCAA West Regional (Palouse Ridge GC, Pullman, Wash.)
Team winner: Texas A&M (33-under 807)
Advancing teams: Texas A&M, BYU, Oklahoma, Georgia Tech, South Carolina
Individual winner: Rhett Rasmussen, BYU (14-under 195)
Qualifying individual: Zach Smith, UC Santa Barbara (13-under 197)
Scoreboard
Best performance: Never in program history has Texas A&M scored so low in the postseason. A 33-under total for 54 holes gave the Aggies a regional title, and they needed every birdie they counted. BYU only finished two shots back.
"We are really excited to be headed back to the national championships," said head coach J.T. Higgins. "The goal all year is to be able to have a chance to compete for the title and the guys did a great job to get us there. They played with purpose all week and focused on the end result, not what was going on in the moment, and we took care of business and advanced out of here.
That was close: South Carolina needed overtime to get to the national championship, and defeated Colorado State in a playoff for the final spot. Scott Stevens, a South Carolina senior from Chattanooga, Tenn., holed South Carolina’s winning putt and called it “the best feeling I’ve ever had playing golf.”
The Gamecocks moved up two spots on Wednesday to get inside the cutline.
