Courtesy of Oklahoma Athletics
All of the top seeds from the six regional sites have comfortably advanced to the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. for the 2022 NCAA Men's Division I Championships, which get underway on May 27.
With strong final day performances, Arkansas (Columbus Regional), Kansas (Bryan) and Liberty (Stockton Regional) crashed the top five in its respective regionals to earn a trip to Grayhawk, while the College of Charleston, the 14th seed in the Palm Beach Gardens Regional, is also headed to Scottsdale after holding onto its fifth-place position.
While the College of Charleston was the highest seed to punch its ticket to the desert, Washington, seeded second in the Stockton Regional, has the distinction of being the lowest seed not to advance to Grayhawk.
Eager for the chance to compete for a national championship close to home, Arizona State (Stockton) and Arizona (Bryan) won its respective regionals in impressive fashion.
Playoffs were required to decide the advancing individuals at the Bryan and Stockton Regionals.
Here's a recap of the final round action from the six regional sites around the country.
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Bryan Regional; Traditions Club; Bryan, Texas
Four of the top five seeds at Bryan are heading to Grayhawk but it was the No. 6 seed Arizona Wildcats who came away with the team title with a wire-to-wire victory at the Traditions Club. The 'Cats finished -13 under, which was good for a five-shot win over Pepperdine, the regional's top seed.
It was a tough week for Tennessee, the regional's fourth seed, which was never inside the cutline and ultimately finished sixth at 16-over, 13 strokes behind fifth-place Kansas, which snagged the last position at 3-over. Oregon State fell out of the top five following a 22-over final round which left the Beavers in ninth place.
All was not lost for the Beavers, however, as Carson Barry defeated SMU's Noah Goodwin on the second playoff hole to advance to the NCAA Championships as an individual.
Joe Highsmith, the bucket hat-wearing left-hander from Pepperdine, shot a final-round 69 to claim medalist honors at 6-under.
Top five seeds: 1. Pepperdine; 2. Texas A&M; 3. Georgia; 4. Tennessee; 5. Kansas
Onto Grayhawk: Arizona (-13); 2. Pepperdine (-8); Texas A&M (-4); Georgia (-1); Kansas (+3).
On the outside looking in: 6. Kansas (E); 7. Tennessee (+3).
Medalist: Joe Highsmith, Pepperdine (-6).
Advancing individual: Carson Barry, Oregon State (-3).
They said it: "I am incredibly proud of our entire program for accomplishing our key goals. We set out at the beginning of the year with our sights set on Scottsdale and winning a very competitive regional on top of that is another feather in our cap. Hats off to our guys for maintaining focus and staying hungry throughout a long year to play some outstanding golf this week and send us through to NCAA Championships."
Arizona head coach Jim Anderson
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Columbus Regional; Ohio State Golf Club; Columbus, Ohio
The Scarlet Course at Ohio State has been good to Oklahoma State over the years, as the Cowboys have gone through Columbus three times en route to winning the national championship. Oklahoma State is hoping the Road to Grayhawk via Columbus will be magical again, as the Cowboys wrapped up its sixth consecutive NCAA Regional championship on Wednesday, sharing the title with Georgia Tech at 10-under.
OSU has now qualified for the championship event in 74 of a possible 75 seasons.
Four of the top five seeds are through to Grayhawk, with the sixth-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes took advantage of familiar surroundings to crash the top-five with a third-place finish. Arkansas used a 3-under final round to unseat Clemson, which dropped into a tie for sixth at 14-over following a 7-over 291 on Wednesday.
Top five seeds: 1. Oklahoma State; 2. Georgia Tech; 3. Arkansas; 4. Clemson; 5. East Tennessee State.
Onto Grayhawk: t-1. Oklahoma State (-10); Georgia Tech (-10); Ohio State (+4); Arkansas (+7); East Tennessee State (+10).
On the outside looking in: t-6. Clemson (+14); San Francisco.
Medalist: Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra, Oklahoma State (-7).
Advancing individual:Thomas Giroux, Oakland (-3).
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New Haven Regional; The Course at Yale; New Haven, Conn.
Wake Forest finished off a wire-to-wire victory in New Haven, as the third-seeded Demon Deacons captured the team title with a school-record score of 26-under, seven strokes clear of third-seed North Carolina and 10 in front of No. 2. seed Texas Tech.
The seven and eight seeds from this region -- North Florida and Georgia Southern -- are also onto Grayhawk after finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
North Carolina's Austin Greaser shot a final round 69 to claim medalist honors at 10-under, which was good for a one-stroke victory over his Tar Heel teammate Ryan Gerard and Wake Forest's Alex Fitzpatrick.
Top five seeds: 1. North Carolina; 2. Texas Tech; 3. Wake Forest; 4. Illinois; 5. North Carolina State
Onto Grayhawk: 1. Wake Forest (-26); 2. North Carolina (-19); 3. Texas Tech (-16); 4. North Florida (-16); 5. Georgia Southern.
On the outside looking in: t-6. Illinois (-2); Virginia.
Medalist: Austin Greaser, North Carolina (-10).
Advancing individual: Adrian Vagberg; Virginia Commonwealth (-5).
They said it: "Our goal from day one was to make Championships and we've done that. So now, we've got a bigger goal. We have played extremely well in the last two tournaments, winning both at the ACC Championship and at NCAA Regionals. Now, we need to continue that momentum in Arizona. We'll get back to Winston, rest and prepare then head out next week."
Wake Forest head coach Jerry Haas
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Norman Regional; Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club; Norman, Okla.
After a blistering hot 12-under round on Tuesday, Auburn took a six-shot lead over Oklahoma into the final round on the Sooners' home course of Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club, but OU fired back with a 12-under round of its own on Wednesday to win the team title by 10 strokes over the Tigers at 26-under.
Joining Oklahoma and Auburn in Grayhawk will be Ole Miss and Texas, along with Utah, the regional's ninth seed, which finished sixth strokes clear of South Carolina to take the fifth spot.
Top five seeds: 1. Oklahoma; 2. Texas; 3. Auburn; 4. South Carolina; 5. Ole Miss
Onto Grayhawk: 1. Oklahoma (-26); 2. Auburn (-16); 3. Ole Miss (-15); Texas (-12); 5. Utah (-4).
On the outside looking in: 6. South Carolina (+2).
Medalist: Jackson Suber, Ole Miss (-11).
Advancing individual: Evans Lewis, South Carolina (-6).
They said it: "Very special day for us to come out here and clinch a spot at Grayhawk, but to win on our home turf against this field is a big deal. We talked as a team last night about how we weren't thriving and we were just surviving. That's something that we're always trying to talk about is that we want to thrive when we play. So today we wanted to let these horses get up and run. We made the turn and saw the leaderboards and all the fan support, which was out of this world all week long, and felt really good about ourselves." Oklahoma head coach Ryan Hybl
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Palm Beach Gardens Regional; PGA National Resort; Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Cinderella found her glass slipper in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., where 14th-seeded College of Charleston is headed to Grayhawk after the Cougars held onto the fifth spot at 14-over. Notre Dame, the regional's third seed, had the best chance to unseat the Cougars but after starting the day just two strokes off the cutline, shot 20-over in the final round to finish ninth.
South Florida, the seventh-seed, also crashed the top-five, finishing fourth at 12-over.
This just in...Vanderbilt is really good. The Commodores won the regional going away, shooting 20-under to claim its sixth title in the last seven events while Brett Roberts of Florida State earned medalist honors at 7-under.
Top five seeds: 1. Vanderbilt; 2. Florida; 3. Notre Dame; 4. Florida State; 5. Purdue
Onto Grayhawk: 1. Vanderbilt (-20); 2. Florida State (-8); 3. Florida (-2); 4. South Florida (+12); 5. College of Charleston (+14).
On the outside looking in: 7. Little Rock (+25); Purdue (+26).
Medalist: Brett Roberts, Florida State (-7).
Advancing individual: Zack Byers, Gardner-Webb (-3).
They said it: “Really proud of how our guys went out and played great today. It’s easy to take days like this for granted, but I don’t and I am so happy for these guys and how they keep stepping up in these huge moments. It was a total team effort with all five guys finishing in the top 20 and all stepping up in big moments on a championship course. I think this week will help prepare us for Grayhawk.”
Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh
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Stockton Regional; The Reserve at Spanos Park; Stockton, Calif.
The Arizona State Sun Devils completed an impressive showing at the Stockton Regional where they finished at 38-under par for a 10-stroke win over Stanford.
BYU and Oregon, held onto its positions while Liberty, which was outside the cutline when the day began, shot a final round of 7-under 281 to finish at 18-under, unseating LSU by two shots.
Ninth-ranked Washington, the region's No. 2 seed, rode a wave of momentum into the postseason with three wins in its last four outings heading to Stockton. However, the Pac-12 champions will not be in Grayhawk after a disappointing eighth-place finish.
Top five seeds: 1. Arizona State; 2. Washington; 3. Stanford; 4. LSU; 5. Oregon;
Advancing teams as of today: 1. Arizona State (-38); 2. Stanford (-28); 3. BYU (-27); 4. Oregon (-21); 5. Liberty (-18).
On the outside looking in: 6. LSU (-16); Denver (-15); Washington (-11).
Medalist: Carson Lundell, BYU (-11).
Advancing individual: RJ Manke, Washington (defeated LSU's Drew Doyle in a sudden-death playoff).
They said it: "What a relief. The guys battled through a lot today and I am so proud of them, and so happy that they will get to go compete for a national championship."
Oregon head coach Casey Martin