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see also: NCAA Division I Golf Marana Regional, The Gallery Golf Club - North Course

Texas runs away with Bryan, Vanderbilt stuns Auburn in Athens, and Arizona surges in Marana
Wednesday in the postseason is the longest day of the college golf year. Six regionals. Eighty-one teams. Forty-five individuals. Thirty spots in the field at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. By tonight, the road to Carlsbad will be paved, and the National Championship field will be set. As of this writing on May 20, one regional is already in the books, the others are heading down the stretch, and the storylines are stacking up faster than the cut lines.
For the first time, every regional has been livestreamed by Babygrande Golf, meaning fans, families, and coaches have followed every shot — from Athens to Marana — in real time. So what do we know, and what should we expect when the season-ending championship tees off May 29 in Carlsbad? Here's the wrap.
Bryan Regional — Traditions Club. Final. The host Longhorns made the Lone Star State look like a home game and the rest of the field look ordinary. Top-seeded Texas posted a staggering 45-under-par across 54 holes — a five-shot waltz over second-seeded Texas A&M (-40) at the Aggies' own course. Luke Potter claimed individual medalist honors, capping a dominant week for the Big 12 powerhouse that will host the national championship as the title sponsor at La Costa.
The real fireworks happened behind the top two. Eleventh-seeded Chattanooga — yes, Chattanooga — punched above its weight all week and finished third at 23-under. North Carolina (-19) and Tennessee (-18) edged out TCU (-13) for the final two qualifying spots. The Horned Frogs, ranked No. 34 and seeded sixth, finished in the worst place imaginable in college golf: sixth.
A footnote worth remembering: UNLV's Brett Sawaia made a hole-in-one on the seventh, the kind of moment that loops on Babygrande highlights all summer long. UNC's Niall Sheils Donegan, one of the week's top-billed names, did exactly what UNC needed him to do, helping the Tar Heels lock down a top-five berth.
| Pos | Team | Seed | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | 1 | -45 |
| 2 | Texas A&M | 5 | -40 |
| 3 | Chattanooga | 11 | -23 |
| 4 | North Carolina | 2 | -19 |
| 5 | Tennessee | 3 | -18 |
| 6 | TCU — missed cut | 6 | -13 |
Source: Scoreboard — Bryan Regional
Five of the six regionals are still being decided as the final round plays out across the country. Here's the state of play at each site.
University of Georgia GC. This was supposed to be the Jackson Koivun show. Instead, it's been the Vanderbilt show. The Commodores, ranked No. 13, fired a 15-under 269 in the second round — a school record at the regional stage — and took the lead into Wednesday at 22-under. Freshman Will Hartman shot 8-under 63 in the middle round. Five shots back of the Commodores sat Louisville (-20). And five behind the Cardinals: top-ranked Auburn (-14), with junior Josiah Gilbert in third individually at -9 and Koivun grinding for shots, putting on 70-70 on a course where he likely expected more.
Georgia (-12) is hanging on at home, BYU (-11) is on the bubble in fifth, and Charleston (-10) is the lurker the Cougars don't want to see. With Vandy, Louisville, and Auburn separating themselves at the top, the day-three story in Athens is who claims the final two qualifying spots — and whether No. 12 Illinois (currently outside the cut) can charge their way in.
Bermuda Run Country Club. Last year's runners-up came out swinging. Virginia opened with a 13-under 271 in Round 1 with all five Cavaliers under par — the kind of statement performance Ben James and the back-to-back ACC champions have made their calling card. Pepperdine, the surprise No. 3 seed, was two shots back. The big lurker is No. 10 Ole Miss, which arrived hot off its first SEC title in 41 years and tied for third with host Wake Forest, Mississippi State, and USC after Day 1.
Watch James over the closing holes. The world No. 3 amateur and Ben Hogan Award finalist is the type of player who decides regionals on a stretch of three holes; he's also the one player here capable of finishing T1 in the individual race even if the Cavaliers stumble. Of all the regionals, this is the field most likely to produce five seeded teams advancing as expected.
OSU Golf Club — Reportedly Final. The Gators came in as the No. 2 ranked team in the country, having broken the program scoring record at SEC, and they backed it up. Reports out of Columbus have Florida winning at -7, with No. 14 Stanford and Florida State tied for third at +6, joined by a stunning second-place finish from No. 10 seed Memphis at +5. The other shock: 12-seed Illinois State of the Missouri Valley Conference grabbing the fifth qualifying spot at +9.
If those results hold, Arizona State (the No. 2 seed) and South Carolina both miss out — a brutal day for a Sun Devils program that has been a perennial postseason fixture. Florida State's Tyler Weaver was the individual story heading in; he'll need to confirm a low number to push for the individual qualifier. Princeton's Riccardo Fantinelli, the top-ranked individual in the field, came in as the player to beat for the lone individual spot, but the wind in Columbus on Tuesday left every player working harder than the scorecards suggest.
Trysting Tree Golf Club. Hold this thought: No. 17 Oklahoma fired a program-record regional round of 19-under 265 in the second round. The Sooners now sit at 28-under, eight clear of Purdue and 15 clear of host Oregon State, and look like a runaway. The drama is at the bubble.
UCLA (No. 30) is in fourth at -9. No. 6 Arkansas — the top seed — is hanging on at fifth at -8. And No. 7 Texas Tech sits eighth at -3, five shots out of the final qualifying spot. Tim Wiedemeyer (T9 individually at -5) and Ben Gregg are the ones who have to chase down a Razorbacks team that may be more vulnerable than its seed suggests after a 1-over second round. Connor Graham's senior year cannot end this way, but unless the Red Raiders go low on Wednesday, it will. It's the bubble story of the entire postseason.
The Gallery Golf Club — North Course. All eyes were supposed to be on defending champion Oklahoma State and its quest to become the first program in 12 years to repeat. They're still alive — sitting second at 25-under — but the Cowboys aren't the story. The story is the host, Arizona, the No. 18 ranked team and the No. 3 seed, which fired a 24-under 264 in Round 2 to surge into a 10-shot lead. With one round to play, the Wildcats look like a near-lock to advance from their own desert. Behind Arizona and Oklahoma State sit Arkansas State (-9) — a delicious upset story — LSU (-6), and Duke (E) rounding out the top five.
Three individual storylines stand out. Oklahoma State's Eric Lee carded a 9-under 63 in Round 2, one shy of Jordan Niebrugge's school record at a regional (62 in 2015), and tied Alabama's William Jennings for the individual lead at -12. Cowboy junior Preston Stout — a Ben Hogan Award finalist alongside Koivun — sits T9. And the bubble teams: San Diego State, Clemson, and West Virginia all need a low round to crash into the top five.
Eric Lee — Oklahoma State — 9-under 63. One stroke off the school regional record. From outside the top 10 to the individual lead in 18 holes. The Cowboy junior is timing his career week perfectly.
Will Hartman — Vanderbilt — 8-under 63. The freshman was the central engine of Vanderbilt's school-record 269 at Athens. If the Commodores topple Auburn at the No. 1 ranked team's own bracket, Hartman is why.
Josiah Gilbert — Auburn — T3 individually at -9. The story everyone expected to be Koivun has been Gilbert. Make no mistake: the Tigers can still finish second or third in Athens, but their own teammate is the one keeping them in shouting distance of Vanderbilt.
Ben James — Virginia — leading the Cavaliers. The Ben Hogan Award finalist looks every bit the world No. 3 amateur in the field. James will get his shot at the Hogan dinner on May 25 in Fort Worth alongside Auburn's Koivun and Oklahoma State's Preston Stout.
Luke Potter — Texas — individual medalist, Bryan. The Longhorns leaned on senior leadership all week. Potter's wire-to-wire week capped one of the best individual performances of the postseason.
Brett Sawaia — UNLV — hole-in-one, Bryan Regional, hole 7. The kind of moment that lives forever on highlight reels — and on Babygrande replays — even when your team doesn't advance.
Every postseason has a hard cliff at fifth place. Here's where it's already been brutal — or about to be.
Bubble drama is the soul of regional week, and 2026 is delivering more of it than any year in recent memory. Six top-20 teams are at risk of missing nationals before sundown.
Course: Omni La Costa Resort & Spa — North Course (formerly the Champions Course), Carlsbad, California. A 7,500-yard, par-72 Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner redesign that has hosted the NCAA Championship since 2024 and is locked in through 2028.
Schedule: 30 teams and 6 individuals open with 54 holes of stroke play (May 29–31). The top 15 teams and nine individuals (not on advancing teams) play a fourth round of stroke play on June 1 to crown the individual champion and determine the eight teams that go to match play. Quarterfinals and semifinals June 2; the final on June 3.
Defending champions: Oklahoma State, who defeated Virginia 4-1 in the 2025 final. Ole Miss junior Michael La Sasso won individual medalist honors a year ago at La Costa, beating the field by a stroke.
What to watch:
The Athens, Bermuda Run, Bryan, Columbus, Corvallis, and Marana regional leaderboards remain live through the end of play Wednesday. The full field for La Costa will be confirmed tonight, and every round of the NCAA Championship will be livestreamed by Babygrande Golf from the moment the first ball is in the air.
Live leaderboards: Athens · Bermuda Run · Bryan · Columbus · Corvallis · Marana
Livestream: Babygrande Golf
National Championship preview: NCAA.com
Sources: Scoreboard by Clippd (Athens, Bryan, Corvallis); Auburn Athletics; Oklahoma State Athletics; Texas Tech Athletics; NCAA.com; Golf Bible; Omni Hotels — NCAA at La Costa.

54 hole men's NCAA Regional from which the low teams advance to the NCAA Championship.

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