(Photo: Ben Parris/WCSN)
Scottsdale — The 2023 playing of the NCAA Men’s Golf National Championship is set to begin Friday morning at Grayhawk Golf Club as Arizona State will host the event for the third and final time in the tournament’s cycle. The 30 team field consists of five qualifiers from each of the six NCAA regional tournaments that took place last week. After the first 54 holes of stroke play competition, the top 15 teams will move onto the final round before the top eight team advance to the match play portion to crown a national champion. Previewed below are all 30 team in this year’s championship, in order of tournament seeding.
Vanderbilt
The number one overall seed in the tournament make their ninth consecutive NCAA Championship appearance after winning six events as a team this season. The Commodores are led by defending NCAA Champion Gordon Sargent who was named the SEC Player of the Year, a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award, and competed at this year’s Masters Tournament. Vanderbilt finished T-4 at the SEC Championship and second at the Auburn Regional and will try to avenge their semifinal loss to Texas last year.
North Carolina
The only team to make the tournament from the ACC for each of the last six seasons finished tied for fifth in the championship for the last two consecutive years. The Tar Heels won five team titles during the year, the most in program history for since 1985-86, including the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational and Calusa Cup which included two of the three strongest fields this season. Fifth-year senior Ryan Burnett won the individual title at the Salem Regional with rounds of 63-68-68.
Illinois
The winners of the Big Ten Championship by a record 17-strokes have finished in the top two in their last five events in a row and claimed seven team victories this season. As one of the most consistent postseason performers in college golf, Illinois has secured berths in 14 of the last 15 NCAA Championships. Their lineup includes two fifth-year seniors, Adrien Dumont de Chassart and Tommy Kohl, who were both named finalists for the Fred Haskins Award.
Arizona State
The hosts of the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club finished as the runners up in 2023 but come into this year’s event as hot as ever. Despite not winning an event until the Thunderbird Collegiate in mid-April, the Sun Devils are peaking at the right time after they shot 59-under as a team at the Las Vegas Regional, the lowest regional score in NCAA history. Junior Preston Summerhays shot a 10-under 62 during round one of regionals and is a Fred Haskins Award finalist.
Texas Tech
Senior Ludvig Aberg joined Jon Rahm as the only repeat winners of the Ben Hogan award on Monday and is ranked on top of the World Amateur Golf Ranking and PGA TOUR University standings. The native of Sweeden has finished in the top-10 of every event he’s played this season including seven top-5 finishes. The Red Raiders finished third at the Big 12 Championship and forth at the Norman Regional.
Stanford
The Pac 12 Championship winners set a school record by 15-shots when they shot 57-under par at the Las Vegas Regional when they finished second to ASU. Junior Michael Thorbjornsen, a Ben Hogan Award finalist, was named Pac-12 Golfer of the Year after winning the Pac-12 Championship on Stanford’s home course. Fifth-year senior Ethan Ng had a career-best forth place finish at the Las Vegas Regional when he finished at 18-under.
Florida State
The alma mater of PGA Champion Brooks Koepka finished third at the Morgan Hill Regional, but Luke Clanton made history as he became the first freshman in program history to win an NCAA Regional individually. Florida State won their home event at the Seminole Intercollegiate in March and the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial before finishing third at the ACC Championship.
Pepperdine
After a fifth-place finish at the Morgan Hill Regional, narrowly making it into the NCAA Championship, the winners of the 2021 NCAA Championship won two events this season and had Derek Hitchner and William Mouw share WCC Player of the Year honors. The two have combined for 124 rounds under-par during their careers at Pepperdine and both sit inside the top-15 of the PGA Tour University rankings.
Florida
For the first time in 12 years, Florida claimed the SEC Championship this season, taking down Vanderbilt in the final match. The Gators won five team titles and had the roster combine for five individual titles from four different players during the season. Fred Biondi, who won twice this season, holds the No. 2 position in the PGA TOUR University rankings and will play his 100th round as a Gator when he tees off for the third round on Sunday.
Oklahoma
The Sooners will play for an NCAA Championship for the 12th season in a row, which is the second longest active streak in college golf. Oklahoma finished tied for first in the stroke play portion of the 2022 event and has moved onto match play for the last six straight years. The winners of the Big 12 Championship and hosts of the Norman Regional won four times during the year and are led by junior Ben Lorenz who won The Goodwin and owns a team-low 69.68 scoring average.
Georgia Tech
The ACC Champions finished as runners-up five times before winning the stroke play and match play portions of the conference tournament. Three weeks later, they climbed to the top of the leaderboard again when they won the Salem Regional at 53-under. Four starters from last year’s NCAA Championship appearance return to Grayhawk including Christo Lamprecht who finished in the top-10 in eight of 10 events this season including NCAA Regionals where he shot a 62 in the second round.
Auburn
The Tigers beat Vanderbilt at the regional hosted on their home golf course by just one shot for their fifth victory of the season, tying a program record. Sophomore Brendan Valdes also broke a school record at regionals when he shot 69 for his 15th round in the 60s, a single-season record. Valdes holds the best scoring average on the team at 69.61.
Texas A&M
Golf fans will remember Sam Bennett’s performance from the Masters Tournament when he finished as the low-amateur and saw himself playing in the final group on Saturday. Since then, his team finished second at the Aggie Invitational and SEC Championship before qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in a playoff over Clemson at the Salem Regional.
Alabama
The victors of the Norman Regional make their first NCAA appearance since 2018 when they finished runners-up. The last two times the Crimson Tide won an NCAA Regional, they went on to win the National Championship. The 2022 U.S. Junior Boys Champion Nick Dunlap will make his NCAA Championship debut while holding the lowest stroke average on the team at 70.39 as a freshman.
Virginia
Freshman Ben James is quickly becoming one of the biggest names in college golf after setting program records for wins in a season (5), scoring average (69.00), 54-hole score (196), rounds of par or better (31), birdies in a season (160), and par 4 scoring average (3.8898). Virginia will play for a National Championship for the first time in six years after a third-place finish at the Las Vegas Regional.
Texas
The defending National Champions have the longest active national championship appearance streak with 2023 marking their 16th in a row. The Longhorns finished fifth at the Bath Regional to secure a spot into the tournament. Freshman Jacob Sosa set a school record when he shot an 11-under-par 61 in January while Christiaan Maas has the team’s lowest scoring average at 70.68. Freshman Tommy Morrison will play in Texas’ No. 1 position after enrolling earlier this spring.
Mississippi State
For the first time since 2008, Mississippi State will compete for a National Championship after winning an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history. The team collectively set school records for rounds in the 60s (41) and team rounds of par or better (120) during the season. Freshman Garrett Endicott tied the school record for lowest 54-hole score while graduate Ford Clegg holds the record for most rounds played in MSU history (152) and rounds in the 60s (42).
Oregon
Four players return to the Oregon roster that finished 15th at the NCAA Championship a year ago. Junior Owen Avrit has eight top-10 finishes including victories at the Bandon Dunes Championships and Cal Poly Invitational. The Ducks edged out Florida and Texas at the Bath Regional to finish third.
Colorado State
Led by sophomore Christoph Bleier’s performance at the Auburn Regional that earned him co-medalist honors, the Rams will make just their third NCAA Championship appearance in program history. Bleier has posted rounds of 63 on two occasions this season and his T1 finish during regionals marked the first of his career.
Ohio State
The Buckeyes are making back-to-back tournament appearances for the first time since 1997 and 1998 after finishing in fourth at the Auburn Regional. The alma mater of 1961 NCAA Champion Jack Nicklaus are led by junior Maxwell Moldovan who finished at 7-under to share medalist honors in the Auburn Regional. Moldovan has recorded 10 top-10 finishes in 12 events played.
Georgia
Senior Ben van Wyk went wire-to-wire to win the Bath Regional while Georgia claimed their first win in a multi-day event this season. The school who became the first since 2016 to sweep the team and individual championships in both a men’s and women’s golf regional. Freshman Carter Loflin made an appearance in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship semifinals last week and will serve as the team’s alternate this week.
Arkansas
A 10th place finish at the SEC Championship narrowly allowed Arkansas to move onto regionals in accordance with the .500 rule by finishing with a 60-59-2 record. From there, the Razorbacks’ took advantage of the opportunity and finished second in the Salem Regional to punch their ticket to Grayhawk. Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, who leads the team with a 70.88 scoring average was the winner of the 2023 Latin America Amateur Championship, earning him invites to the US Open and Masters Tournament.
Baylor
Playing in their first NCAA Championship since 2019, four of the five Baylor starters made their postseason debuts at the Morgan Hill Regional where they finished in fourth at 9-over. Senior Johnny Keefer ranks second all-time on the program’s scoring average list (71.69) and has played in the No. 1 position for the team in every event the last two seasons while bringing home five top-10 finishes this year.
Duke
After finishing the regular season with two straight wins, the Blue Devils finished in fourth at the ACC Championship and fifth at the Norman Regional and made the NCAA Championship by just one shot. The 2023 team set a record for rounds under par as a team with 21 and have won four events this season. Freshman William Love played his final nine holes at regionals in 6-under-par.
East Tennessee State
As one of 13 teams to make all three NCAA Championships played at Grayhawk Golf Club, it took a playoff at the Las Vegas Regional for East Tennessee State to advance this year. The Bucs have three individual and three team wins this season and are led by Mats Ege who has shot 26 rounds of par or better and was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year after winning the conference championship.
Brigham Young
Back-to-back victories at the PING Cougar Classic and WCC Championship helped push BYU to another trip to Grayhawk and a second-place finish at the Morgan Hill Regional. The Cougars begin their tournament Thursday afternoon with the playing of their third round, due to religious observance. Sophomore Zach Jones claimed wins at the WCC Championship and Arizona Intercollegiate during the season.
San Francisco
Graduate student Matthew Anderson earned co-medalist honors at the Las Vegas Regional while San Francisco set a program record for lowest team score in an event at 45-under. The Dons were on the outside looking in at sitting in eighth after day one of regionals but battelled back to qualify for their second NCAA Championship in the last three years.
Chattanooga
For the first time since 2001, multiple SoCon teams will play in the National Championship as Chattanooga joins East Tennessee State for just the third time in program history. The Mocs set a program record with 99 rounds of par or better while Paul Conroy and John Houk both brought home individual titles at the Wolfpack Invite and Wofford Intercollegiate.
New Mexico
A fourth-place finish at the Salem Regional earned the Lobos their first NCAA Championship bid since 2017. Bastien Amat helped New Mexico to a team victory at the Wolf Pack Classic when he shot 14-under for his first collegiate victory. The team is on pace to set a program record for best scoring average, won two tournaments this season, in finished runners-up in another three.
Colorado
The Buffalos ended their 21-year drought and will play in their first NCAA Championship since 2002. Colorado finished third at the Pac-12 Championship and were never outside the top-5 at the Normal Regional. Sophomore Dylan McDermott set program records for most consecutive tournaments under par this season and claimed his first collegiate win at the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Classic when he shot rounds of 69-66-65.
