OU Opens NCAA Men's Golf Championship on Friday

NCAA Men's Golf National Championship

May 24-29 / 72 Holes Stroke Play and 3 Matches / Carlsbad, Calif. / Omni La Costa North Course / Live Scoring

NORMAN — Playing in its 13th straight NCAA Championship, the ninth-seeded Oklahoma men's golf team tees off Friday at Omni La Costa's North Course in the program's quest for its third national championship.

The Sooners' streak of 13 straight NCAA appearances under head coach Ryan Hybl is the second-longest in the country, and 2024 marks the sixth straight season that OU has been a top-10 seed at the championship.

"We're really excited to have the chance to compete for a national championship," Hybl said. "La Costa is a great venue and will be a solid test for our guys and the rest of the field. We're going to play with a chip on our shoulder, because we know what we can do as a team and showed it during the regional. I just can't wait to see our guys get after it starting Friday and go compete."

Oklahoma tees off at 2:55 p.m. CT on Friday at the par-72, 7,538-yard track, which will host the championships for the first time. The tournament will be contested over 72 holes of stroke play, with the field being cut from 30 to 15 teams after 54 holes. Following 72 cumulative holes, the field will be narrowed to eight teams who will square off in a quarterfinal, semifinal and final match to determine a team national champion.

The Sooners have won three tournaments this season, including a dominant performance to win the NCAA Rancho Santa Fe Regional and qualify for the championship. That victory, paired with wins at the prestigious Southern Highlands Collegiate and the Ka'anapali Classic, has OU primed as a contender entering the week. Despite playing one of the toughest schedules in college golf, the Sooners' 136 head-to-head wins at their 12 tournaments rank third nationally, and Hybl's championship lineup features three top-100 players.

NCAA Regional individual champion Ben Lorenz will take the top bag at La Costa. The All-American rattled off a career-low 64 in the final round at Rancho Santa Fe to win the title and help OU punch its ticket to the championship. Drew Goodman, who finished ninth at regionals, claims the second bag at his third consecutive NCAA Championship. True freshman Ryder Cowan will make his title debut this week, earning the No. 3 bag for Hybl's squad. Luke Kluver and Jase Summy, each with NCAA Championship experience, round out the starting lineup. Freshman PJ Maybank III will serve as Oklahoma's substitute if necessary.

NOTABLES

HOW WE GOT HERE

Oklahoma (1,-3) erased a five-shot deficit in the final round of the NCAA Rancho Santa Fe Regional, winning the event and punching its ticket to the title. Lorenz (1, -8) carded a career-low, clean-card 64 (-6) in the final round to come from behind and win by four strokes.

The Sooners, who entered the day five back of the lead and just one shot above the cut line, opened with a birdie from Ryder Cowan on the first hole. Birdies from the entire lineup scattered across the first five holes of the day created separation from the cut, and the Crimson and Cream never looked back. Lorenz, Luke Kluver, Cowan and Drew Goodman played the first four holes of the back nine at a combined 8-under par to take the lead over Cal. An even-par stretch to close the day solidified the team title and OU's ticket to the national championship. Oklahoma's 273 (-11) in the final round was the field's lowest of the week by eight strokes.

THE HYBL STANDARD

Since Hybl arrived in 2009, Oklahoma has reemerged as a national powerhouse in men's golf. Oklahoma's streak of 13 straight NCAA Championships is the second longest nationally behind only Texas' 17. In that time, OU has won three Big 12 championships (2018, 2022, 2023) and the 2017 national title.

The Sooners are one of two schools (Texas) that have appeared in every NCAA Championship since 2011 and are the only program in the country to advance to match play at the championship six times since 2016. In addition to OU's title in 2017, the Sooners finished as the runner-up in 2021.

The Sooners finished 10th at the Big 12 Championship in Hybl's first year. Since then, OU has been dominant: 44 team wins, seven consecutive seasons with 3+ wins, three Big 12 titles, one national title, and 30 All-America honors.

THE FIELD BY SEED

1. Auburn
2. Vanderbilt
3. North Carolina
4. Tennessee
5. Florida State
6. Texas
7. Virginia
8. Texas Tech
9. Oklahoma
10. Arizona
11. Illinois
12. Florida
13. Georgia Tech
14. East Tennessee State
15. California
16. Texas A&M
17. New Mexico
18. Oklahoma State
19. Purdue
20. Stanford
21. Wake Forest
22. Notre Dame
23. Baylor
24. Ohio State
25. North Florida
26. LSU
27. SMU
28. Clemson
29. West Virginia
30. Utah

THE COURSE

The North Course at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa will play home to the championship. The par-72, 7,538-yard course is the longest course for a championship since the 2019 title was contested at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. Located just north of San Diego in Carlsbad, Calif., the North Course was ranked as one of the top-100 golf courses in America in 2020. Redesigned by Gil Hanse specifically for the NCAA Championships, the new home of college golf through at least 2026, the North Course opened in 1965 and served as the host of the PGA TOUR's Mercedes Championships from 1969-1998 and has hosted the WCC-Accenture Match Play Championships eight times.

Hanse and his team made significant design changes to the course with the NCAA's match-play format in mind, aiming to create a layout that challenges the best players in the game. A key feature of the new design is the increased number of risk-reward decisions players must make during their rounds. Notable changes include a drivable par-4 at hole 11, a repositioned green on the par-3 16th hole inspired by Augusta National's famous 12th hole, and a formidable finishing hole: the par-5 18th, now stretching over 600 yards from the back tee with water hazards on both sides of the fairway.

FORMAT

The NCAA Men's Golf Championship consists of three days of stroke play on Friday through Sunday (54 holes), with the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team moving on. That is followed by a final day of stroke play on Monday to determine the top eight teams advancing to match play and the 72-hole individual champion. The team national champion will be determined by match play.

TEE TIMES AND PAIRINGS

Friday - R1 – 2:55 p.m. CT; Paired with Virginia and Texas Tech
Saturday - R2 – 9:35 a.m. CT; Paired with Virginia and Texas Tech
Sunday-Monday – R3/4 – Tee times determined by leaderboard
Tuesday – Match Play Quarterfinals – 8:20 a.m. CT
Tuesday – Match Play Semifinals – 2:45 p.m. CT
Wednesday – NCAA Final Match – 3:35 p.m. CT

LIVE SCORING

Live scoring will be available on Golfstat.com.

TV SCHEDULE

Golf Channel will provide live coverage of the final three days of the championship, showcasing the best collegiate golf in the country. The NCAA will crown an individual champion on Monday and a team champion on Wednesday.

Monday, May 27: 3-9 p.m. CT (Individual National Championship)
Tuesday, May 27: 3-9 p.m. CT (Match Play)
Wednesday, May 29: 3-9 p.m. CT (Match Play)