CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA – Oklahoma State and Virginia won two games Tuesday to advance to the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf National Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course (7,528 yards/par 72).
The National Championship begins Wednesday, May 28 at 2:25 PT (5:25 ET) and will be televised live on GOLF Channel from 6-10 PM ET.
In the national semifinals, No. 4 Oklahoma State defeated No. 8 Ole Miss 3-2, while No. 7 Virginia beat No. 3 Florida State 3-0. Oklahoma State will be looking for its 12th team title in history, while Virginia will try to win its first men’s golf team championship and advance to the finals for the first time.
“Every program does this at the beginning of the season,” Virginia head coach Bowen Sargent said. “It’s a lot of luck to get to this point. We’re obviously excited about tomorrow and the opportunity. We expect our guys to play their best golf and give any opponent a good game.”
Virginia advanced to the semifinals with wins over Matthias Kress over Maxie Puregger (4&3), Josh Duangmani over Jack Turner (2 up) and Ben James over Luke Poulter (1 up). When the James-Poulter match ended, Virginia’s Paul Chang held a 1-over lead over Florida’s Zach Swanwick at the 18th hole and Florida’s Ian Gilligan led Virginia’s Brian Lee by 1 through 15 holes.
“I was really calm,” James said of his win over Poulter. “I hit a great putt on the 15th (to even the match), 20 feet. We both had two good shots on the 16th, and I made a 3-footer for par. (The) 17th was a crazy hole. Luke (Poulter) made a 30-footer, and then I played a perfect 10-over on 18. I hit a great drive and missed the right spot in the bunker. hit the bunker shot.”
UPDATE: Click here for the 2025 DI Men’s Golf Championship
James is looking forward to the national championship.
“It’s cool and it’s golf,” James said. “We’re going to have as much fun as we can and see where things fall.”
The sun nearly set before Oklahoma State’s opener against Ole Miss.. Sophomore Eric Lee’s six-foot putt on the first playoff hole (No. 16) put the Cowboys in the final. The win over Ole Miss’ Cohen Trolio was one of Oklahoma State’s two playoff wins, and Philip Fahlberg-Johnsson defeated Ole Miss’ Cameron Tankersley in 20 holes. Oklahoma State’s other win came as sophomore Preston Stout defeated 2025 singles champion Michael La Sasso of Ole Miss, 5, 4. Ole Miss’ scoring was led by Tom Fisher, Ethan Fang (1 over) and Kyle Meeks, Gaven Lee (4 and 2).
“What a great honor to have all the top teams there at the La Costa Golf Challenge,” Oklahoma State head coach Alan Bratton said. “I knew you were going to play well. We know Oklahoma very well, they have a great team, a great program, Ryan (Hybl) does a great job. It was a fun game and a great boost to the afternoon. But then it all starts again. We got up in some games (in the semifinals), but you have to close them out. What a quality goal in golf. (Lee) won the game and nobody gave it to him. He’s a really good hitter and he needs to keep it for life and only one team can walk away with the trophy.”
Lee was happy to beat Ole Miss.
Singles champion: Ole Miss’ Michael La Sasso won the men’s golf singles title
“Especially on this par-3 (16th hole), it’s a great feeling,” Lee said. “I didn’t play very well last year, so to be able to put the team in the finals in this hole means a lot. It gives me a lot of confidence going into tomorrow. I honestly didn’t know I had it in me. But to hit that final shot gives me a lot of confidence. I think I can do great things and I just have to keep working. How I feel now. I’ll rest tonight and attack with the guys tomorrow.”
The top two teams advanced to Tuesday’s quarterfinals, where they met twice.
No. 8 seed Ole Miss advanced to the quarterfinals with a 3-2 victory over top-seeded Arizona State. With the match tied at two apiece, Ole Miss’ Fisher rallied through four holes before defeating Arizona State’s Michael Miaseth on the 21st hole to advance the Rebels to the semifinals. The match ended on the 9th hole, when Fischer connected on a 10-foot putt and Mjaaset missed a 5-foot putt. On the first playoff hole, both players birdied the 7th, with Mjaaset hitting a 30-yarder before Fisher responded with a 20-foot putt to keep the match going.
In other quarterfinal games, defending national champion and No. 2 seed Auburn was eliminated 3-2 by Virginia, and James, Chang and Lee scored for the Cavaliers. Florida outshot Texas 3-2 in another hard-fought game, with Gators senior Gilligan scoring a 1-pointer over Christian Maas in the final minute. Fahlberg-Johnson, Fang and Stout were the Cowboys’ top three players as Oklahoma State defeated cross-state rival Oklahoma 3-1.
“It seems like only two days ago,” Sargent said. “Every game against Auburn, we got up early and played really well. We lost a little bit in the middle, but we rallied at the end. It was a little bit of the same in the half. We got up a couple plays and then gave it back. We were in a very similar situation in the ACC, and my God, these guys are just going to find a way to win.”
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