CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA – Oklahoma State defeated Virginia 3-1 to win the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course (7,527 yards/par) for the 12th national championship in Cowboy men’s golf history.
With its 12th title, Oklahoma State tied Princeton for third most in NCAA men’s golf history. Only Yale (21) and Houston (16) have won more. Oklahoma’s first state title since 2018. It’s the second title since the creation of the Oklahoma State Championship, improving the Cowboys to 2-2 in four title games and 12-8 all-time in 10 games. Oklahoma State won its seventh team title of the 2024-25 season, and the Cowboys finished the year by winning their last five team titles.
“It’s everything,” Oklahoma State head coach Alan Bratton said. “Oklahoma State has won 12 (national) championships now, but this is the first one with these kids. They’ve heard stories and we talked to some of the all-time greats a few weeks ago. Now they have their stories and it’s up to them to continue to deliver those messages to the younger players. With this team.”
“They’re just tough and confident, they’ve been resilient all year,” Bratton boasted of his team. “We had a bad first round of (NCAA) regionals and they didn’t bat an eye. We didn’t get off to the best start in the first round of the playoffs, but they kept going up the boards and eventually won in three games, like you need.”
Oklahoma State freshman Philip Fahlberg-Johnson scored the Cowboys’ first point with a 3&1 decision over Virginia’s Maxie Puregger. In the third round, Virginia’s Ben James led Oklahoma State’s Preston Stout 2-2 to tie the game at one. From there, Oklahoma State sophomore Gaven Lane took control of the match 2-1 with a 4&3 victory over Virginia’s Paul Chang.
Singles champion: Ole Miss’ Michael La Sasso won the men’s golf singles title
Sophomore Eric Lee won the final hole of a playoff against Ole Miss, the Oklahoma State finalist the previous day, and defeated Virginia’s Josh Duangman at 2 over to help the Cowboys go the full 18 holes for the title.
“Honestly, I didn’t hit the ball great today,” Lee said. “I kept making the same mistakes to the right. Stratton (Nolen, assistant coach) was just pushing me and telling me there were a lot of good holes coming up, so I was able to take advantage of them. I knew if I hit it well or missed the green, I could win today. I had a lot of confidence today.
“I don’t think I can put it into words. It feels unreal,” Lee said. “It’s going to be really emotional. I’m going to try to soak it up.”
Oklahoma State sophomore Ethan Fang held a 15-hole lead over Virginia’s Brian Lee before Lee’s match ended in an orange celebration on the 18th green.
“We’re really strong from one to five and we can win every week,” Fang said. “We stick to what we do best and we don’t put any extra pressure on us. We’re all young, freshmen and sophomores, so honestly there’s no pressure on us. We’re all really good and we work together.”
“From what I saw, I thought we played pretty well,” Virginia head coach Bowen Sargent said. This usually happens in match play. From what I saw, we played very good golf, but they played a little bit better. It’s a game of inches at this point and they’ve come out on top. It’s great guys, we’re ACC champions and national runners-up, so it’s going to be a little bit shorter than we were last year. I am looking forward to next year.”
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