The NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship field will be finalized by Wednesday night.
And if the first NCAA regional in the books, in Amherst, Virginia, is any indication, there will be some surprises.
LSU, the nation’s sixth-ranked team and the top seed at Poplar Grove Golf Club, finished ninth to become the sixth No. 1 seed to fail to make it out of regionals. The Tigers are also the first program to do so twice, also being eliminated at regionals in 2018.
The top five teams from each regional advance to next week’s 30-team NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, California. Also, the top individual not on an advancing team moves on.
As the regionals finish, we’ll recap everything you need to know from each of the six sites, from who’s advancing to who’s not to the best stories:
Amherst Regional
Poplar Grove GC, Amherst, Virginia, Par 70
Advancing teams: 1. Oklahoma (-10), 2. Vanderbilt (-6), 3. Tennessee (-5), 4. Wake Forest (-1), 5. Pepperdine (+9)
Eliminated: 6. Arizona (+10), 7. Arkansas (+12), 8. Stanford (+13), 9. LSU (+14), 10. Kent State (+17), 11. Florida Gulf Coast (+21), 12. Princeton (+28), 13. Howard (+64)
Individual champion: Jackson Van Paris, Vanderbilt (-8)
Advancing individual: T-2. Sakke Siltala, Texas State (-5)
The story: All indication was that this was going to be a wild regional, and it did not disappoint. Soggy conditions ensured a Sunday start and that each round bled into multiple days, and on Wednesday morning, with just a handful of final-round holes in the books, 10 of the 13 teams had realistic shots at advancing.
The top three finishers left little doubt, as eventually did Wake Forest, which raced into a comfortable position after a 13-under back nine, the Demon Deacons’ first nine, and ended up easily erasing a nine-shot deficit by shooting 15 under and throwing out a 68. It’s the fifth time in six years that Wake Forest has qualified for nationals.
That left a melee for the fifth spot.
Florida Gulf Coast, fifth after two rounds, ejected early and would plummet to 11th. Arizona and Arkansas each closed in 6 over to get into the clubhouse at 10 over and 12, respectively. The Wildcats, who had struggled since Tiger Christensen turned pro midseason, had to count a 77, though Zach Pollo and Johnny Walker combined for seven birdies on the final six holes. Stanford was never a great factor while top-seeded LSU looked capable of a 10-shot comeback but couldn’t quite score the birdies necessary. The Tigers finishes ninth, five shots back, marking the sixth time that a No. 1 seed has failed to get through regionals. LSU also becomes the first program to do so twice, also falling victim in 2018, and this is the first time that a top seed has failed in back-to-back years, following Arizona State’s early postseason exit last spring.
The lucky team moving on? That would be fourth-seeded Pepperdine, which snapped a streak of four straight NCAA appearances last year after finishing the regular season under .500 and losing in the final of the West Coast Conference Championship. Waves head coach Michael Beard was so bummed following that loss that he immediately went recruiting. He didn’t land a recruit for this season on that trip, but, as he says, “I at least needed to get out there and feel like we were getting better and moving the program forward.”
The Waves returned their entire roster from last season while adding freshmen Luke Bailey, a La Costa member, and Byungho Lee. Yet, only Brady Siravo had any previous NCAA postseason experience. Beard started to see signs that his rebuild was over at the Waves’ home event to kick off the spring and again at Southern Highlands, where they placed fifth in a stacked field. But the real turning point came at Pasatiempo last month when Pepperdine held the 36-hole lead before falling to third at the Western Intercollegiate.
“Yeah, we didn’t win, but I feel like they felt that it was different that final day, being there and just experiencing all that stuff,” Beard said. “I’ve always said you’ve got to get in there and fail first before you can go in and expect success.”
Seven shots back through 36 holes in Amherst, the youthful and inexperienced Waves came out Wednesday morning and promptly combined for three bogeys on the par-4 sixth hole. But they hung in there nicely and with six holes to play made their move. Pepperdine’s counters played Nos. 13-18 in bogey-free 6 under. Kris Kuvaas drained a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 17, Siravo delivered another birdie from 20 feet at No. 18 and junior Mahanth Chirravuri, who began his college career at USC, sank the advancing birdie put, from 10 feet, at the last.
“It just feels like we’re putting layers and layers of more belief on there,” Beard said. “I gotta think next week, even though it’s a new thing for them, that they feel like their games can travel anywhere, that they don’t have to do anything different than who they are.”
Chip shots: Oklahoma has now qualified for 14 straight NCAA Championships after its third NCAA regional title in the past four seasons and fifth overall under head coach Ryan Hybl. … After going without three-time first-team All-American Gordon Sargent on the travel squad, Vanderbilt got under-par rounds from four of its five players, including two from freshman Ryan Downes, who tied for sixth. Van Paris is Vandy’s second straight NCAA medalist, following William Moll. “So proud of these dudes,” head coach Scott…
