After six consecutive rounds of golf, including two rounds in a single day, the championship match finally arrived. Throughout the week, emotions began to shift and tensions rose as teams began to drop.
What once started out as 30 teams competing for a shot at history, was now two final rosters who lasted out the rest. As the Cowboys and Cavaliers headed to the first tee, the atmosphere was completely different compared to the rest of the week.
No speaking. No smiling. Just business.
Both teams had one goal in mind and it was just 18 holes away.
OSU freshman Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson and Virginia freshman Maxi Puregger kicked the day off as the first match. After Fahlberg-Johnsson walked away with a birdie on hole one, he never looked back.
Puregger faced his largest deficit just before making the turn, where he went down by three holes after making his first bogey of the round. He tried to make a push taking holes 12 and 13, capitalizing off a bogey and double bogey from Fahlberg-Johnsson.
However, it wouldn’t be enough to get within reach. Puregger made two costly bogeys on 15 and 17, officially putting the first match away with one hole left.
“They are just tough and have confidence,” said Oklahoma State head coach Alan Bratton. “They’ve been resilient all year.”
The second match was the only pairing to go to 18 holes, which ended up deciding the winner of this year’s championship.
Match three was written up to be the most sought out round of the day with both teams’ top players facing off, OSU sophomore Preston Stout and Virginia junior Ben James.
However, it never quite lived up to the hype. Both players parred the first hole before the match got out of hand. Stout didn’t have his best coming out the gates, causing him to bogey the second and third holes. This led to a two hole advantage for James.
Despite having all momentum on his side, he decided to take it a step further. On hole four, short par-4, James holed out for eagle from under 100 yards out, giving him a three hole lead through only four holes.
Stout responded with a long birdie putt on hole five, attempting to bring back some momentum to his corner. This was erased immediately when James birdied hole six to cancel out the lost hole.
Stout knocked in a birdie on hole 11 to cut the lead to one, but that was essentially where his brief run ended. Stout nearly holed out from the back bunker on hole 16, but his shot for birdie lipped out. This put the match away as both competitors made par, while James secured the victory with a three hole lead.
The total match was tied up at this point, 1-1, as match four would be the next to round up.
OSU sophomore Gaven Lane and Virginia senior Paul Chang both found themselves in good positions to win during their match. Chang took advantage of a bogey from Lane on hole one, and held his lead until hole nine.
Lane erased a two hole lead, by making birdie on holes eight and nine to make the match all square. After two tied holes, Lane put his foot on the gas by making par on hole 12, a 245 yard par-3, while Chang finished with bogey.
At this point, Lane took full control by winning the next three holes and concluding the match with a birdie on hole 15. This match ended the earliest as Lane won by four holes with three to play.
“What a performance by Gaven Lane,” Bratton said. “He had struggled and hadn’t won matches the last couple days, and he was kind of down on himself…I was hoping he would do something special today and he did.”
The two quicker matches left match two to be the potential deciding round. OSU sophomore Eric Lee and Virginia sophomore Josh Duangmanee exchanged blows all day, never allowing the match to get out of reach.
Duangmanee had momentum throughout the majority of the front nine, but could never extend his lead by more than one hole. Lee managed to birdie hole eight to take a one hole lead, which would be his first lead of the round.
“To be honest, I didn’t hit the ball great today,” Lee said. “I knew that as long as I was chipping it well or putting well even if I missed greens, I’d be able to win today.”
Lee found his largest lead of the day on hole 12, after Duangmanee bogeyed the lengthy par-3. After a tough loss, he willed his way back into the match by winning back to back holes. After being tied up heading onto hole 17, Lee rolled in a clutch birdie to put the odds back in his favor.
“We stick to what we do best and don’t add any additional pressure,” said OSU sophomore Ethan Fang. “ Since we are all young, freshmen and sophomores, there is no pressure on us honestly.”
Lee proved to have a clutch factor Tuesday night by sinking a putt on hole 16 to win the playoff hole, which sent the Pokes into the title match. He demonstrated once again his ability to perform in clutch scenarios by running his third shot into the slope of the green, which allowed it to roll just past the hole. This essentially forced Duangmanee to make his putt and hope that Lee would miss.
The silence filled hole 18 of La Costa as everyone knew a national title was on the line. Duangmanee addressed the ball and started his putt on a great line. As it tracked towards the hole, it stopped breaking at just a few feet out and just missed on the left side of the cup.
After such a close call, this sealed the deal for Oklahoma State and brought them to the promised land once again.
“I don’t think I can even explain it in words,” Lee said. “It feels unreal. It’s going to be pretty emotional. I’m going to try to soak it in.”
Fang and Virginia junior Bryan Lee had a hard fought match as well, but fate had already been decided at this point.
“We played very solid golf from what I saw, but they just happened to play a little bit better,” said Virginia head coach Bowen Sargent. “It’s a game of inches at this point and they came out on top.”
This marks the second consecutive NCAA DI Men’s Golf National Championship held at Omni La Costa Resort. However, Carlsbad will have the privilege of hosting this tournament through 2028, keeping the highest level of collegiate golf in San Diego for the next three summers.
