What a day of match play at the 2026 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Golf Championships. With #2 Florida falling in the Quarterfinals to a matchup between the last two years’ National Champions, there was plenty of drama to go around.
2026 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Golf Championships Quarterfinals Recap
In the Quarterfinals, we saw:
- Vanderbilt vs. Arizona
- Florida vs. Oklahoma State
- Texas vs. UCLA
- Auburn vs. Stanford
In the first match, it came down to the final pairing between Vanderbilt and Arizona. Will Hartman of Vanderbilt handily beat Filip Jakubcik, 6&5, but Zach Pollo ultimately ending up advancing Arizona after winning the 20th hole. His opponent, Wells Williams, had two eagles during his round, his last coming on the 17th hole to go 1UP into the final hole; however, a double bogey led to extra holes.
In the second match, we had another bout of extra holes from UCLA and Texas. While Texas superstars Tommy Morrison and Luke Potter won their matches, UCLA executed the second upset of the day, with Alex Papayoanou eagling his 20th hole to beat Daniel Bennett’s birdie and win the last match point.
In the third match, Oklahoma State beat Florida, 3-2, with Preston Stout defeating Florida’s Matthew Kress 1UP on the 18th hole. Zach Swanwick and Parker Sands secured the two points for Florida.
In the fourth match, Auburn faced off against Stanford. Auburn shut the match down early, 3.5-1.5, with Cayden Pope’s match against Stanford’s Edan Cui left unfinished. The Card’s only full point came from Nathan Wang, who defeated Jackson Koivun 2UP.
2026 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Golf Championships Semifinals Recap
With Arizona, UCLA, Oklahoma State and Auburn advancing to the Semifinals, fans were given a rough match to watched: Auburn vs. Oklahoma State. One of these two championship-winning teams from the last two years would have their journeys cut short just shy of the Finals. To amp up the drama even more, we had Preston Stout go up against Jackson Koivun.
In the first match, UCLA shut the match down before one match could finish. Arizona’s Filip Jakubcik redeemed himself from his morning’s loss and garnered Arizona’s only full point in the afternoon. Josh Kim, Tyler Loree and Alex Papayoanou earned the other three full points for UCLA. UCLA is advancing to the Finals after going 3.5-1.5.
The second match between Auburn and Oklahoma State could only be called a sweep, with Auburn going 5-0. Logan Reilly went 7&5 against Eric Lee, Josiah Gilbert went 4&3 against Ethan Fang and Cayden Pope went 3&2 against Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson. Auburn’s Jake Albert was 1UP over Gaven Lane and the match between Stout and Koivun will have to wait, as Koivun was 1UP before the match was called. Stout had worn him down from 3UP at one point, so who knows what the 18th hole – a par 5 – would’ve held for these two superstars.
Final Tee Times at the 2026 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Golf Championship
Auburn will have a chance to win their second national title in three years, while UCLA will be shooting for their third title. UCLA’s last win was in 2008, the last year before the match play portion was introduced to the National Championship; their first win was in 1988.
Who has the advantage? The team who has won in match play before the team with more titles in their name?
Match 1 (off Hole 1): UCLA vs. Auburn
All times are local in PT.
2:25pm: Alex Papayoanou (UCLA) vs. Logan Reilly (Auburn)
2:35pm: Tyler Loree (UCLA) vs. Jake Albert (Auburn)
2:45pm: Baylor Larrabee (UCLA) vs. Jackson Koivun (Auburn)
2:55pm: Josh Kim (UCLA) vs. Josiah Gilbert (Auburn)
3:05pm: Kyle An (UCLA) vs. Cayden Pope (Auburn)
