CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA 鈥 Oklahoma State and Virginia each survived two matches on Tuesday to advance to the national championship match of the 2025 红杏视频 Division I Men鈥檚 Golf Championships being played at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course (7,528 yards/par 72).
The national championship match will tee off locally at 2:25 PT (5:25 ET) on Wednesday, May 28, with GOLF Channel airing live coverage from 6 to 10 p.m. ET.
In the national semifinals, No. 4 seed Oklahoma State defeated No. 8 seed Ole Miss, 3-2, while No. 7 seed Virginia rolled to a 3-0 win over No. 3 Florida. Oklahoma State will be attempting to win the 12th team national title in its storied history, while Virginia will be trying to win its first men鈥檚 golf team championship, advancing to the match play final for the first time.
鈥淓very program shoots for this at the start of the season,鈥 said Virginia head coach Bowen Sargent. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of luck in getting to this point. We鈥檙e obviously excited about tomorrow and the opportunity. I just hope our guys can play their best golf and give whomever our opponent is a good match.鈥
Virginia rolled to a semifinal victory over Florida behind wins by Maxi Puregger over Matthew Kress (4&3), Josh Duangmanee over Jack Turner (2-up) and Ben James over Luke Poulter (1-up). Paul Chang of Virginia had a 1-up lead over Florida鈥檚 Zack Swanwick going to the 18th hole and Ian Gilligan of Florida was 1-up over Virginia鈥檚 Bryan Lee after 15 holes when the James-Poulter match concluded.
鈥淚 stayed really composed,鈥 said James of his close win over Poulter. 鈥淚 made a great birdie putt on 15 (to even the match), a 20-footer up the hill. We both hit two good shots on 16 and I made a 3-footer to clean up for par. (Hole) 17 was a crazy hole. Luke (Poulter) made a 30-footer and I followed with a 10-footer for par. Then I played 18 perfectly, hit a great drive and missed it in the right spot in the bunker and hit a great bunker shot.鈥
UPDATES: Follow the 2025 DI men's golf championship here
James is looking forward to the national championship match.
鈥淚t鈥檚 cool and it鈥檚 golf,鈥 said James. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have as much fun as we can and see where everything falls.鈥
Oklahoma State went to almost sunset before clinching its match with Ole Miss. A six-foot par putt by sophomore Eric Lee on the first playoff hole (No. 16) pushed the Cowboys to the finals. The win over Cohen Trolio of Ole Miss was one of two playoff wins by Oklahoma State in the match, with Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson defeating Cameron Tankersley of Ole Miss in 20 holes. The other Oklahoma State win came from sophomore Preston Stout, 5&4 over Michael La Sasso of Ole Miss, the 2025 individual champion. Points for Ole Miss came from Tom Fischer over Ethan Fang (1-up) and Kyle Meeks over Gaven Lee (4&2).
鈥淲hat a great credit to the test of golf that La Costa is that all the top teams were right there,鈥 said Oklahoma State head coach Alan Bratton. 鈥淵ou knew you were going to have good matches. We know the Oklahoma team very well, and they have a great team and great program, and Ryan (Hybl) does a great job. That was a fun match and a big boost going to the afternoon. But then everything starts over again. We got up in some matches (in the semifinal), but you have to close them out. What a showcase for college golf with the quality shots coming in. Eric (Lee) won the match, and nobody gave it to him. It鈥檚 fun to see. It was perfect to have him in the anchor match. He鈥檚 a really good ball hitter, great approach player, and he鈥檚 clutch, and he showed that. What a shot on 18 (his second to the green). He needs to imprint that one for the rest of his life. Every year, you start out with that hope, and only one team gets to leave with the trophy. We鈥檝e got a chance.鈥
Lee was glad to be the one to close out the win over Ole Miss.
INDIVIDUAL CHAMP: Michael La Sasso of Ole Miss claims men's golf individual championship
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great feeling, especially to do it on this par-3 (16th hole),鈥 said Lee. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 play it too well last year, so to be able to send my team to the finals on this hole means a lot. It gives me a lot of confidence going into tomorrow. I honestly didn鈥檛 know I had it in me. But making this final putt gives me a lot of confidence. I think I can do great things, and I just need to keep working. It鈥檚 awesome. I don鈥檛 even know how to feel right now. Hopefully, I鈥檒l be able to get some rest tonight and attack tomorrow with the guys.鈥
Quarterfinal play on Tuesday featured two upsets, with two higher-seeded teams advancing.
No. 8 seed Ole Miss advanced out of quarterfinal match play, upsetting the top overall seed Arizona State, 3-2. With the match tied at two wins apiece, Fischer of Ole Miss rallied from down four holes to tie and then defeat Arizona State鈥檚 Michael Mjaaseth on the 21st hole to send the Rebels to the semifinals. The match ended on hole No. 9 when Fischer connected on a 10-foot par putt and Mjaaseth missed from five feet for a bogey. On the first playoff hole, both players made birdies on hole No. 7 as Mjaaseth chipped in from 30 yards out and Fischer answered with a 20-foot putt to continue the match.
In other quarterfinal play, defending national champion and No. 2 seed Auburn was eliminated by Virginia, 3-2, as James, Chang and Lee tallied wins for the Cavaliers. In another hard-fought match, Florida outlasted Texas 3-2 as senior Gilligan of the Gators won the final hole to defeat Christiaan Maas, 1-up and earn the clinching point. Oklahoma State defeated cross-state rival Oklahoma, 3-1, as the top three players in the Cowboys' lineup, Fahlberg-Johnsson, Fang and Stout all posted victories.
鈥淭he quarters seem like two days ago,鈥 said Sargent. 鈥淲e got up early in all of our matches against Auburn and played very well. We kind of lost it a little bit there in the middle, but then rallied at the end. It was a little of the same in the semis. We got up in a couple of matches and then kind of gave it back. We were in a very similar situation to that at the ACCs, and gosh, these guys just find a way to win.鈥