Oklahoma golf: Sooners fall short in NCAAs, but still scoring nationally

The men’s Oklahoma golf team fell short in its bid to repeat as 2018 national champions, but team members are still standing tall on the national stage.

The Sooner men were eliminated in the opening round of match play this year after finishing fourth in the 54-hole stroke play portion of the NCAA Championship. OU fell three and two to Auburn in the quarterfinal round of Elite Eight match play.

The year before, Oklahoma shocked the college golf world by unseating defending national champion Oregon in the championship final to capture its second national championship.

Four members of this year’s OU men’s team have been named Division I Ping All-Americans, and three of the four were members of the Sooners’ 2017 national championship team.

Junior Brad Dalke received 2018 second-team All-America honors. Senior Grant Hirschman, junior Blaine Hale, along with redshirt sophomore Quad Cummins, who made his first NCAA Championship appearance this season, earned honorable-mention status.

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This is the third consecutive season Hirschman has achieved All-America status, the seventh time it has been done in school history but the first since Anthony Kim in 2004-06. This is the second straight season Dalke and Hale have been All-America selections.

Dalke set a new OU single-season record for scoring average in 2018. His stroke average for 32 rounds this season was 70.97.

Oklahoma has produced 58 golf All-Americans, including the four who earned that honor this season. Head coach Ryan Hybl has had eight OU All-Americans in his nine seasons at Oklahoma.

This year’s NCAA Championship marked the end of Grant Hirschman’s college career. He capped off a brilliant golf career at OU, leading the Sooners to the Big 12 championship this season, finishing in a tie for first place and sharing co-medalist honors.

Hirschman  ranks third all-time at Oklahoma with a career stroke average of 72.19. In his four years at OU, he had 19 top-10 finishes and totaled 162 rounds, the most by anyone in Sooner golf history.

Information for this article obtained from the OU athletic department.