For the second straight year, the men’s Oklahoma golf team has captured the Big 12 Championship. And it did so in record fashion.
The Sooners shot a four-round team score of one-under-par 1119 over the par-72 Prairie Dunes Country Club course in Hutchinson, Kansas, to win by 18 strokes over second-place TCU.
Oklahoma, the 10th-ranked team in the country, according to the latest Golfstat collegiate rankings, led wire to wire, leading after every round in the 72-hole championship tournament. The Sooners’ winning score was a program best in a 72-hole tournament and a Big 12 record by 10 strokes on the Prairie Dunes course.
TCU finished second with a score of 1137 (+17), followed by Texas Tech (1141, +21) and Texas (1143, +23).
This was OU’s 19th conference title on the men’s side and third (2018, 2022 and 2023) under head coach Ryan Hybl.
"“For us to have won three of the last five Big 12 Championships is so awesome,” Hybl said in a press release posted on the OU athletic website.“But this one is extra special because we got to enjoy the walk a little more on the back nine there with the lead.”"
Ludvig Aberg was the individual medalist for the second straight year in the Big 12 Championship with a 72-hole score of 15-under-par 265. Redshirt-senior Patrick Welch finished fourth with a score of two-under 278, one of just four golfers to finish under par. OU sophomore Drew Goodman was fifth at even-par 280. Junior Ben Lorenz shot a team-low 69 (-3) over the final 18 holes to finish tied for sixth on the individual leaderboard. All three Oklahoma golfers were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Five Big 12 teams came into the conference tournament ranked in the top-25 nationally: No. 5 Texas Tech, No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 14 Texas, No. 21 Oklahoma State and No. 24 Kansas State.
As Big 12 champion, Oklahoma earns the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Men’s Golf Tournament, making its 12 consecutive NCAA Regional appearance. The Sooners will host one of the regional sites at Jimmie Austin Golf Club on May 15-17. The top five teams at the Norman Regional will advance to the NCAA Championship, which is being held this year at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Sooners were eliminated by Arizona State in the quarterfinals of the 2022 NCAA Championship.