Oklahoma stormed through the final nine holes of the 54-hole Amherst Regional in Virginia to finish in first place at 10-under par and advance to the NCAA Men's Golf Championship in Carlsbad, California.
The 2-seeded Sooners shot 12-under over the final nine holes, allowing them to jump over Vanderbilt and Tennessee, the teams that were in first and second place, respectively, after 36 holes.
This was Oklahoma's fifth regional championship in men's golf under head coach Ryan Hybl and eighth overall. The eight regional championships are tied for the fourth most in NCAA history. The Sooners have won five tournaments this season, tied for the most in the country.
Oklahoma advances to 14th straight NCAA Men's Golf Championships
Oklahoma, ranked No. 7 nationally, will join 29 other teams that advanced out of six regional locations and will compete at the NCAA Men's Golf Championship next weekend at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa north of San Diego.
Joining OU in advancing to the NCAA championships out of the Amherst Regional were Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Wake Forest and Pepperdine. Sooner fans may recall that it was the team from Pepperdine that defeated Oklahoma for the national championship in 2021.
The Sooners ended the third and final round at the par-70 Poplar Grove Golf Club on Tuesday in third place, five shots back of Tennessee. Weather caused a suspension in play on Tuesday and a carryover to Wednesday for completion of the third round.
The one-day delay might have helped Oklahoma, as the Sooners were el fuego on Wednesday, with critical birdies by Clark Van Gaalen, Jase Summy and Drew Goodman late in the round to help seal OU's championship win.
Van Gaalen, a freshman from Turlock, California, shot a four-under 66 in the final round and finished tied for second in the 54-hole regional tournament. Summy, a junior from Keller, Texas, was 6-under in his final nine holes and posted a final-round score of 3-under 67.
Sophomore Ryan Cowan, a local product out of Edmond, Oklahoma, also had a magnificent final round, contributing a 68 (-2). Cowan and Summy shared 10th place on the individual leaderboard, both going 2-under for the 54 holes.
The 30 teams competing in the NCAA Championships will play 54 holes (three rounds) of stroke play. At that point, the field will be cut to the top-15 teams. After one more 18-hole round of stroke play, eight teams will advance to match play to determine the 2025 national champion.
The Sooners have two national championships in men's golf in 1989 and 2017, and finished as runner-up in 2021. Oklahoma has made it to the match-play portion of the NCAA Championship six of the last eight years the NCAA tournament has been played.
Oklahoma's 51 all-time NCAA appearances in men's golf ranks eighth nationally.
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