Oklahoma golf finishes 9th, just outside of cutline in 2024 NCAA Men's Golf Championship
By Chip Rouse
The men's Oklahoma golf team finished one stroke outside the eight-team cutline that advances to match play in the 2024 NCAA Golf Championship.
The Sooners finished with a 72-hole team score of 25 over par 1178, just one behind the eighth-place team, Georgia Tech at the par-72 Omni La Costa North Course in Carlsbad, California.
Thirty teams advanced out of regional competition to the NCAA Championship. After 54 holes of stroke play over the weekend, the field was cut in half to 15 teams. The 15 teams remaining in the championship played 18 holes on Monday to determine the eight teams for match play on Tuesday and Wednesday. The last team standing after match play will be crowned 2024 national champion in men's golf.
No Big 12 teams advanced beyond Monday's stroke play. Texas finished 13th (1183, +31) and Baylor was 14th ( 1189, +37).
Oklahoma failed to make the cut despite posting two of the best rounds over the final two days of stroke play. The Sooners shot 13 over par 301 on the first day of the 54 holes, the second highest score of the 15 teams competing, and they weren't any better on Day 2 at 14 over to go down +29 after 36 holes.
The Sooners' performance over the first two days literally cost them the chance to advance to match play. Over the final 36 holes, OU was two under par in the third round and one over par in the final 18 holes on Monday.
Sooner sophomore Jase Summy was OU's highest finisher on the individual leaderboard at five-under-par for the 72-hole stroke play. Senior All-American Ben Lorenz tied for 37th at +7 along with teammate Drew Goodman. True freshman Ryder Cowan tied for 67th at +14.
This was head coach Ryan Hybl's Sooners' 13th straight NCAA appearance. Oklahoma won the national championship in 2017 and was runner-up to Pepperdine in 2021. OU also won a national title in golf in 1989 under head coach Gregg Grost.
Oklahoma has finished in the top 10 of the NCAA Men's Golf Championship seven times in the last eight years and 21 times in program history.