MARANA, Ariz. (5/20/26) – Already rewriting the record book, the Arkansas State men's golf team added its defining chapter Wednesday, earning the program's first trip to the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Marana Regional.
"I can't describe this feeling but I think I'll feel it more when it becomes more real probably," said A-State head coach
Mike Hagen. "This is something that we wanted to compete for and the goal when we got here. I'm so proud of everybody and that was a true team effort if you go dissect the scoring from each round. The depth of this team and how they compete is pretty amazing."
A-State finished the 54-hole tournament at 24-under par 840 to tie No. 29 Duke for fourth. Host No. 18 Arizona was the top finisher at 49-under par 815 while defending national champion and No. 5 Oklahoma State was 35-under and No. 8 LSU totaled 30-under par. The Red Wolves finished one shot ahead of No. 20 Alabama (-23) for sixth while No. 33 Clemson (-21) placed seventh. A-State's 24-under 840 sets the program record at a NCAA Regional topping the previous best of 17-over par 869 at the 2024 Austin Regional.
Individually,
Jake Lile led the Red Wolves at 7-under par 209 (74-64-71) to tie for 14th and tie Zan Luka Stirn's program record low 54-hole total at a NCAA Regional.
Thomas Schmidt totaled 5-under par 211 (69-71-71) to place 21st while
Cole Kirby was 1-under par 215 (65-79-71) to tie for 31st.
Milan Reed finished 2-over par 218 (73-73-74) to tie for 43rd and
Jake Wallis totaled 3-over par 219 (80-66-75) to tie for 49th.
Including the regional performance, A-State has finished inside the top four in 10 of 11 events this season. The Red Wolves own a single-season program record 281.58 scoring average heading in to the NCAA Championships.
The 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa begins May 29 and concludes June 3. Finals play consists of three days of stroke play on Friday, May 29 through Sunday, May 31 (54 holes), after which the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team will be determined. That is followed by a final day of 18 holes of stroke play on Monday, June 1 to determine the top eight teams that will advance to match play as well as the 72-hole individual champion. The team national champion will be determined by a match-play format that will consist of quarterfinals and semifinals conducted on Tuesday, June 2, followed by the finals on Wednesday, June 3.
NCAA Regional – Marana
Final Results
t4 Arkansas State 281-274-285=840 (-24)
t14
Jake Lile 74-64-71=209 (-7)
21
Thomas Schmidt 69-71-71=211 (-5)
t31
Cole Kirby 65-79-71=215 (-1)
t43
Milan Reed 73-73-72=218 (+2)
t49
Jake Wallis 80-66-73=219 (+3)
