Oklahoma looks like a No. 1 team on its way to claiming team title as host of Norman Regional

   I said I would get around to wrapping up the NCAA men’s regionals eventually. Took a little longer than I had hoped, but think of it more as a preview of the NCAA Championship, which tees off Friday at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. So many good players out there.

   There was no shortage of outstanding performances turned in by the time the NCAA men’s regionals wrapped up all around the country Wednesday, perhaps none more so than that of the No. 1 team in the country, Oklahoma, playing on its home course, the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club, in the Norman Regional.

   Challenged by Southeastern Conference power Auburn, ranked 18^th by Golfstat and the third seed in Norman, the Big 12 champion Sooners responded with a masterful 12-under-par 276 in the final round over the 7,542-yard, par-72 Jimmie Austin OU layout to pull away with a 10-shot victory over the stubborn Tigers.

   Auburn had taken a six-shot lead with a 12-under 276 of its own in Tuesday’s second round that gave the Tigers a six-shot lead over Oklahoma, the top seed, going into Wednesday’s final round.

   Oklahoma, behind one of its senior leaders, Logan McAllister, of Oklahoma City, Okla. and No. 14 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), came on strong in the final round to finish with a 26-under 838 total.

   MaAllister closed with a sparkling 5-under 67 that left him alone in fourth place in the individual standings with an 8-under 208 total, three shots behind individual regional champion Jackson Suber, a senior at Mississippi from Tampa, Fla. and No. 42 in the WAGR.

   Auburn, behind third-place finisher J.M. Butler, a sophomore from Louisville, Ky., cooled off in the final round with a 4-over 292 that left the Tigers with an 18-under 848 total. Butler was just a shot out of the lead in the individual chase after adding a 3-under 69 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 66, but backed off a little in the final round as he matched par with a 72 for a 9-under 207 total.

   Auburn also got a really nice showing from sophomore Carson Bacha, the 2019 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Central York, as Bacha closed with a 1-over 73 to finish in the group tied for 17^th place with a 1-under 215 total. Bacha’s best round of the week was a 3-under 69 in Tuesday’s second round.

   Auburn’s SEC rival, Mississippi, ranked 25^th and seeded fifth, earned itself a trip to Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. for next week’s NCAA Championship as the Rebels closed with a solid 7-under 281 to finish a shot behind the Tigers with a 15-under 889 total.

   Ole Miss got an outstanding individual performance from Suber, who closed with a 5-under 67 to claim the first individual regional crown in the program’s history with an 11-under 205 total. Suber had moved into contention with a 4-under 68 in Tuesday’s second round.

   Oklahoma’s Big 12 rival, Texas, ranked seventh and seeded second, got through to Grayhawk as the Longhorns closed with a 4-under 284 to finish three shots behind Ole Miss in fourth place with a 12-under 852 total.

   Texas got an outstanding individual performance from Travis Vick, a junior from Houston and No. 31 in the WAGR who was the runnerup to Suber with a 10-under 206 total. Vick took a one-shot lead in the individual chase after carding his second straight 5-under 67 in Tuesday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Pac-12 upstart Utah, ranked 50^th and seeded ninth, grabbed the final ticket to Grayhawk as the Utes matched par in the final round with a 288 to finish eight shots behind Texas in fifth place with a 4-under 860 total.

   Backing up McAllister for Oklahoma were Patrick Welch, a senior from Aliso Viejo, Calif. and No. 30 in the WAGR, and Drew Goodman, a freshman home boy from Norman, Okla., both of whom finished among the group tied for fifth place at 6-under 210. Welch closed with a 3-under 69 while Goodman posted a 2-under 70 in the final round.

   Chris Gotterup, a redshirt senior from Little Silver, N.J. and No. 42 in the WAGR, gave Oklahoma four players inside the top 10 as he finished up with a 1-under 71 to end up in a tie for ninth place with a 5-under 211 total.

   Rounding out the Oklahoma lineup was Stephen Campbell Jr., a freshman from Richmond, Texas who finished in the group tied for 23^rd place with a 1-over 217 total.

   In the Columbus Regional, another top-seeded team from Oklahoma and the Big 12, Oklahoma State, No. 2 in the latest Golfstat rankings, will also head for Grayhawk as a regional champion as the Cowboys shared the team crown with Atlantic Coast Conference power Georgia Tech, ranked 11^th and seeded second.

   Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech each closed with a solid 3-under 281 to end up deadlocked with a 10-under 842 total. It was the Cowboys’ sixth straight regional team crown and 16^th overall, three of which have come on the classic 7,422-yard, par-71 Scarlet Course at The Ohio State University.

   Oklahoma State also had the individual champion in Eugenio Chacarra, a senior from Spain and No. 4 in the WAGR. Chacarra added a 3-under 68 in the final round to the back-to-back 69s he recorded in the first two rounds for a 7-under 206 total.

   Georgia Tech’s Ross Steelman, a junior from Columbia, Mo., holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the final hole as he completed a 3-under 68 that gave him runnerup honors, a shot behind Chacarra with a 6-under 207 total. Steelman’s birdie putt also gave Georgia Tech its share of the regional team crown, the sixth for the Yellow Jackets.

   Steelman had surged into contention on the strength of a 4-under 67 in the second round, leading the way as the Yellow Jackets put together a sizzling 13-under 271 to catch Oklahoma State for a share of the top spot going into the final round.

   Ohio State, out of the Big Ten, took full advantage of playing on its home course as the Buckeyes, ranked 35^th and seeded sixth, punched its ticket to Grayhawk as they finished 14 shots behind the top two in third place with a 4-over 856 total. Ohio State closed with a solid 2-under 282.

   Ohio State will be the only Big Ten team in the field at Grayhawk.

   SEC power Arkansas, ranked 14^th and seeded third, finished strong with a 3-under 281 as the Razorbacks earned a trip to Grayhawk by finishing in fourth place with a 7-over 859 total, three shots behind Ohio State.

   East Tennessee State, ranked 30^th and seeded fifth, closed with a 2-over 286 to earn a return trip to Grayhawk by finishing in fifth place with a 10-over 862 total, three shots behind Arkansas.

   Backing up Chacarra for Oklahoma State were Brian Stark, a junior from Kingsburg, Calif., and Jonas Baumgartner, a sophomore from Germany, both of whom landed in the group tied for seventh place with a 1-under 212 total. Stark matched Chacarra’s final round of 2-under 69 while Baumgartner matched par I the final round with a 71.

   Aman Gupta, a senior from Concord, N.C. and No. 51 in the WAGR, finished in the group tied for 15^th place with a 1-over 214 total after closing with a 2-over 73.

   Rounding out the Oklahoma State lineup was Bo Jin, a sophomore from China and No. 25 in the WAGR who closed with a 5-over 76 to end up in the group tied for 40^th place with a 6-over 219 total. Jin should have some good vibes at Grayhawk, where he was the runnerup in the individual chase in the NCAA Championship a year ago.

   Backing up Steelman for Georgia Tech was Benjamin Reuter, a freshman from The Netherlands who matched par in the final round with a 71 to finish among a trio of players tied for fourth place with a 2-under 211 total.

   Connor Howe, a junior from Ogden, Utah and No. 88 in the WAGR, was a shot behind Reuter in the group tied for seventh place with a 1-under 212 total after also closing with an even-par 71.

   Christo Lamprecht, a sophomore from South Africa and No. 61 in the WAGR, was a third Georgia Tech player to match par in the final round with a 71 as he finished in the group tied for 29^th place with a 4-over 217 total. Reuter, Howe and Lamprecht each contributed a 3-under 68 to the Yellow Jackets’ second-round surge.

   Rounding out Georgia Tech lineup was Bentley Forrester, a redshirt junior from Gainesville, Ga. who was a fourth Georgia Tech player to finish up with an even-par 71 as he ended up in the group tied for 40^th place with a 6-over 219 total.

   Oakland’s Thomas Giroux, a graduate student from Canada, finished three shots behind Steelman in third place in the individual standings with a 3-under 210 total that earned him an individual berth in the field at Grayhawk. After matching par in the opening round with a 71, Giroux carded a solid 2-under 69 in the second round before closing with a 1-under 70.

   Penn State junior Patrick Sheehan, the 2018 District One Class AAA champion as a senior at Central Bucks East, competed as an individual and matched par with a 71 on the tough Scarlet Course to finish in the group tied for 37^th place with a 5-over 218 total. After opening with a 3-over 74, Sheehan added a 76 in Tuesday’s second round.

   Sheehan’s Penn State teammate Lou Olsakovsky, a graduate student who starred scholastically at Upper St. Clair, closed his career with the Nittany Lions with a solid 1-over 72 to finish in the group tied for 66^th place with a 226 total.

   In the New Haven Regional, Wake Forest held off North Carolina in an ACC shootout to capture the team title at the Yale Golf Course, a C.B. Macdonald-Seth Raynor classic.

   They had met in the ACC semifinals last month at the Shark’s Tooth Golf Course in Panama City Beach, Fla. with the Demon Deacons prevailing on their way to their 19^th conference crown. But the Tar Heels were higher-ranked at No. 5 and top-seeded while Wake Forest was ranked 17^th and seeded third.

   Wake Forest took a one-shot lead over North Carolina into the final round and closed with a 5-under 275 over the 6,409-yard, par-70 Yale Golf Course layout to finish with a 26-undere 814 total that was seven shots clear of the Tar Heels.

   North Carolina, behind individual champion Austin Greaser, a junior from Vandalia, Ohio and No. 33 in the WAGR, closed with a 1-over 281 for a 19-under 821 total. The Tar Heels had surged into contention with a sizzling 13-under 267 total in the second round, matching the spectacular team round posted by Wake Forest in Monday’s opening round.

   Greaser, so impressive in marching to the U.S. Amateur final at Oakmont Country Club last summer before falling to James Piot, had fueled that second-round surge by the Tar Heels with a spectacular 7-under 63. He closed with a 1-under 69 to finish with a 10-under 200 total.

   That gave him a one-shot edge over teammate Ryan Gerard, a sophomore from Raleigh, N.C., and Wake Forest’s senior leader Alex Fitzpatrick of England and No. 7 in the WAGR.

   Gerard took a one-shot lead in the individual chase into the final round after recording back-to-back 5-under 65s in the first rounds before closing with a 1-over 71 to end up with a 9-under 201 total. The always steady Fitzpatrick closed with a 2-under 68 to join Gerard at 9-under.

   Texas Tech, ranked eighth and seeded second, and North Florida, ranked 39^th and seeded seventh, finished three shots behind North Carolina as they shared third place, each landing on 16-under 824.

   The Red Raiders, out of the Big 12, closed with a final round of 6-under 274 that was the best team round of the day. The always underrated Ospreys, the ASUN champions, closed with a 4-under 276.

   Georgia Southern, the runnerup in the Sun Belt Conference’s match-play final, struggled a little in the final round with a 6-over 286, but the Eagles’ 6-under 834 total was good enough to grab the fifth and final ticket to Grayhawk out of the New Haven Regional.

   Fitzpatrick led the way for Wake Forest as he closed with a 2-under 68 for a 9-under 201 total that left him tied for second place, a shot behind Greaser.

   Backing up Fitzpatrick for the Demon Deacons was Michael Brennan, a sophomore from Leesburg, Va. who closed with a 1-under 69 after recording a pair of 3-under 67s in the first two rounds as he finished in a tie for fourth place with a 7-under 203 total.

   Scotty Kennon, a freshman from Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and Mark Power, a junior from Ireland, gave Wake Forest four finishers inside the top 10 as they finished in the group tied for ninth place with a 4-under 206 total.

   Kennon closed with his second straight 1-under 69 while Power matched par in the final round with a 70.

   Rounding out the Wake Forest lineup was Parker Gillam, a graduate student from Cary, N.C. who closed with a 1-under 69 to land in the group tied for 31^st place with a 2-over 212 total.

   North Carolina’s Gerard held a one-shot lead over his teammate Greaser going into the final after he registered his second straight 5-under 65 in the second round. He finished up with a 1-over 71 to share second place with Fitzpatrick.

   North Florida’s Nick Gabrelcik, a sophomore from Trinity, Fla. and No. 13 in the WAGR, closed with a sparkling 5-under 65 to get a share of fourth place with Wake Forest’s Brennan at 7-under 203.

   Lafayette senior Ryan Tall, who starred scholastically at Conestoga and won the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship in 2018, closed with a 6-over 76 to finish in a tie for 62^nd with a 222 total.

   Delaware’s Roberto Nieves, a senior from Miami, Fla., also closed with a 76 to end up in 64^th place with a 223 total. Nieves matched par in the second round with a 70.

   In the Palm Beach Regional, SEC power Vanderbilt played like the No. 1 seed it was as the Commodores, ranked No. 3, closed with an 11-under 277 over the 7,046-yard, par-72 Champion Course at PGA National, to pull away for a 12-shot victory over Florida State, ranked 22^nd and seeded fourth out of the ACC.

   Vanderbilt, behind Reid Davenport, a senior from Austin, Texas and No. 55 in the WAGR who finished in a tie for second place in the individual chase, finished up with a 20-under 844 total. The Commodores are headed for Grayhawk on a big-time roll following their sixth win of the spring portion of the wraparound 2021-2022 season and their fourth straight tournament title, including a victory in the SEC Championship, a grueling match-play test.

   Florida State, behind individual champion Brett Roberts, a sophomore from Coral Springs, Fla., finished up with an 8-under 280 to earn runnerup honors with an 8-under 856 total.

   After opening with a 2-over 74, Roberts carded a 4-under 68 in the second round and then finished up with a sparkling 5-under 67 to claim the individual regional crown with a 7-under 209 total.

   A couple of other Florida teams, No. 10 Florida, the two seed out of the SEC, and South Florida, ranked 40^th and seeded seventh out of the American Athletic Conference, also earned a trip to Grayhawk.

   The Gators, behind Fred Biondi, a redshirt junior from Brazil and No. 64 in the WAGR who shared second place with Vanderbilt’s Davenport at 5-under, carded back-to-back 4-under 284s in the final two rounds to take third place with a 2-under 862 total.

   After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Biondi added a 3-under 69 in the second before finishing up with a 2-under 70 to get it to 211.

   South Florida was 12 shots behind Florida in fourth place with a 12-over 876 total as  the Bulls finished up with a 6-over 294.

   Grabbing the final ticket to the NCAA Championship was Colonial Athletic Association champion College of Charleston, which posted back-to-back 6-over 294s in the final two rounds to finish two shots behind South Florida in fifth place with a 14-over 878 total. The Cougars certainly represented for the CAA at PGA National.

   Davenport had matched par in each of the first two rounds with a pair of 72s, but came on strong in the final round with a sparkling 5-under 67 to get a share of second place with Florida’s Biondi at 5-under 211.

  Backing up Davenport for Vanderbilt was Gordon Sargent, a freshman from Birmingham, Ala. who did Davenport one better in the final round with a 6-under 66 that enabled him to finish in a tie for fourth place with a 4-under 212 total.

   Cole Sherwood, a sophomore also of Austin, Texas and No. 49 in the WAGR who closed with a 2-over 74 to finish in a tie for eighth place with a 2-under 214 total. Harrison Ott, a fifth-year player from Brookfield, Wis., matched par in the final round with a 72 to end up in a tie for 11^th place with an even-par 216 total.

   Rounding out the Vanderbilt lineup was William Moll, a junior from Houston who also matched par in the final round with a 72 to land among the group tied for 19^th place with a 3-over 219 total as all five Commodores ended up in the top 20 in a tough regional field.

   Sharing fourth place with Sargent at 4-under 212 was the College of Charleston’s Kieron van Wyk, a freshman from South Africa who closed with a 74. Van Wyk had taken a one-shot lead in the individual chase into the final round after carding a pair of 3-under 69s in the first two rounds.

   It was a disappointing week for third-seeded Notre Dame and junior Palmer Jackson, the 2018 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Franklin Regional and No. 38 in the WAGR.

   Jackson closed with his second straight 4-over 76 to finish alone in 47^th place with a 229 total as the Fighting Irish failed to advance to Grayhawk, ending up in ninth place with a 32-over 896 total.

   In the Bryan Regional, the Pac-12’s somewhat overlooked Arizona, ranked 33^rd and seeded sixth, completed a wire-to-wire victory, matching par in the final round with a 288 to finish five shots clear of defending national champion Pepperdine, ranked sixth and the top seed.

   It will be Arizona’s first trip to the NCAA Championship since 2011.

   Behind Chase Sienkiewicz, a junior from Sacramento, Calif. who finished in a tie for second place in the individual standings with a 5-under 211 total, the Wildcats ended up with a 13-under total of 851 over the 7,146-yard, par-72 Traditions Golf Club layout.

   Pepperdine, the perennial WCC champion, had the individual winner in Joe Highsmith, a senior from Lakewood, Wash. and No. 20 in the WAGR, and a runnerup in William Mouw, a junior from Chino, Calif. and No. 27 in the WAGR who shared second place with Sienkiewicz, but could never quite catch Arizona.

   The Waves matched par in the final round with a 288 to finish with an 8-under 856 total.

   Highsmith closed with a 3-under 69 that gave him a 6-under 210 total that was one shot better than his teammate Mouw and Sienkiewicz and earned him the regional’s individual title. Mouw finished up with a 1-under 71 to finish a shot behind Highsmith at 5-under.

   Host Texas A&M, ranked 12^th and seeded second out of the SEC, was four shots behind Pepperdine in third place as the Aggies closed with a 6-over 294 for a 4-under 860 total.

   Another SEC entry, Georgia, ranked 15^th and seeded third, was another three shots behind Texas A&M in fourth place with a 1-under 863 total. The Bulldogs struggled a little in the final round with an 11-over 299 total, but got the job done.

   The Big 12’s Kansas, ranked 20^th and seeded fifth, grabbed the final ticket to Grayhawk out of the Bryan Regional as the Jayhawks closed with a 3-over 291 for a 3-over 807 total that left them four shots behind Georgia in fifth place.

   Sienkiewicz led the way for Arizona as he backed off from his opening round of 7-under 65 with a 2-over 74 in Tuesday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72 to share second place with Pepperdine’s Mouw at 5-under 211.

   Backing up Sienkiewicz for Arizona was Christian Banke, a graduate student from Danville, Calif. who finished in a tie for 10^th place with a 2-under 214 total. Banke had a share of the lead in the individual standings going into the final round after adding a 70 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening round of 4-under 68 before cooling off in the final round with a 76.

   Johnny Walker, a freshman from Chandler, Ariz., was the picture of consistency, matching par in each round with three straight 72s as he finished in a tie for 17^th place with an even-par 216 total. Sam Sommerhauser, a sophomore from Rocklin, Calif., also matched par in the final round with a 72 as he landed among the group tied for 20^th place with a 2-over 218 total.

   Rounding out the Arizona lineup was Chaz Aurilia, a junior from Phoenix, Ariz. who also matched par in the final round with a 72 to finish in the group tied for 29^th place with a 4-over 220 total.

   Texas A&M’s Walker Lee, the Aggies’ veteran fifth-year player from Houston and No. 59 in the WAGR, was his typical steady self, wrapping a pair of 1-under 71s around a 2-under 70 in Tuesday’s second round as he finished alone in fourth place with a 4-under 212 total.

   In the Stockton Regional, top-seeded Arizona State made sure it was headed to Grayhawk, not far from its campus, by storming to the team title by blitzing The Reserve at Spanos Park layout, which measures 7,315 yards and plays to a par of 72 with a 38-under 826 total.

   Ranked No. 4 out of the Pac-12, the Sun Devils, behind Mason Andersen, their veteran fifth-year player from Chandler, Ariz. and No. 72 in the WAGR who finished in a tie for second place in the individual standings, closed with a sizzling 17-under 271 to finish 10 shots clear of Stanford, ranked 10^th and seeded third.

   Andersen finished up with his second straight 4-under 68 for a 10-under 206 total as he shared second place, a shot behind the regional’s individual winner, Carson Lundell, a senior at Brigham Young from Alpine, Utah.

   Arizona State’s Pac-12 rival, Stanford, kept the heat on the Sun Devils the whole way, but couldn’t quite catch them as the Cardinal closed with their second straight 9-under 279 to finish with a 28-under 836 total.

   Stanford was led by Barclay Brown, a junior from England and No. 66 in the WAGR, as he carded his second straight 3-under 69 in the final round to finish in a tie for second place with Arizona State’s Andersen at 10-under.

   The region’s biggest surprise was Brigham Young, ranked 46^th and seeded eighth, as the Cougars, the runnerup to Pepperdine in the WCC Championship, finished just a shot behind Stanford in third place with a 27-under 837 total, closing with an 11-under 277.

   Lundell closed with his second straight 4-under 68 to finish with an 11-under 205 total, a shot clear of Arizona State’s Andersen and Stanford’s Brown.

   Lundell’s teammate, David Timmins, a junior from Sandy, Utah, was a shot behind Andersen and Brown in fourth place in the individual standings as he closed with a 2-under 70 for a 9-under 207 total.

   A third Pac-12 entry, Oregon, ranked 28^th and seeded fifth, finished six shots behind BYU in fourth place with a 21-under 843 total. The Ducks, whose 18-under 270 in the second round was the low team round in a week when a lot of people were going low, closed with a 5-under 283.

   ASUN representative Liberty, ranked 38^th and seeded seventh, grabbed the final berth out of the Stockton Regional to Grayhawk as the Flames closed with a 7-under 281 for an 18-under 846 total that left them three shots behind Oregon in fifth place.

   Backing up Andersen for Arizona State was Josele Luis Ballester, a freshman from Spain and No. 29 in the WAGR who closed with a 1-under 71 to finish in a tie for fifth place with an 8-under 208 total. Ballester was one of six players tied for the lead after two rounds, a group that included BYU’s Lundell and Timmins and Stanford’s Brown, after he added a 69 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening round of 4-under 68.

   Cameron Sisk, a senior from San Diego and No. 40 in the WAGR, and Preston Summerhays, a freshman out of the golfing Summerhays family of Scottsdale, Ariz. and No. 82 in the WAGR, were part of the group that finished in a tie for 10^th place, each landing on 7-under 209. Sisk closed with a 3-under 69 while Summerhays contributed a sparkling 5-under 67 to the Sun Devils’ strong finish.

   David Puig, a junior from Spain and No. 9 in the WAGR, sat out the opening round of the Stockton Regional while recovering from a back injury. He got the green light to go in the second round and contributed a 3-under 69 for the Sun Devils before matching Summerhays’ final-round 67 to give Arizona State a huge boost.

   For Liberty, senior Zach Barbin, winner of two of GAP’s major championships in 2020, the BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Lancaster Country Club and the Patterson Cup at the 1912 Club, replaced younger brother Austin Barbin in the Flames’ lineup for the final two rounds. They are members of the golfing Barbin family of Elkton, Md.

   Zach Barbin contributed a counting 2-over 74 for Liberty in Tuesday’s second round and finished up with a solid 1-over 73 in the final round.