Cal Men's Golf is teeing off at the NCAA Championships

Golden Bears are scheduled to start play on Friday afternoon

While we are clearly in the Golden Age of Cal Golden Bears on the PGA Tour right now, the next wave of future PGA Cal Bears might be playing for Cal Men’s Golf currently. This is a talented group that is ready to make some noise nationally this weekend at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships from Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, CA.

Cal is one of 30 teams that have qualified for the NCAA Championships by placing in the top 5 at the six NCAA Regionals. Golden Bears had a chance to win the Rancho Santa Fe Regional but eventually placed 2nd behind Oklahoma. Senior Sampson Zheng was in contention for the individual win but finished in a tie for 2nd, four shots behind Oklahoma’s Ben Lorenz.

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This is Cal’s first trip back to the NCAA Championship since 2019, so Cal fans may be somewhat unfamiliar with the format. The NCAA Championships involve both stroke play and match play.

Friday: First day of stroke play competition (18 holes).

Saturday: Second day of stroke play competition (18 holes).

Sunday: Third day of stroke play competition (18 holes); to determine the top 15 teams along with the top nine individuals not on an advancing team for final 18 holes of stroke-play competition.

Monday: Final round of stroke-play competition; to determine the top eight teams determined for match-play competition and 72-hole individual champion crowned.

Tuesday: Quarterfinals and semifinals of team match play.

Wednesday: Championship match to determine team champion.

Cal famously dominated the 2013 NCAA Championships during the stroke play portion. Max Homa won the individual championship by three strokes over some Arizona State guy named Jon Rahm and several other guys. This was a Cal squad that also included future PGA pros, Michael Kim and Brandon Hagy. Sadly, Cal Bears were edged by Illinois in the semifinals of the match play portion.

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The 2024 Cal Men’s Golf squad is a nice blend of experience and young talent. It was also a huge roster of players for head coach Walter Chun to manage all season long to fill out who will represent the Cal team roster and who will play as individuals.

Two of the No.1 ranked freshman class are on the Cal postseason roster: Eric Lee and Ethan Fang. Lee was also in the mix for the individual title at the NCAA Regional before placing T7.

On the opposite side of collegiate experience is senior Sampson Zheng, ranked 12th individually by the PGA Tour University Rankings. Zheng and fellow Cal Bear Aaron Du have their names on the USGA trophy for winning the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball title last May.

At the NCAA Regional, Cal made an injury substitution when sophomore Nathan Wang came in after the first round for redshirt-junior Kuangyu (Tony) Chen. Wang had Cal’s best final round and has earned a spot in the NCAA Championship roster. Chen is also healthy enough to get back on the current roster bumping senior Jaewon Park from the lineup.

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It would be interesting to see if this is the same lineup that finishes the stroke play part of the tournament on Sunday.

Golden Bears will tee off on Friday afternoon, starting at 1:50 PM PT, from the back-nine. Cal is scheduled for the morning wave for round 2 on Saturday. Cal Bears are paired with Georgia Tech and East Tennessee State for the first two rounds.

Golf Channel will have the important portions of this championship televised, but it does not start until Monday for the final round of stroke play with live coverage from 3-7 PM PT. The Team Match Play Quarterfinals (10-12:30 PM PT) and Semifinals (3-7 PM PT) on Tuesday as well as the Team Match Play National Championships (3-7 PM PT) will also be shown live.

It really should not surprise anyone if Cal Bears make the Team Match Play portion of the tournament as one of the Final Eight teams left. Cal is ranked 22nd in the Coaches Poll and 20th in the SCOREBOARD ranking. These rankings are based on results where the Cal lineup is arguably not always optimized due to players’ other pursuits and obligations.

HOLE ON YOU BEARS!