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CARLSBAD, Calif. – Oklahoma men’s golf saw its season come to an end Monday at the NCAA Championship, finishing 14th at Omni La Costa’s Champions Course and narrowly missing a spot in match play.
The Sooners (+5) mounted a charge toward the top eight during the final round but ultimately came up short. Despite missing match play, Oklahoma recorded its ninth top-15 finish at the NCAA Championship in the last 10 seasons.
The tournament marked the final event for 17th-year head coach Ryan Hybl, who guided the Sooners to 51 tournament victories and the 2017 national championship during his tenure. Associate head coach Jonathan Moore was announced as Oklahoma’s next head coach on May 24.
“All you can do at a national championship is ask for an opportunity and we gave ourselves that chance today,” Hybl said. “At the end of the day, it was kind of the same story all year long and we just weren’t quite sharp enough. I just hate it so much for our guys because the hardest part of everything is when the journey ends.”
Junior Ryder Cowan and sophomore Clark Van Gaalen paced the Sooners, tying for 28th at 1-under par. Their matching 287s rank as the ninth-lowest NCAA Championship scores relative to par in program history.
Cowan, a Haskins Award finalist, capped a standout junior season with a 70.12 scoring average (-1.26), the third-best single-season mark versus par in Oklahoma history. The Edmond, Okla., native totaled 172 birdies, the second-most in a season by a Sooner, while earning two victories, four top-five finishes and 18 rounds in the 60s — the second-highest total in program history.
Van Gaalen wrapped his strong sophomore campaign with his sixth top-20 finish of the season after competing in 13 events for the Sooners.
Senior Jase Summy closed his Oklahoma career with a tie for 70th. The Keller, Texas, product finished third in the PGA Tour University rankings, earning immediate Korn Ferry Tour status and becoming Oklahoma’s nation-leading ninth PGA Tour University graduate. Summy leaves Norman as the program’s all-time leader in career scoring average (70.76, -0.53), birdies (613), rounds in the 60s (57, seventh-most in NCAA history) and par-or-better rounds (98, eighth-most in NCAA history).
“Jase Summy is a guy that is ready for professional golf,” Hybl continued. “I feel like I’ve got a pretty good pulse on when guys are ready, and he is absolutely ready for the next level. We’re excited for him and can’t wait to see him be successful at the next level.”
Matthew Troutman finished tied for 49th at 4-over par in the final collegiate event of his career. The Louisville, Ky., native competed in 21 tournaments as a Sooner and recorded 10 top-20 finishes. PJ Maybank III rounded out the Oklahoma lineup, finishing tied for 80th.
Top-ranked Auburn secured the No. 1 seed for match play at 26-under par. Texas earned the No. 2 seed, followed by Vanderbilt, Florida, Oklahoma State, Arizona, Stanford and UCLA. Those eight teams advanced to match play to compete for the national championship, which begins Tuesday.
Oklahoma State’s Preston Stout claimed the individual national title at 14-under par.
Oklahoma concludes the season with two team victories, highlighted by a program-record scoring performance at the Ka’anapali Classic and a third consecutive NCAA Regional championship. The Sooners recorded 737 birdies, the second-most in a season in school history, while their 19 eagles ranked fourth all-time. Oklahoma’s 282.5 scoring average (-2.7) finished as the third-lowest season mark in program history.
“This group did a really nice job all year I thought,” Hybl said. “We were kind of banged up all season, but got healthy at the right time and just couldn’t quite get over the hump this week. There is no doubt that our guys were confident and ready this week, and it just didn’t work out in the end.”
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