CARLSBAD, CALIF. — Arizona men’s golf advanced to the 8-team match play portion of the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history. The Wildcats qualified as the No. 6 seed after finishing stroke play at 3-under par, one shot ahead of the cut, at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
Arizona will face No. 3 seed Vanderbilt in the NCAA Championships quarterfinals on Tuesday morning. The match play portion of the tournament, introduced in 2009, marks a historic milestone for the program, which had never previously reached this stage despite winning the NCAA men’s golf national championship in 1992. The closest the team had come before was a 15th-place finish in 2024.
Filip Jakubcik clinched Arizona’s position in match play with a par on the 18th hole during the final round of stroke play. Jakubcik finished the stroke play competition at 10-under par, placing fourth in the individual standings. He shot even par in the final round, as did teammate Tianyi Xiong, who birdied holes 17 and 18 after recording a bogey on hole 16.
Zach Pollo contributed a crucial birdie on hole 18, his only one of the day, while shooting 1-over par for the final round. William Wistrand shot 3-over par in the same round. Their combined scores secured Arizona’s narrow one-shot margin over the cutoff line for match play qualification.
Auburn won the stroke play portion of the championships with a score of 25-under par and earned the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals. Four teams finished the fourth round tied at 2-under par, requiring a playoff to determine the final two spots in the match play bracket. The NCAA Championships quarterfinals and semifinals will be broadcast on Golf Channel on Tuesday.
Arizona’s appearance in match play is the program’s first since the format was adopted in 2009. The team’s 1992 national title came under the previous stroke-play-only format.