NCAA men's golf: UNF Ospreys play their fourth national tournament in six years at La Costa
Every coach of a non-power five conference member that reaches the 30-team field for the NCAA men’s golf championship invariably says two words to remind his players that winning the national title isn't insurmountable.
Augusta State.
“For sure,” said University of North Florida men’s golf coach Scott Schroeder, who’s had the conversation seven times since he took over the team in 2006 — the number of times he’s coached a team to the 30-team NCAA championship. "Of course, you mention what's possible."
UNF, which qualified by finishing fifth in the Rancho Santa Fe Regional May 13-15, is back for its fourth NCAA championship berth in six years, and eighth overall.
The Augusta State conversation goes along these lines: Despite the domination of the NCAA tournament by traditional powers such as Texas, Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma State and Stanford since the match play era began in 2009, mid-major teams always have the optimism they can duplicate what Augusta State did in 2010 and 2011 when Patrick Reed and Henrik Norland led the Jaguars to back-to-back national championships, beating Oklahoma State and Georgia in the finals.
More recently, Pepperdine, a member of the West Coast Conference, won the 2021 national championship by edging Oklahoma.
But Schroeder also reminds his team of something else.
"We’ve played a lot of those schools [in the tournament]," he said. "We've beaten some, lost to some. We talk about having the chance to be one of the final eight, to get to match play and we can do that if we control what we can control and play our game."
UNF finished fourth or higher in 10 of its 12 tournaments in the 2023-24 season, and beat or tied NCAA tournament teams 11 times. That includes a tie for fourth with the defending national champion Florida Gators in the Williams Cup last fall and beating Oklahoma, Purdue, Ohio State and East Tennessee State in the Puerto Rico Classic in February.
The championship begins on Friday with the first round of stroke play at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, Calif. The top eight teams after 72 holes will advance to match play May 28-29, where Schroeder says his veteran team would “have a puncher’s chance.”
That's because seniors Nick Gabrelcik and Robbie Higgins, especially, have proven their mettle in match play. Gabrelcik reached the final four of the 2021 U.S. Amateur and Higgins advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Boys and won the Florida Match Play Championship in 2021.
Gabrelcik also played in the 2023 Walker Cup at St. Andrews (going 1-2) and the 2021 Palmer Cup (3-1) and won the 2018 Florida Match Play.
"We have two guys who can be anyone in the country when they're playing well and the other guys are older ... they're not freshmen," Schroeder said. "The course fits some of our guys and the ones it doesn't, they'll just have to play smart and be disciplined."
The tough part is making the final eight. Teams from the Big 12, Pac 12, SEC, ACC and Big Ten have combined to hog 99 of the spots in NCAA match play since the format began, while teams from the Mountain West, WCC, AAC and MAAC have snagged 13 spots. No other conference has cracked the match-play finals.
But as Augusta State showed, anything is possible.
Who’s playing for the Ospreys?
North Florida’s regional lineup was Gabrelcik, Higgins, senior Davis Lee of Ponte Vedra Beach; and juniors Andrew Riley of Creekside and Jason Duff of Menendez.
It’s a veteran fivesome, all with NCAA championship experience. Gabrelcik, Higgins, Lee and Duff played in the NCAA Championship in 2022 and Riley won the 2023 NCAA Division II national championship with Palm Beach Atlantic.
The Ospreys will begin the first round at 10:57 a.m. (EDT) on Friday and 4:40 p.m. on Saturday.
What’s the NCAA Men’s Division I golf format?
The 30 teams will begin stroke play on May 24. After 54 holes, a cut will be made to the low-15 teams.
One more round of stroke play will be held on May 27 to get down to the final eight teams for match play. Ties will be broken by sudden-death playoffs involving all five members of each team.
Once the tournament is down to the final eight teams, they will go into match play seeded by 72-hole stroke play scores (No. 1 vs. No. 8; No. 2, vs. No. 7; No. 3 vs. No. 6; No. 4 vs. No. 5). Each match will be worth one point and draws will be a half-point. The first team to reach three points wins the match and advances.
The format began in 2009 when Texas A&M defeated Arkansas 3-2. Since then, seven of the 14 national championships have been decided by one point.
Who’s been the most successful team under the match-play format?
Texas (2012, 2022), Alabama (2013, 2014) and Augusta State (2010, 2011) have won two each. Texas has been in the most championship matches with four appearances.
By conference, the Big 12 has won five national championships under the match-play format, the SEC four and the Pac 12 two.
Who are the teams to beat this week?
SEC champion Auburn is No. 1 in the latest Spikemark rankings, with two players among the top 10, No. 3 Jackson Kouvun and No. 9 Brendan Valdes. The Tigers beat No. 2 Vanderbilt 3-2 in the SEC match-play finals.
Also favored will be Big 12 champion Texas and ACC champion North Carolina. The Longhorns are 21st by Spikemark and the Tar Heels fourth. Also a factor will be No. 6 Florida State with freshman Luke Clanton, the No. 1-ranked individual in the country by Spikemark and winner of three consecutive tournaments earlier this spring.
Pac 12 champion Arizona State and Big 10 champion Northwestern did not qualify for the NCAA championship, and two top-10 SEC teams, No. 8 Mississippi and No. 10 Alabama, also failed to get out of the regionals.
How to watch the NCAA Men’s Division I tournament
May 27: Final round of stroke play, Golf Channel and Peacock, 6-10 p.m.
May 28: Match play quarterfinals and semifinals, Golf Chanel and Peacock, 1-3:30 p.m.; 6-10 p.m.
May 29: Match play championship, Golf Channel and Peacock, 6-10 p.m.
What’s UNF’s record in the NCAA Championship?
The Ospreys have qualified for NCAA regional tournaments 19 times since going to Division I, the last 14 years in a row under Schroeder. This will be the eighth time overall that UNF has reached the 30-team NCAA Championship since moving to Division I in 1997.
How has UNF fared in the NCAA Championship:
2000, Grand National, Opelika, AL: Missed 36-hole cut.
2010, Honours Course, Oolteway, TN: 14th.
2012, Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, CA: Tie for 12th.
2013, Capital City Club, Atlanta: 18th.
2018, Karsten Creek Golf Club, Stillwater, OK: 28th.
2019, Blessings Golf Club, Fayetteville, AR: 22nd.
2022, Grayhawk Golf Club, Scottsdale, AZ: 24th.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Ospreys swoop to La Costa: UNF plays in its eighth NCAA championship
