CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA — Oklahoma State rallied from an early deficit to defeat Virginia 3-1 and claim the 12th national championship in the storied history of Cowboy men’s golf at the 2025 ɬַ Division I Men’s Golf Championship played at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course (7,528 yards/par 72).
With the 12th title, Oklahoma State moves into a tie with Princeton for the third most in ɬַ men’s golf history. Only Yale (21) and Houston (16) have won more. Oklahoma State’s title was the first since 2018. This marks Oklahoma State’s second title since the creation of the match play, as the Cowboys improved to 2-2 in their four appearances in the championship match in match play and 12-8 all-time in 10 match play appearances. Oklahoma State claimed its seventh team title of the 2024-25 season, with the Cowboys finishing the year by winning the team championship in each of their last five tournaments.
“That’s what it’s all about,” said Oklahoma State head coach Alan Bratton. “Oklahoma State has now won 12 (national) championships, but it’s the first one with these kids. They’ve heard stories, and we’ve had some of our best players of all time talk to them just a couple of weeks ago. Now they have their own stories to share and a responsibility for them to continue to deliver those messages to the younger players so that we can keep this thing going. You hope for that kind of chemistry in every group, and we’ve got it with this team.”
“They are just tough and have confidence, they’ve been resilient all year,” Bratton bragged of his team. “We played a poor first round at the (ɬַ) regional, and they didn’t bat an eye. We didn’t get off to the best start here in the first round of stroke play, but they just kept inching up the board and ultimately won the three matches like you need to.”
Oklahoma State freshman Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson put the first point on the board for the Cowboys, defeating Maxi Puregger of Virginia 3&1. Playing in group three, Ben James of Virginia led from start to finish in a 2-up win over Preston Stout of Oklahoma State that tied the match at one apiece. From there Oklahoma State gained control of the match as sophomore Gaven Lane defeated Paul Chang of Virginia, 4&3 to make it 2-1.
INDIVIDUAL CHAMP: Michael La Sasso of Ole Miss claims men's golf individual championship
Sophomore Eric Lee, whom the day before had won the final playoff hole against Ole Miss that had propelled Oklahoma State the finals, clinched the championship for the Cowboys by going the full 18 holes to defeat Josh Duangmanee of Virginia, 2-up.
“To be honest, I didn’t hit the ball great today,” said Lee. “I kept having the same miss to the right. Stratton (Nolen, assistant coach) kept telling me just push through and a lot of good holes were coming up, so I could advantage of those. I knew that as long as I was chipping it well or putting well even if I missed greens, I’d be able to win today. I had a lot of confidence going into today.
“I don’t think I can even explain it in words. It feels unreal, said Lee. “It’s going to be pretty emotional. I’m going to try to soak it in.”
Oklahoma State sophomore Ethan Fang had a 1-up lead on Bryan Lee of Virginia through 15 holes when Lee’s match concluded on the 18th green setting off an orange-tinged celebration.
“We are really powerful as a team, one through five, and any week we all can win,” said Fang. “We stick to what we do best and don’t add any additional pressure. Since we are all young, freshmen and sophomores, there is no pressure on us honestly. We are all really good and work together.”
“I thought we played very well from what I saw,” said Virginia head coach Bowen Sargent. “They made more putts than we did, and that’s usually what it comes down to in match play. We played very solid golf from what I saw, but they just happened to play a little bit better. It’s a game of inches at this point and they came out on top. It is a great group of guys, we are ACC Champions and national runner-up, so that’s a heck of a year but a little bit short of our goal. Most of our guys will be back and I’m looking forward to next year.”
