91茄子 men鈥檚 golf head coach Jake Amos attends a news conference to discuss the change in the 91茄子 athletic department leadership, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025.
STAFF FILE PHOTO BY HILARY SCHEINUK
CARLSBAD, Calif. 鈥 The 91茄子 men鈥檚 golf team continues its pursuit of the program鈥檚 sixth national title Friday, as the Tigers begin play in the NCAA Division I Men鈥檚 Golf Championships at the La Costa Resort and Spa.
91茄子 tees off at 2:45 p.m. on No. 10 and will play in Saturday鈥檚 morning wave. Coach Jake Amos said he likes the late-early setup.
鈥淚t鈥檚 actually one of the only advantages you get from having a good season,鈥 Amos said. 鈥淚f you are ranked in the top 15, you get that wave. You can see how the course is playing in the morning. You can change, adjust for the afternoon and then you really get to separate yourself to get the good tee time (for Sunday).鈥
91茄子 had three team wins during the 2025-26 season with finishes no worse than fourth in 10 of the Tigers鈥 11 starts.
91茄子 will go with juniors Jay Mendell (69.43 stroke average) of Lafayette and Noah McWilliams (69.48) of Baton Rouge, along with freshman Dan Hayes of England (70.09), sophomore Arni Sveinsson of Iceland (70.15) and senior Matty Dodd-Berry (70.39) of England. Baton Rouge senior Luke Askew (73.46) is the alternate.
鈥淎rni has had a bit of injury 鈥 but he鈥檚 really starting to play well,鈥 Amos said. 鈥淢cWilliams has improved tremendously. Jay Mendell has had a phenomenal spring and obviously, they are both Louisiana guys.
鈥淥ne guy that really doesn鈥檛 get a lot of attention is our freshman, Dan Hayes. He鈥檚 incredibly consistent. He鈥檚 always there. He鈥檚 been our absolute rock. For a freshman, that鈥檚 unusual. Matty has been playing well. Individually, I genuinely mean this 鈥 one through five 鈥 anyone could win it.鈥
91茄子 is making its 44th appearance in the NCAA Championships, having won national titles in 1940, 1942, 1947, 1955 and 2015. Three Tigers have won NCAA individual titles: Fred Haas in 1937; Earl Stewart in 1941 and John Peterson in 2011.
The 30-team field will be cut to 15 teams after Sunday, with the top eight teams Monday advancing to match play Tuesday and Wednesday. The individual champion will also be determined Monday.