Arizona men’s golf advances to NCAA Championships

Arizona men’s golf is once again headed to the NCAA Championships.

No. 11 Arizona placed fourth at the NCAA West Lafayette Regional with a 3-under par. The Wildcats needed to secure a top-five finish to advance to NCAA Championships.

The Wildcats fought through rainy conditions Wednesday at Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex to shoot a 6-over for the round and remain well ahead of the cut line.

Arizona finished 20 strokes behind regional champion Vanderbilt. Also advancing out of the West Lafayette Regional are Purdue, Florida and New Mexico.

MOVING ON‼️

Congratulations to @ArizonaMGolf for advancing to the NCAA Championships! #BearDown | #NCAAGolf pic.twitter.com/IiabQYesbI

— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) May 15, 2024

Arizona will compete in the NCAA Championships for the second time in three years and the 29th time in program history.

“Today was a great display of perseverance from our entire lineup through some difficult weather conditions, and I couldn’t be prouder to see this group of guys advance to the NCAA Championships,” said head coach Jim Anderson. “The resiliency and focus our team showed all week has been our calling card throughout the season. To be able to rely on it on the big stage of NCAA postseason shows you how special this group is. We set out in August with the goal of a national championship, and now we have taken another big step towards it.”

Senior Sam Sommerhauser shot Arizona’s lowest score of the regional with a 2-under to finish in a tie for 14th place. Junior Tiger Christensen finished right behind with a 1-under.

Arizona is one of four Pac-12 teams to advance to NCAA Championships, joining Cal, Stanford and Utah. ASU, which entered the postseason ranked No. 3 in the country, failed to advance out of its regional.

NCAA Championships begin Friday, May 24 in Carlsbad, Calif.