Picture courtesy of Cal athletics
California will make its second consecutive NCAA Men’s Golf Regional appearance and 25th in program history as it earned an at-large bid to the 2024 Rancho Santa Fe Regional on Wednesday. The 22nd-ranked Golden Bears will be the fourth seed in the 14-team, 54-hole regional, hosted by the University of San Diego at The Farms Golf Club on May 13-15.
The top five teams and the low individual not on an advancing team at each of the six NCAA Regional sites will advance to a field of 30 teams and six additional individuals that will play in the NCAA Championships at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad on May 24-29.
“It’s always exciting to see our guys rewarded with an opportunity to play in the postseason and this year is no exception,” Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men’s Golf Walter Chun said. “This group has had a lot of success this season, but they’re hungry for more and I know they’ll be ready for the challenge in what should be a very competitive regional field. The Farms is a tremendous course, and we can’t wait to see our Cal Family out there supporting us.”
Cal has made 24 previous NCAA Regional appearances dating back to 1990, including a stretch of 10 consecutive years from 2007-16. The Bears’ two NCAA Regional victories came in back-to-back years in 2012 and 2013, while they have advanced to the NCAA Championships 14 times in program history, most recently in 2019. Cal placed sixth at the 2023 Morgan Hill Regional last year, narrowly missing out on an NCAA Championships berth.
The Bears have seven top-three finishes – including two tournament wins and three runner-up finishes – in 11 stroke-play events this season, and most recently placed second at the Pac-12 Championship last week. The pair of wins came back-to-back in October at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational and the Cal Poly Invitational.
Senior Sampson Zheng, ranked 34th nationally, has anchored the Cal lineup down the stretch this season with four consecutive top-10 finishes since early March. Freshmen Ethan Fang – who placed third at the Pac-12 Championship and has five top-15 finishes this season – and Eric Lee, who won his collegiate debut at the Marquette Invitational and has four additional top-15 finishes, have made instant impacts for Cal as well.
Tee times, pairings and further information about the Rancho Santa Fe Regional will be released at a later date.