ARLINGTON, Texas – Fresh off of team and individual wins last week at the WAC Men’s Golf Championship at Chapparal Pines in Payson, Arizona, the Grand Canyon men’s golf team and Seattle U’s Kevin Li officially earned berths into the 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship on Wednesday.

Grand Canyon will travel to Austin and the University of Texas Golf Club, while Li will compete at the Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, California, in NCAA Regional competition on May 13-15. The best five teams and low individual not on an advancing team at each of the six NCAA Regional sites will advance to the NCAA DI National Championship tournament on May 24-29 at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.

Grand Canyon (292-295-289=876, +12) became the first WAC team to successfully defend a men’s golf conference championship since Kansas City in 2018-19. The Lopes began the final round one shot behind Tarleton State and battled into the lead thanks to a strong performance from WAC Player of the Year Nicky Kling, who was the solo runner-up with rounds of 70-72-69 to finish at 5-under-par 211. Tommaso Zorzetto shared seventh place at 2-over 218 (76-70-72), while Gavin O’Neill (T-14, 70-77-74, 221) and Matthew Pennington (T-39, 77-76-78, 231) rounded out the official GCU finishers. Josh McCabe contributed a key 2-over-par 74 on Sunday as a substitute.

Li, the WAC Freshman of the Year, was the first conference freshman since UTRGV’s Nicolas Platret in 2015 to capture tournament individual medalist honors after carding rounds of 69-72-69 to best Kling by one stroke at 6-under-par 210 at the WAC Championship. Li was the only player in the field with multiple rounds in the 60s, and along with Kling one of just two players to post multiple rounds under par during the tournament.

2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship (Top Five Team Seeds and One Individual Advance)

Austin Regional (May 13-15)
#11 Seed Grand Canyon

Rancho Santa Fe Regional (May 13-15)
#5 Seed Kevin Li, Seattle U (Individual)