WHAT TO KNOW

• Following a victory at the Big Sky Championship in Arizona, the Sacramento State men's golf team will continue its year at the NCAA Corvallis Regional on May 18-20 at Trysting Tree Golf Course. The 13-team tournament will have single rounds each day with the top five teams advancing to the NCAA Championships which will take place May 20-June at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
• The Hornets will be paired with two groups of individuals during the first round. The threesomes will tee off the first tee beginning at 9:20 a.m. and continuing every 11 minutes. Sacramento State has played three tournaments at Trysting Tree GC with the last coming in the fall of 2022. However, no member of the current team was in the lineup for that event.
• Sacramento State earned the automatic berth from the Big Sky Conference after recording a convincing nine-shot win at the conference tournament in Litchfield Park, Ariz., on Apr. 27-29. The Hornets led by one stroke following the first round but pulled away with an 18-under par showing in the second round. Individually, Gabriel Smith and Jai Bahl tied for first place through 54 holes at 9-under. The pair went to a playoff where Smith recorded a birdie and Bahl a par. Zach Mate also tied for ninth place to finish in the top 10.
• The Hornets are 0-3 against teams in the field this season. Sacramento State and San Diego both competed at the Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational where the Toreros were third and the Hornets fifth. Sacramento State met Oklahoma at the Ka'anapali Classic Collegiate in Hawaii where the Sooners took first and the Hornets tied for 16th. Oregon State won the Bandon Dunes Championship in the spring while Sacramento State placed eighth.

THE LINEUP (First round tee times)
1. Gabriel Smith (10:04 a.m.)
2. Jai Bahl (9:53 a.m.)
3. Max Thomas (9:42 a.m.)
4. Zach Matzke (9:31 a.m.
5. Zach Mate (9:20 a.m.)

REGIONAL RECAP

• This year will mark the fifth time that Sacramento State has qualified as a team for an NCAA Div. I Men's Golf Regional. The team made its first appearance in 2012 at the NCAA Norman Regional in Oklahoma. That year, Sacramento State placed 11th out of 14 teams and was led by Grant Rappleye and Jake Johnson who tied for 35th place at 10-over. 
• In 2017, the team played at the NCAA Stanford Regional where it placed 12th of 13 teams. Robert Parden had the low score for the team at 11-over.
• Sacramento State returned to the postseason in 2021 at the NCAA Cle Elum Regional in Washington. The Hornets were 8-over during the first round but were then forced to withdraw from the tournament following a positive COVID-19 test. Jonathan Tanihana was 1-under after the round to lead the way.
• In 2024, the Hornets made the short trip to Stanford where the team placed 13th at 22-over. Gabriel Smith tied for 36th place at 2-over to place the team.
• Along with the three team appearances, Sacramento State has had individual entries in four other seasons. That began with Jordan Weir and Ryan Williams in 2013 at Palouse Ridge GC, Owen Taylor at Eugene CC in 2014, Aaron Beverly at The Gallery in 2016 and Casey Leebrick at The Institute in 2023. The best overall finish by a Hornet at a regional (whether entered as a team or individual) came from Beverly who tied for 33rd. 
• None of the players on the Hornets' 2023-24 roster have competed in the NCAA Div. I postseason before. However, Dugger played for Holy Names last season at the NCAA Div. II West Regional where he tied for 22nd place after shooting 74-73-71-218. Dugger also qualified for the NCAA DIv. II West Regional as an individual in 2021-22 where he tied for 20th at 71-74-67-212. 

TAP INS

• Sacramento State placed four golfers on the all-Big Sky teams. Max Thomas earned a spot on the first team, Gabriel Smith landed on the second team and Zach Mate and Mason Benbrook were both honorable mention.
• Head coach Kamden Brakel was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career.
• Thomas' career scoring average of 72.19 is just shy of the school record of 72.18 set by Luke Dugger from 2024-25. Thomas' season scoring average of 71.30 currently ranks second in program history only behind Ethan Davidson's mark of 71.18 in the 2021-22 campaign. Thomas also set the school record with 11 rounds in the 60s during a year.
• The team's scoring average of 287.47 strokes per round is the lowest in program history (288.03, 2021-22).
• Smith and Bahl became just the second set of Hornets to tie for first place in a tournament when they both shot 207 at the Big Sky Championship. The only other pair were Aaron Beverly and Taylor Knoll who each totaled 215 at the Folino Invitational on Feb. 16-17, 2015. Smith and Bahl set the school record at the Big Sky Championship while Bahl's 61 in the second round set the program overall record.