Texas Tech golf coach Greg Sands recaps Urbana Regional, previews NCAA
Texas Tech men’s golf team finished 5th at the Urbana Regional, Calum Scott tied for 5th and Red Raiders advance to NCAA final for 5th straight year.
- Six Arizona State golfers, including 2024 U.S. Amateur champion Josele Ballester, will compete in the tournament.
- Several former Arizona high school golfers from various colleges will also participate.
Memorial Day weekend for many means fueling up boats, loading up coolers and celebrating with family and friends. For a select group of amateur golfers, however, they’ll be seeking drier ground and competing in the 2025 NCAA Division I men’s golf championship in Carlsbad, California.
Thirty college golf teams, including Arizona State, and six individual golfers have qualified to tee off at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa, starting with 54 holes of stroke play starting May 23 and finishing up on May 25.
Representing the Sun Devils are 2024 U.S. Amateur champion and three-time All-American senior Josele Ballester, junior Michael Mjaaseth, sophomore Connor Williams, freshman Peer Wernicke, sophomore Fifa Laopakdee and senior Preston Summerhays.
Additionally, from San Diego all the way to Auburn, Georgia, former Arizona high school athletes will compete in the final matchup of the 2024-25 season with the hope of bringing home the ultimate prize in college golf.
Trey Moore
Team: Utah Utes
Class: Freshman
Hometown: Scottsdale
High School: Desert Mountain
Highlights: As one of the youngest competitors in the field, Moore has made a name for himself within the Utes program in just a short amount of time. He earned his high school team’s MVP award in 2023, and he secured two junior tournament titles during his time at Desert Mountain, including the Prescott City Junior Championship. Upside defines Moore’s game, but he’ll need to dig deep into his tool belt to secure a win against the more experienced competitors on the course this weekend.
Davis Johnson
Team: Utah Utes
Class: Junior (Redshirt)
Hometown: Scottsdale
High School: Scottsdale Preparatory Academy
Highlights: From being ranked in the Top 100 for the 2021 recruiting class to recording the team’s lowest stroke average last season (71.7), consistency is the name of Johnson’s game. He is currently ranked 331st according to the World Amateur Golf Ranking, but he’s risen as high as 175th on the list at his best. He’s had three top 10 finishes in the past 104 weeks, and he’ll look to add to that total this weekend.
Henry Dall
Team: San Diego Toreros
Class: Freshman
Hometown: Phoenix
High School: Brophy College Preparatory
Highlights: Yet another freshman on our list, Dall competed as a varsity golfer for Brophy Prep all four years of his high school career. During that time, the program appeared in three Arizona state championships, including securing the state title in 2021 and 2022. Dall’s current index maintains a +3.5, Amateurgolf.com reports, an admirable statistic at any level of golf. Though he has had quite a bit of success in high school, more is expected as he continues to pursue his collegiate golf career.
Mahanth Chirravuri
Team: Pepperdine Waves
Class: Junior
Hometown: Chandler
High School: Hamilton
Highlights: Though his college career started at USC, Chirravuri is now comfortably a part of the Pepperdine program, boasting a scoring average of 71.44 through his first 34 rounds of golf with the program. In more than half of those rounds (18 to be exact), Chirravuri shot below par, and placed second at the Saticoy Showdown earlier this season.
Johnnie Clark
Team: Oklahoma State Cowboys
Class: Sophomore
Hometown: Mesa
High School: Arizona Connections Academy
Highlights: At 6-feet-5, he stands out above much of the competition he sees on the course, literally and figuratively. As a freshman during the 2023-2024 season, Clark was named to the Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team, and he tied for 13th at The Spring Indy at WinStar that very same season. He was also named a second-team AJGA All-American in 2022 and 2023.
Tyler Spielman
Team: Auburn Tigers
Class: Freshman
Hometown: Cave Creek
High School: Brophy College Preparatory
Highlights: The third and final freshman on this list is the 2022-2023 Arizona High School Player of the Year for The Arizona Republic, who was also ranked number one in national high school scoring averages for that season as well. Spielman is no stranger to pressure at a high level, having shot a combined 17-under to win the 2023 AIA state championship. Arizona State expressed interest, but he decided to take his talents down south to Alabama instead.
Tucker Clark
Team: Colorado Buffaloes
Class: Senior
Hometown: Paradise Valley
High School: Arcadia High School
Highlights: Clark has had a storied career at Colorado, showcasing his talents in several tournaments each season during his time swinging his clubs for the Buffaloes. As a true freshman, he helped lead his team to the NCAA regionals for the first time since 2012, and finished fourth on the team with a 72.52 stroke average over 21 rounds of golf (while playing at Notre Dame before transferring). Junior Golf Scoreboard ranked him as the number 15 player in the class of 2020 coming into college.
Preston Summerhays
Team: Arizona State Sun Devils
Class: Senior
Hometown: Scottsdale
High School: Chaparral
Highlights: Summerhays is only one of two seniors on the condensed Sun Devils roster, and with a father who is a Golf Digest Top 50 instructor, it’s clear success on the golf course is in his blood. Summerhays has had a standout career playing golf in Arizona, even earning a sponsor’s exemption for the 2022 WM Phoenix Open. Summerhays shot a career low 62 10-under at the Las Vegas Regional in 2023, and is expected to do much of the same this weekend in Southern California.
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