STANFORD, Calif. — No. 42 Stanford returns to the NCAA Postseason for the 26th-consecutive year, making the trek to Amherst, Va. for the regional round of the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships, hosted at Poplar Grove Golf Club by Liberty University from May 12-14. Stanford heads to Poplar Grove as the No. 7 seed in the region out of 13 teams.
THE COURSE » The final design of Sam Snead, Poplar Grove Golf Club is a par-70, 7,212 yard course that sits right in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, offering spectacular views for its patrons. Poplar Grove Golf CLub consistently ranks as one of the best golf courses in the state and offers a variety of challenges to all playing levels with its rolling terrain and elevations while offering up good opportunities to play low with its smooth greens and aiding fairways.
THE FIELD » Stanford heads into the regional as the No. 7 seed behind No. 1 (#6) LSU, No. 2 (#7) Oklahoma, No. 3 (#18) Vanderbilt, No. 4 (#19) Pepperdine, No. 5 (#30) Tennessee and No. 6 (#31) Arizona. Following Stanford is No. 8 (#43) Wake Forest, No. 9 (#55) Arkansas, No. 10 (#56) Florida Gulf Coast, No. 11 (#78) Kent State, No. 12 (#82) Princeton and No. 13 (#252) Howard.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT » Thirteen teams and 10 individuals not on those teams will compete at each of three regionals while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals (not on those teams). The Regional round consists of three rounds of stroke play with the top five teams and low individual not on those teams advancing to the finals. Team and individual championship titles will be decided at the NCAA Championships from May 23-28 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.
THE CARDINAL LINEUP » Hitting the course for the Cardinal will be Nathan Wang, Kush Arora, Logan Kim, TK Chantananuwat and Jay Leng. Brian Ma will server as the substitute golfer for the Cardinal.
TOURNAMENT COVERAGE » A live leaderboard for NCAA Men’s Golf Amherst Regional is available on Scoreboard by Clippd.
STANFORD AT THE NCAA REGIONALS » Stanford makes its 28th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 26th-consecutive since the 1998-99 season (barring the cancellation of the 2020 tournament due to the COVID-19 Pandemic). The Cardinal has advanced past the regional round in each of the last three years with the 2021 spring season being the last time the Cardinal did not make it to the NCAA Championship, placing tied-seventh.
THE SEASON SO FAR
ACC DEBUT » Stanford showed well in its inaugural ACC Tournament appearance two weeks ago, battling the elements and an elongated third day before having its run cut short in stroke play. Nathan Wang grabbed his fourth top-20 finish of the season, placing tied for 17th at 2-under. TK Chantananuwat placed second for the Cardinal during the tournament, battling through a tough third round to finish inside the top-50. Overall, Stanford finished 13th of 15 teams in one of the most contested collegiate golf conferences that also produced 12 teams in this season’s NCAA Tournament.
RUNNER-UP AT WESTERN’S » Two season-best’s helped aid the Cardinal to a second-consecutive year of silverware at Pasatiempo Golf Club last week as No. 42 Stanford took second place at the 78th Western Intercollegiate. Nathan Wang shot a season-best 5-under 205 to take his first top-five finish of his Stanford career while Logan Kim earned a statement round in the Wednesday tee time, shooting a season-best 213 to help bring the Cardinal within reach of the eventual tournament champions, San Diego State. Elsewhere, TK Chantananuwat rallied in the third round, taking the top team spot en route to a 4-under 206 through 54 holes placing him at eighth overall for his second top-10 finish this season.
SATURDAY SURGE AT STANFORD GC » Three under-par outings headlined a successful surge into the top 10 as the Stanford men’s golf team wrapped up competition at The Goodwin. Stanford, which was one of five teams to shoot under-par during the final round, shot the best round of the day at 7-under to finish eighth at 6-over for the weekend. With a late surge in the final round, Jay Leng took the team lead in his final nine holes of the weekend, earning four birdies along the way to finish 1-under. Leng’s birdie on his penultimate hole turned out to be the difference as he shot inside the top 15, finishing 12th overall. TK Chantananuwat battled back from a 2-over start to the afternoon, firing off two birdies on his final nine holes to finish 16th overall.
CARDINAL IN CABO » Freshman TK Chantananuwat secured his third top-20 finish of the season during the Cabo Collegiate as the Cardinal secured seventh-place as a team in a battle with some of the nation’s best programs. Chantananuwat, who entered the final day outside the top 20, finished even for the day in round three to slot inside a competitive top 20 field. Nathan Wang and Jay Leng also finished well in the tournament, placing inside the top 30. Stanford shot 19-over for the tournament in a field of nine top-50 teams, beating out four of those squads including No. 1 Ole Miss.
PRESTIGIOUS » Nathan Wang’s 3-under third round was enough for a 11-man jump into the top-15 as the Stanford men’s golf team wrapped up competition at The Prestige. Having taken a 3-under, 68 scorecard into the back nine, Wang followed up with another birdie on hole three before hitting a birdie on a par-5 hole eight for his penultimate hole of the tournament to claim a tie for 12th overall. As a team, Stanford finished the tournament in a tie for 12th at 4-over through the three-day event.
ALOHA STATE OF MIND » Stanford had a strong outing at the annual Amer Ari Intercollegiate , taking 11th place while TK Chantananuwat grabbed his first collegiate top-10 finish, shooting 14-under across the three day tournament to claim a stake of 10th place. Jay Leng also had his best round as a Cardinal during the tournament, shooting a career-low 66 in the second round before finishing the weekend inside the top 30.
WANG’S BIG CLIMB » Closing out the fall slate of the 2024-25 campaign at The Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate, junior Nathan Wang climbed 22 spots on the final day to finish with share 11th on the leaderboard after turning in a final-round 67. The Cardinal grabbed a 13th place team finish shooting 15-over while Wang sat atop the Cardinal’s individual leaderboard shooting 4-under.
TK FINISHES TOP-20 » Returning to Colonial Country Club, Stanford turned in a seventh-place finish at the Ben Hogan Invitational with a 22-over performance for the week. Freshman TK Chantananuwat was the Cardinal's best finisher of the tournament, finishing T-19th with a 3-over 213, including an opening round 69 for the second sub-70 scorecard of his career.
BIG WIN IN WOODSIDE » In the fifth installment of the Big Match between the golf programs of Stanford and California, the Cardinal emerged victorious at Menlo Country Club, winning 4-2. It was the second time that Stanford has won the event, with its other victory coming in 2022. T.K. Chantananuwat, Ethan Gao, Logan Kim, and Nathan Wang each contributed match wins, sealing to win for Stanford.
LENG'S IMPRESSIVE DEBUT » In a condensed Fighting Illini Invitational that squeezed 54 holes of competition into two days rather than the scheduled three, Stanford opened the season with T-6th finish with an 8-over 848 weekend scorecard. Freshman Jay Leng impressed in his collegiate debut as Stanford's best finisher, placing T-15th on the weekend at 1-under par.
NATION'S TOP CLASS » Widely regarded as the top recruiting class of 2024, the Cardinal inked three exciting young golfers joining the program this season - TK Chantananuwat, Jay Leng Jr., and Logan Kim.