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Men's Golf

Men's Golf: 2026 Year in Review

STANFORD, Calf. — A 27th-consecutive NCAA Postseason appearance and a return to the NCAA Match Play Finals solidified a return to the top as the Stanford men’s golf team completed the 2025-26 season. Highlighted by three individual wins and three team stroke play victories, the Cardinal turned in its best season since 2022-23 with a mix of veteran poise and youthful promise. 

The Cardinal finished tied-seventh overall at the NCAA Championships before falling in a gritty 3-1 outing against No. 1 Auburn in the Match Play Quarterfinals. However, Stanford solidified itself as a conference contender in its second season in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with a wire-to-wire stroke play win by 16 strokes that also included freshman Edan Cui tying for the top spot before placing second in a three-man playoff for the individual ACC title. In total, Stanford took the top honors at the ACC Championships in stroke play before placing second in match play while also earning a home win at The Goodwin and a win at The Prestige. Dean Greyserman (Co-Winner at The Western), Kush Arora (Winner at The Prestige Individual) and Edan Cui (tied-first at ACC’s) also took top individual placements during the season. 

Story of the Season

Stanford began the season with a trio of competitions in September beginning with another debut at The Fighting Illini Invitational where TK Chantananuwat led the Cardinal with a T24 outing as Stanford placed tied for 6th out of 15 teams. 

The Cardinal then headed just north of The Farm to take on Bay Area rivals, Cal, in The Big Match. Boasting wins from Kush Arora, Edan Cui, and Dean Greyserman, the Cardinal and Golden Bears battled to a 3.5-3.5 tie with a playoff slated in the evening sun. Paired up with Megha Ganne, Greyserman helped aid the eventual NCAA Women’s Golf Team Champion onto the green where she made a nearly 50-foot putt to secure a playoff win for the Cardinal. 

Ending the month in the Lone Star State, Stanford’s youth continued to show as TK Chantananuwat and Jay Leng placed in the top 20 with the former ending the tournament tied for eighth while the latter claimed his first top 20 placement of the season with a T17 outing. 

Stanford ended the fall slate with a pair of tournaments back east as two Cardinal nearly took the top honors at their respective tournaments. At the Hamptons Intercollegiate, Dean Greyserman knocked on the door of his first collegiate win with a 2-under 214 as he earned his first top 10 placement of his career, ending the tournament in a tie for sixth. Just under three weeks later, freshman Edan Cui held a two round lead at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate before a rainy third round ended his bid for the top spot as the freshman earned his first collegiate top 10 placement as he tied for sixth with a 5-under 211. 

The turn of the calendar started off with a bang as the Cardinal took a clinical 7-1 win over Texas A&M at The Vintage Club Shootout. Stanford earned wins from six players along the lineup including Dean Greyserman, Ethan Gao, Nathan Wang, TK Chantananuwat, Cooper Stearns and Kush Arora as the spring slate got out to a hot start. 

Stanford then headed west to the Amer Ari Intercollegiate where Stanford ranked inside the top five of the 20 team field to the end including setting a new program low round record at 27-under par following the first round. Ending the tournament with the 2nd lowest score in program history (56-under, 808), Nathan Wang led the charge for Stanford with a 16-under, 200 outing as he tied for eighth overall for his first top 10 placement of the campaign. 

Just over a week later, Stanford claimed its first tournament win of the season after two rounds at The Prestige. With four players placing inside the top 20, Stanford claimed the win after the third round was cancelled due to high winds. Dean Greyserman and TK Chantananuwat tied for second overall while Edan Cui snagged a T12 outing before Nathan Wang rounded out the group tied for 19th. At the Prestige Individual, Kush Arora claimed the top honor while Ethan Gao placed second for the Cardinal. 

Down in Mexico to begin the month of March, the Cardinal received strong showings from the youth in the lineup with Jay Leng and Edan Cui leading Stanford to a ninth place finish. Leng, who finished first for the Cardinal at even-par, 213 tied for 21st while Cui finished at 1-over, 214 and slotted tied for 25th.

Looking for its second win of the season, Stanford returned home and rattled off a 6-under team showing on the final day of The Goodwin to take its 17th win at its home tournament to close the month of March. Entering the day one shot off the team lead, Dean Greyserman and Jay Leng led the way with 2-under outings while Ethan Gao and Nathan Wang went 1-under to give Stanford the win while Leng earned his collegiate best finish having tied for third overall at 7-under, 203. 

Out at The Western, it was Dean Greyserman that propelled the Cardinal into its postseason push as the senior, who had rattled off three top 10 placements entering April, earned his first collegiate win with a Co-Champion honor at The Western Intercollegiate. Entering the day at 2-under, the senior secured just the second 62 round in program history, ending the tournament at 10-under and sending Stanford to a tie for fifth overall heading into the postseason. 

Looking to solidify itself as a conference contender, Stanford claimed a wire-to-wire stroke play win at its second-ever ACC Championships, highlighted by the play of Edan Cui who placed in a three-man tie for the individual conference crown before placing second in the ensuing playoff. Entering the final day at 23-under as a team, Stanford claimed the win by 16 strokes and the No. 1 overall seed heading into match play as all four scoring golfers placed inside the top 10. In match play, the Cardinal battled through a gruelling two round stretch, claiming a 3-1 win over No. 27 Duke before battling No. 24 Florida State into darkness with two matches remaining. 

Needing a comeback early Monday morning after ending Sunday down 2-1 to the Seminoles, Edan Cui and Nathan Wang both grabbed 1Up wins at the No. 4 and No. 5 slots, respectively to push Stanford to its first-ever ACC Match Play finals appearance. Against the No. 2 team in the nation, Stanford battled hard but an early 2-0 deficit was too much as Edan Cui picked up Stanford’s lone point, ending match play 3-0 as the Cardinal took runner-up honors. 

For the 27th-consecutive season Stanford earned a berth in the NCAA Postseason, earning the No. 3 seed in the Columbus Regional. Holding serve through 36 holes, Stanford claimed its fourth berth in the NCAA Finals in the last five seasons having taken second overall at the regional while three golfers placed in the top 20. Nathan Wand and Jay Leng both finished tied for 11th at 6-over, 219 while Ethan Gao pitched in his best performance in the lineup all season with a 7-over, 220 outing to push the Cardinal to Carlsbad. 

Back out in Southern California, Stanford battled through the heat and made the cut through 56 holes at the NCAA Championships, entering the final round of stroke play in 12th place. Grabbing a 4-under team round during the fourth round, Stanford battled for the final two spots in match play as part of a four team tie. Having had success on hole 18 for a majority of the tournament, Dean Greyserman was the lone golfer to birdie the hole as Stanford claimed one of the final two match play spots and a date with No. 1 Auburn the ensuing day. 

With a chance to extend the season, Stanford battled the No. 1 Tigers well into the waning stages of the quarterfinals. Nathan Wang picked up the lone point for the Cardinal, dispatching the No. 1 ranked golfer in the nation in Jackson Koivun with a 2Up win. However, Stanford was unable to mount a comeback after falling at the No. 4 and No. 2 positions as the season ended in the NCAA Quarterfinals. 

Postseason Accolades

For its success on the course, Stanford racked up multiple postseason accolades including Dean Greyserman’s nod as a Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) All-American Honorable Mention, the first since both Michael Thorbjornsen and Karl Vilips were named All-America in 2024. Greyserman, who turned in a career season during the 2025-26 campaign, finished the season with a 4-2 match play record, a 71.39 scoring average and six top 10 placements including his tied-sixth place showing at the NCAA Championships. 

Greyserman also made the All-ACC list alongside sophomore Jay Leng while both golfers claimed GCAA/PING All-West Region Team nods. Leng, who posted a team-leading 70.92 scoring average in 2025-26, claimed four top 10 outings in his second season on The Farm.

Coming in 2026-27

Stanford’s 2026-27 class features a mix of international and domestic talent along with a promising transfer as the Cardinal signed Carlo Roman, Giovanni Binaghi, Judd Jirovsky and Daniel Zou (Rice) to the 2026-27 squad. Roman and Binaghi ranked second and third overall in Italy’s U18 age bracket while Jirovsky heads to The Farm having led Grundy Center HS to a 2023 State Championship before a runner-up individual finish in 2025. Zou heads to Stanford after two seasons at Rice where he was twice named All-AAC and was the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Freshman of the Year in 2024-25.