10 must-watch players at the 2025 NCAA Men's Golf Championship at Omni La Costa
10 must-watch players at the 2025 NCAA Men's Golf Championship at Omni La Costa
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Drone flyover video of Omni La Costa North Course par-4 15th hole
Omni La Costa is hosting the NCAA mens and womens golf championships for a second year in a row. The North Course's 15th hole is a challenging par 4.
CARLSBAD, Calif. — It's time for the national championship.
The 2025 NCAA Men's Golf Championship gets underway Friday at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa's North Course in Carlsbad, California. Thirty of the best men's golf teams in the country will descend upon Southern California to battle it out for the national title.
And making up those teams are some of the best players in the amateur game. There are numerous stars who will play for the individual title over the coming days at Omni La Costa, including plenty who are finalists for the 2025 Haskins Award.
10 players to watch at NCAA Men's Golf Championship
Josele Ballester, Arizona State
The 2024 U.S. Amateur champion has one final collegiate start, and Arizona State is playing strong heading into the postseason.
Luke Clanton, Florida State
The best amateur in the world finished T-2 at Omni La Costa last year, and he may be the outright favorite to win a title.
Ben James, Virginia
Another player who finished T-2 last year, James and Virginia are looking to build off an impressive showing at regionals.
Jackson Koivun, Auburn
The 2024 Haskins winner, guess what, also finished T-2 last year. He has won consecutive tournaments coming in at the SEC Championship and NCAA Auburn Regional.
Michael La Sasso, Ole Miss
La Sasso will get his first crack at Omni La Costa after Ole Miss didn't make nationals last year, and he'll be key to Ole Miss making a run.
Christiaan Maas, Texas
Maas is one of the faces of the Longhorns' squad that has been rolling in the spring, and he tied for 11th last year.
Preston Stout, Oklahoma State
Stout won the Big 12 title for the second straight year, and if Oklahoma State goes on a run this week, he'll be a big reason why.
Hiroshi Tai, Georgia Tech
Last year, Tai came out of nowhere, overcoming a triple on his penultimate hole to win the individual title. He'll try to channel those good feelings again.
Brendan Valdes, Auburn
Valdes didn't record an under-par round last year at La Costa, but this year will be different in his final collegiate tournament.
Jackson Van Paris, Vanderbilt
No Gordon Sargent, no problem for Vanderbilt, which saw Van Paris win a regional title and will hope to lean on him at NCAAs.
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Brent Venables, Oklahoma (B-) Brent Venables' third year at the helm for the Oklahoma Sooners was filled with ups and downs. Positives? The program stunned the Crimson Tide in Norman last season, which provided Venables with one of his biggest victories of his head coaching career so far. Negatives? Inconsistency on both sides of the ball and poor coaching in moments led to a 6-7 record and a 21-20 loss to Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl. Point being, the Sooners have not been able to break the glass ceiling and reach the apex of college football in a few years. Venables' decisions, specifically involving the quarterback position, put the program in a bad position throughout the entirety of last season. Now, it is time for Venables to face the music and take the talented roster back to success. If he is not able to achieve such a feat, we could see the end of the Venables era before we know it. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt (C+) If there is one coach on this list who deserves his flowers for what they have been able to do at the helm, it is Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea. With the helpful addition of signal-caller Diego Pavia last season, Lea helped lead the Dores to a historic win over No. 1 Alabama and the school's first bowl game victory since 2013, in a 35-27 win over Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl. Is there more magic left in the tank in Nashville? That is still to be seen. However, Lea has done an excellent job establishing a talented roster in preparation of the upcoming season, including retaining Pavia for one more year. The defensive unit still needs some work, but SEC teams should beware of the Dores in 2025. Arkansas, Sam Pittman (C-) The Sam Pittman era at Arkansas has been anything but spectacular. His inconsistency has led to a rapidly increasing dissatisfaction among the Razorbacks' fan base, who are clamoring for an opportunity to break through in a revamped era of college football finally. Pittman has yet to truly find his footing with the Hogs, despite finding a way to reach nine wins in 2021. The type of consistency, or lack thereof, produced by Pittman might be allowed or even celebrated in other conferences, but this is the SEC. If he wants to stay in Fayetteville for longer, he will need some help to take Arkansas to the next level. Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino definitely could help, but it might be too late for Pittman. Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State (D+) After finishing 2024 with just two wins, Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby received more hatred than well-wishes from fans. The Bulldogs may not be a blue-blood program in football, but they do produce a plethora of talent and always finish amongst the middle of the pack in the conference. Usually, this is a team that most fear playing, especially on the road. That has not been the case lately, however. Lebby has been tasked with revamping a program that has gone through more hardships and adversity than any other in the conference, bar none. He has a sneaky-good offensive roster, with an experienced group of transfers blocking for the returning gunslinger, Blake Shapen. It might not be this year, but Lebby will find a way to get the Dawgs back to complete form in the next couple of years. Mark Stoops, Kentucky (D) Finally, we reach the bottom of the list with Kentucky's Mark Stoops. Well, we have some work to do. The complete decline of this program has been one of the most disappointing things to watch. Have you ever felt such dissatisfaction when your favorite movie starts to end? Sometimes, you almost just want to restart the movie entirely because you love it so much. That is how it feels watching Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats. 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