The back-to-back-to-back-to-back Big West champions Long Beach State are heading to The Ohio State Golf Club in Columbus, Ohio, to open the national postseason as the No. 4 seed at the 2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Regionals. The Beach are fresh off their fourth consecutive Big West Championship done in remarkable record-breaking fashion with a 48-under 816. The win shattered the previous best by 26 strokes, set last year by LBSU, and the 47-shot margin of victory is the largest in the 54-hole era of Big West Championship play.
Long Beach State also accomplished another first in conference championship history, occupying spots one through five on the individual leaderboard to take every place on the All-Tournament Team. The pace was set by individual medalist graduate student Steen Zeman who finished with the wire-to-wire win with a three-day total of 11-under 205. The veteran squad saw the senior duo of Jack Cantlay and Jaden Huggins one stroke back at 10-under 206 with fellow senior Alejandro de Castro Piera in fourth at 9-under 207. Junior Krishnav Nikhil Chopraa and 2025 Big West individual medalist claimed fifth with a 7-under 209.
On the week at La Quinta Country Club, the Beach finished with just one round in the black, a 1-over 73 in Sunday’s opener and two even-par rounds all uncounted in the 5-count-4 format. All told, the fab five fired off nine rounds in the 60s, including a 65 for Huggins and rounds of 66 for medalist Zeman, de Castro Piera and Chopraa en route to the crown.
Jumping up to No. 23 in the Clippd rankings after the title run, Long Beach State is looking to advance to the NCAA Championships final site or the first time since 1982, since before regional competition even was part of the structure of the Championships. Last year, the Beach finished ninth in regional play, with 2024’s edition saw LBSU narrowly miss out on the opportunity to advance with a seventh-place finish.
The 2026 DI men's golf championship will feature 81 teams and 45 individuals beginning in regional competition, competing for a spot in the championship finals. Teams are split into six different regionals, with regional play beginning on Monday, May 18.
The Beach earned the No. 4 seed in the Columbus regional, which is largely comprised of teams from outside of the area preparing to take flight to converge in Ohio including six squads from the West. The No. 1 seed in the region is second-ranked Florida, with No. 2 seed and 11th ranked Arizona State, No. 3 seed and 14th ranked Stanford, No. 5 seed and 25th ranked Florida State, No. 6 seed Utah, No. 7 seed South Carolina, No. 8 seed California, No. 9 seed South Florida, No. 9 seed Memphis, No. 10 seed Oregon, No. 11 seed Illinois State and No. 12 seed Wright State completing the field.
Ten individuals will join the 12 teams taking to the course also vying to continue their seasons beyond regional competition. They include Riccardo Fantinelli of Princeton, Michigan State duo Ashton McCulloch and Caleb Bond, Ryan Schellberg of Iowa, Lucas Politano of Rutgers, Iowa State pair Paul Beuvy and Zachary May, Carter Maneth of MTSU, Chun-Ta Wu of Minnesota and Arjun Singh Bhatia of LIU.
The low five teams and low individual from each region will qualify for a spot in the championship finals. Then, those 30 advancing teams and six individuals move on to compete at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., from May 29-June 3 with an eye on a national championship.