Troy University Athletics
Wednesday, May 14
Urbana, Ill.
All Day
Troy University
vs
NCAA Urbana Regional
Men's Golf Qualifies for NCAA Championship, Finishes Fourth at Urbana Regional
5/14/2025 4:58:00 PM | Golf (M)
URBANA, Ill. – Troy held off a feverish rally from No. 10 North Carolina and jumped past No. 23 Texas Tech as the Trojans qualified for the NCAA Men's Golf Championship for the first time in the program's Division I history after finishing fourth at the NCAA Urbana Regional at the Atkins Golf Course.
"I'm just so proud of this team," head coach Clay Bounds said. "They deserve this. They've worked so hard for this, and I knew with this group of guys we could get this done. For them to go out and play like they did today, it was truly remarkable.
"I was with Pablo (Gracia) all day and he made birdie and I knew Nick made birdie ahead of him (on six), and I think it just tricked down to the rest of the guys," Bounds said of Troy's success on No. 6. "Jake Springer hit an incredible 5-wood, what a great club from him, it hit the pin and stopped about three inches from the pin."
Troy trailed North Carolina by three shots as the first Trojan hit the tee box at No. 6, a 559-yard, par 5. The Trojans left No. 6 with a three-shot lead over the Tar Heels after picking up four birdies and a Springer eagle on the hole.
The Trojans kept the momentum rolling on No. 7 with birdies from Brantley Scott and Lee Poppell to keep the 10th-ranked Tar Heels at an arm's distance. Among its scoring bags, Troy carded five birdies, an eagle and 10 pars over the final four holes.
Trailing Texas Tech by a stroke with the final two golfers on the course, the Red Raiders' Calum Scott doubled the ninth, while Jake Springer dropped in a par to push Troy past Texas Tech into fourth.
"It's awesome, there is no other way to put it," Scott said. "All of these guys have worked so hard. To be here, in this moment, to know we're going to (the NCAA Championship) for the first time in history is just a feeling like no other.
"I like to keep up with the score to know what we needed to do," Scott said of Troy's late deficit. "North Carolina is a great team, and they got off to a hot start, and they played a great round today, but the fight that we have is pretty special."
The NCAA Championship bid is the first by a Sun Belt program since Georgia Southern qualified in 2022, which marked three straight years of a conference team advancing to nationals.
Springer and Scott both finished inside the top 10 as they combined to shoot all six of their rounds under par for the week. Springer shot 6-under and tied for fifth place, while Scott was a stroke back in a tie for eighth at 5-under.
Scott made the turn at 1-under and added three birdies on his back nine (the front nine of the course after Troy started on No. 10) to close the day with a 3-under 68. Springer was 1-over at the turn and stayed there until his tap-in eagle on the sixth; his approach shot hit the pin and came up inches short of a two.
Lee Poppell fired his best round of the week as he bounced back from a 2-over front nine to card three birdies and six pars after the turn for a 1-under 70 as he climbed into a tie for 18th place overall. Pablo Gracia and Nick Fowlkes added birdies on the crucial No. 6 for the Trojans as the pair shot 76 and 75 on the day to finish tied for 56th and 62nd, respectively.
Troy is one of 30 teams to qualify for the NCAA Championship, which is set for May 23-28 at the Omni La Costa Champions Course in Carlsbad, Calif. The complete field plays 54 holes and then the group is cut in half for one last round. The top eight teams following 72 holes move on to match play to decide the National Champion.
Team Standings
1. Oklahoma State 286-275-276—837, 2. Illinois 277-281-279—837, 3. UNLV 281-280-285—846, 4. Troy 283-284-283—846, 5. Texas Tech 279-287-285—851, 6. North Carolina 292-274-282—859, 7. Houston 295-290-277—862, 8. Marquette 285-287-291—863, 9. Long Beach State 285-295-286—866, 10. Illinois State 287-289-289—867, 11. Pacific 290-288-294—872, 12. Wright State 299-286-291—876, 13. NC State 291-299-299—889,
Troy Individuals
T5. Jake Springer 67-70-70—207, T8. Brantley Scott 70-70-68—208, T18. Lee Poppell 73-70-70—213, T56. Pablo Gracia 73-74-76—223, T62. Nick Fowlkes 73-78-75—226
Players Mentioned
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