Dates: May 18-20, 2026
Location: Marana, AZ | The Gallery Golf Club
Par/Yardage: 7,317 yds | Par 72
Participating Teams: Tarleton State, West Virginia, Duke, UTEP, Arkansas State, San Diego State, Iona, LSU, Saint Mary's College (California), Mizzou, New Mexico State, Oklahoma State, Alabama, North Dakota State, Clemson, Florida Gulf Coast, Arizona, Loyola Marymount, Nebraska
Tarleton State Players Competing: Alvaro Pastor, Kellen Young, Maximilian Bjornstrom, Luis Buech, Maximilan Bjornstrom, Drew Ironside, Juan Ballester (substitute)

MARANA, Ariz. – Tarleton State Men's Golf will compete in its first-ever NCAA Regional starting Monday morning at The Gallery Golf Club. 

The Texans drew the No. 12 seed in the regional and are one of 14 teams in the field. Tarleton State will compete against (1) Oklahoma State, (2) LSU, (3) Arizona, (4) Alabama, (5) Duke, (6) Clemson, (7) San Diego State, (8) Arkansas State, (9) West Virginia, (10) Florida Gulf Coast, (11) Saint Mary's (CA), (13) North Dakota State, and (14) Iona. 

Each region's top five teams and top individual will qualify for a spot in the NCAA Championship May 29-June 3 in Carlsbad, California. 

Tarleton State Men's Golf is coming off its first conference championship in program history, winning the 2026 Western Athletic Conference Championship. The win gave Tarleton State Athletics its sixth conference tournament title at the Division I level (Baseball - 2024, Women's Golf - 2025-26, Women's Indoor Track & Field - 2026, Tennis - 2026). Men's Golf, which is just in its fourth season of existence, is the fifth athletic program at Tarleton State to qualify for NCAA postseason competition since the Texans were elevated to Division I (Football, Track & Field, Women's Golf, Tennis). 

The Texans won two team titles in 2025-26, their first two in program history. Redshirt freshman Alvaro Pastor also clinched a pair of back-to-back individual titles in March, finishing first in the Golden Nugget Invitational and All-American Intercollegiate. 

Pastor, the WAC Player and Freshman of the Year, has been the top performing Texan in the historic 2025-26 campaign. He is the first player in program history to win back-to-back titles. Pastor is also the first freshman to win WAC Golfer and Freshman of the Year since 2012-13 (Cody Blick, San José State). The three-time WAC Golfer of the Week award winner in 2026 was instrumental in both of the Texans' team titles this season. 

After shooting a 6-under-par first round at the FAU Invitational, Pastor finished tied for 6th to help the Texans to its first team title in program history to end the fall. He was the top performing Texan in the WAC Championship, shooting 1-under-par for third place on the player leaderboard. Pastor currently holds the program record for lowest 18-hole, 36-hole and 54-hole scores and has the most top 10 finishes among any men's golfer at Tarleton State. 

Sophomore Luis Buech, an All-WAC Second Team member, has also been a key piece in Tarleton State's lineup this season. Buech shot eight birdies in the final round of the WAC Championship to help the Texans to the title. He also had a 6-under-par performance at the FAU Invitational to tie for third overall on the player leaderboard, also helping the team to their first-ever team title in the fall. Buech also obtained the program's first hole-in-one in competition at the Oregon State Invitational, collecting the shot in the third round on the 5th hole on a Par 3 that ranged 148 yards. 

Sophomores Kellen Young and Drew Ironside along with freshman Maximilian Bjornstrom round out the Tarleton State lineup. Young is coming off his best finish as a Texan, tying for fourth at the WAC Championship a few weeks earlier. Bjornstrom collected his second top 10 finish at the WAC Championship, tying for ninth. Ironside shot a 1-over-par as a substitute in the final round of the conference tournament. 

The Gallery Golf Club has two 18-hole courses, with the North Course ranked No. 1 in Southern Arizona by Golf Digest and acknowledged as one of Golfweek's Top 100 Modern Courses. The Gallery South Course opened in December 2003 and was nominated as one of Golf Digest's 100 Best. The South Course hosted the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in 2007-08, with 11-time PGA Tour Player of the Year Tiger Woods winning the title in 2008. 

Tarleton State is one of six conference champions in the regional field (Oklahoma State, Arkansas State, Florida Gulf Coast, North Dakota State, Iona). Oklahoma State is the defending national champion and won its 13th Big 12 title just a few weeks earlier. The Texans will face Arkansas State, Saint Mary's (CA) and San Diego State again after facing them earlier in 2025-26. Tarleton State will see 10 teams for the first time in the Marana Regional. 

Five out of the last 10 NCAA Men's Golf Championships have been claimed by teams in the Marana Regional. Three golfers are on the 2026 Haskins Award Postseason Watch List, given to the top men's college golfer in the United States (William Jennings - Alabama, Preston Stout - Oklahoma State, Harry Takis - San Diego State). 

The Texans will tee off starting at 10:25 a.m. CT on Monday. Live scoring for the NCAA Regional will be available through Scoreboard powered by Clipd. A live video stream will be available through Babygrande Golf.