Pastor finishes fifth to lead Tarleton State Men’s Golf in NCAA Regional debut

MARANA, Ariz. – Tarleton State Men's Golf redshirt freshman Alvaro Pastor shot 12-under-par to finish fifth in the Texans' first-ever NCAA Regional that wrapped up Wednesday at The Gallery Golf Club.

Pastor, the WAC Player and Freshman of the Year, tallied a 3-under-par 69 in the first round before closing day two with a 5-under-par 67. The Madrid, Spain, native closed out the final day at 4-under-par , combining for 14 birdies and two eagles in Marana.

The Spaniard's fifth-place finish gave him his seventh top 10 finish of the season. Pastor completed his freshman campaign with two individual titles, three WAC Golfer of the Week honors and eight top 20 finishes.

Tarleton State finished 10th overall as a team in the Marana Regional, finishing ahead of No. 41 ranked San Diego State, Florida Gulf Coast, Iona and North Dakota State. The Texans had a 54-hole score of 868 and shot 4-over-par as a team.

Sophomore Kellen Young shot for even par in the tournament, including a 1-under-par third round. He was the Texans' second-best finisher, tying for 35th on the player leaderboard.

Freshman Maximilian Bjornstrom compiled a 54-hole score of 222 to tie for 53rd while sophomore Drew Ironside had a 54-hole score of 227 to tie 67th. Sophomore Luis Buech rounded out the Texans' lineup with a 54-hole score of 231.

Host school Arizona won the Marana Regional and punched their ticket to the NCAA Championship May 29-June 3 with Oklahoma State, LSU, Arkansas State and Duke Alabama's William Jennings clinched the individual spot in the NCAA Championship by being the top finisher among non-advancing teams.

Early in the first round, the Texans proved they belonged on the big stage. Tarleton State combined for 12 birdies in the front nine, with Young collecting an eagle on the No. 14 hole. An eagle from Pastor on the No. 6 hole allowed the Texans to crack the top five heading into the home stretch of the opening day. The Texans ended the first day in seventh with a 54-hole score of 291.

Pastor's 5-under-par performance highlighted day two. In addition to eagling the No. 6 hole once again, Pastor collected six birdies to stay in the top 10 going into the final round. Pastor hit for birdie or par in each of the final 18 holes, allowing him to secure a fifth-place finish.

Tarleton State Men's Golf completed the best season in program history in 2025-26. The Texans won its first conference championship in program history with the 2026 Western Athletic Conference Championship and won a total of two team titles during the season. Tarleton State also finished in the top three in five tournaments, the most in program history.

Team Results
1. #18 Arizona, 277-264-274-815 (-49)
2. #5 Oklahoma State, 277-274-278-829 (-35)
3. #8 LSU, 279-279-276-834 (-30)
4. #29 Duke, 282-280-278-840 (-24)
5. #44 Arkansas State, 281-274-285-840 (-24)
6. #20 Alabama, 286-278-277-841 (-23)
7. #33 Clemson, 292-277-274-843 (-21)
8. West Virginia, 294-282-283-859 (-5)
9. St. Mary's (CA), 292-290-279-861 (-3)
10. Tarleton State, 291-292-285-868 (+4)
11. #41 San Diego State, 299-289-281-869 (+5)
12. Florida Gulf Coast, 297-289-289-875 (+11)
13. Iona, 302-283-297-882 (+18)
14. North Dakota State, 303-289-295-887 (+23)

Individual Results
5. Alvaro Pastor, 69-67-68-204 (-12)
T35. Kellen Young, 72-73-71-216 (E)
T53. Maximilian Bjornstrom, 74-75-73-222 (+6)
T67. Drew Ironside, 77-77-73-227 (+11)
T71. Luis Buech, 76-79-76-231 (+15)

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