MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — For the second time in three years, the WVU golf team has qualified for NCAA Tournament. The Mountaineers earned the No. 9 seed in the Marana, Arizona Regional. The 81-team tournament field was announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Defending national champion and Big 12 rival Oklahoma State is the top seed in the regional. LSU, Arizona, Alabama, Duke, Clemson, San Diego State, Arkansas State, Florida Gulf Coast, St. Marys, Tarleton State, North Dakota State and Iona will also compete in Arizona.
54-hole regional tournaments begin on Monday, May 18. The top five teams and the top individual from a non-qualifying team will advance to the NCAA Finals at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, which begin on May 29.
Six regional tournaments are set at:
- University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Georgia
- Bermuda Run Country Club in Bermuda Run, North Carolina
- Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas
- OSU Golf Club in Columbus, Ohio
- Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis, Oregon
- The Gallery Golf Club in Marana, Arizona
In the 2025-2026 season, the Mountaineers won three tournaments, all during the fall. WVU took titles at the season-opening Island Resort Collegiate in Bark River, Michigan, the Nemacolin Collegiate Invitational in Farmington, Pa. and the Pearl at Kalauao Invitational in Oahu, Hawaii.
“Everything you do matters. From the first tournament in September to the last Big 12 Championship, it all goes into the rankings so everything you do matters,” said WVU head coach Sean Covich.
“What we did back in September and October was huge. I think it just proved to the guys that they had what it took to win tournaments. And it is hard to win in our sport. You compete against 16, 17, 18 teams in each tournament. To come out on top three times, that’s the most we have ever won in one year.”
“Sometimes we kind of, I guess let the bad golf play too much affect into us and I know we are capable of taking the emotions out of it,” said WVU senior golfer Kaleb Wilson. “That’s what we’re really good at and when we have been really good when we were good in the fall and at the Mountaineer [Invitational]. If we just stick to our game plan and play with confidence, we’re going to be OK.”
West Virginia’s best finish in the spring season came in their final regular-season event, The Mountaineer Invitational at Pete Dye Golf Club. The Mountaineers finished tied for runner-up honors out of 19 teams. In 12 events across the fall and spring, WVU collected seven Top 3 finishes.
The Mountaineers are currently at No. 54 in the national rankings and they posted a season record of 105-71-1. Wilson is WVU’s top golfer in the national rankings at No. 138. He was the individual champion at the Nemacolin Collegiate Invitational and his scoring average is 69.8. Wilson is WVU’s only returning golfer that competed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Wilson also competed as an individual in last year’s regional round.
“Kaleb is very disciplined and hard-working,” Covich said. “He is kind of a professional golfer now with the way he goes about his business. He is very mature and I think that has rubbed off on the rest of the guys. Kaleb has been there before. He was there as a sophomore. He knows what regionals feel like and when you get in the mix right on that cut line. I think he thrives on that kind of environment.”
“We are just trying to create a culture of success,” Wilson said. “I think that starts with the things we are doing right now. Going as an individual is fun, but it is nothing like going as a team. I learned that in my sophomore and junior years. I couldn’t be happier to go with this group of guys.”
Cabell Midland High School graduate and former WVSSAC state champion Jack Michael has competed in each of West Virginia’s 12 events this season. Nick Turowski has also started in all 12 tournaments. Covich says Wilson, Michael and Westy McCabe will be in their five-man lineup. Qualifying is underway for the final two scoring spots and the alternate spot.
The WVU golf team has earned a spot in the NCAA Championships for the second time in three years.
West Virginia is the No. 9 seed in the 14-team Marana, Arizona Regional, which begins on May 18. pic.twitter.com/vIiwGP0fG9
— Joe Brocato (@joebrowvm) May 6, 2026
This is West Virginia’s third regional appearance since the program was rebooted in the 2015-2016 season.
“There’s no reason not to be confident,” Wilson said. “I think a lot of teams put excessive pressure on themselves, knowing that only five teams qualify [for nationals]. But it is just like any other golf tournament. If we just go and play our game and play with confidence, we are going to be OK.”
In 2024, West Virginia finished tied for third place in Rancho Santa Fe Regional, clinching a spot in the national championship tournament. The Mountaineers finished 28th in the final event. During the 2024 selection show, WVU was shown on the last of the six brackets. This year, there was no such drama as the Mountaineers were shown on the second bracket revealed on the broadcast.
“Every time I come in this room, I get nervous because of what happened a couple years ago when I guess we were one of the last teams in,” Covich said. “We also proved you can make it to nationals. We made it to the National Championship that year being one of the last teams in. But when we popped up the second out of six sites, that’s nice. I didn’t want to have to sweat this one out.”