University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
NCAA Championships
Men’s Golf Looks Ahead to 2026 NCAA Championships
May 27, 2026 | Men's Golf
LOS ANGELES – The back-to-back Big Ten Conference champion UCLA men's golf team will return to action this week at the NCAA Championships, hosted in Carlsbad, Calif., at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa from May 29-June 3.
The Bruins have advanced to the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive season. Last year's appearance at the NCAA Championships in Carlsbad marked the Bruins first entry into the championships field since 2018. Two weeks ago, UCLA finished in second place at the 13-team NCAA Corvallis Regional, hosted at Trysting Tree Golf Club (Corvallis, Ore.).
Looking at the schedule for this week, three consecutive days of 18-hole stroke play will run from Friday, May 29, through Sunday, May 31. Following those 54 holes, the top 15 teams along with the top nine individuals not on an advancing team will advance for one additional day of stroke play to determine the top eight teams for match-play competition and the 72-hole stroke-play individual champion. That additional day of stroke play is set for Monday, June 1.
The top eight teams after 72 holes of play will be placed into a bracket thereafter (team match-play competition).
Team match-play will take place with the quarterfinal and semifinal round on Tuesday, June 2. Following those two rounds of match play on Tuesday, the top two remaining teams will compete in the finals with an additional day of match-play competition on Wednesday, June 3.
Stroke Play, Friday Through Sunday
UCLA will be competing as one of 30 programs, starting this Friday at the NCAA Championships in Carlsbad. The top 15 teams will move on to an additional day of stroke play (on Monday, June 1).
Match Play Scoring
In team match-play competition, five points will be available to a team, with one point being awarded for each individual match. Winning teams will advance to the semifinals and subsequently, to the finals. The first team to pick up three points in the team match will advance, or in the case of the final match on Wednesday, be declared the national champion.
UCLA's Head Coach, Armen Kirakossian
Currently in his fourth season as UCLA's head coach, Armen Kirakossian was honored earlier this month as the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the second straight season. Kirakossian has led the Bruins to the NCAA Regional round in three consecutive seasons and into the NCAA Championships for the second-straight year.
Kirakossian, on the team's mindset heading into the NCAA Championships
"Our team is obviously very excited to be at the NCAA Championships. This is where you want to be at this time of year. We are proud of our accomplishments to get to this point, but the work is not done. We've got a big tournament ahead. Nothing really changes for us. We are preparing the same way that we've prepared for our last few events, and we want to carry that same momentum into what we're doing. I think that Kyle and Baylor are doing a good job of relaying their experience last year at the championship, what they were feeling emotionally, what the environment was like, how the golf course played, what worked for them and what didn't work for them, just trying to give the guys who haven't been there as much perspective as possible so that they can start to preparing their mindsets. One thing that we focus a lot with as we prepare for these tournaments is getting our minds right and getting into a competitive mode. It's about thinking ahead and how you best prepare and best strategize, and how you can get yourself into the best frame of mind to give yourself the best opportunity to have a great result. So that's what we are doing. We headed out today [Wednesday] to get ready for the practice round on Thursday. We'll see how the golf course is playing like. We'll come up with a good gameplan Thursday evening and we'll be ready for Friday when we tee off with stroke play."
NCAA Championships
This week's competition will mark UCLA's 40th appearance in the NCAA Championship field, the Bruins' second consecutive appearance (prior to last season, the Bruins had not made the championship round since 2018). Last week, the Bruins finished in second place (out of 13 teams) in the NCAA Corvallis Regional, advancing UCLA into the NCAA Championship field.
The Bruins shot 14-under 838 through three rounds in the regional state at Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis, Ore. (from May 18-20). The Bruins shot 1-under 283 in round 1, 8-under 276 in round 2 and 5-under 279 in round 3. Senior Kyle An had the best individual performance for UCLA at the NCAA Corvallis Regional, finishing in a tie for fifth place (6-under 207) with rounds scores of 70-67-70 over three days. An registered his third top-10 finish of the 2025-26 campaign and his best finish in a tournament since a T-5 finish in the fall at the Fighting Irish Classic, hosted at the University of Notre Dame.
UCLA has won two NCAA Championships with the last title coming in 2008. UCLA also won the NCAA title in 1988. The Bruins have won five NCAA Regional Championships – 2003, 2004, 2009, 2011 and 2013.
UCLA's Starting Five
The Bruins' starting five in Carlsbad this week will feature the same golfers who competed for UCLA at the NCAA Regional stage. UCLA's lineup includes one senior (Kyle An), one junior (Alex Papayoanou), one sophomore (Baylor Larrabee) and two freshmen (Josh Kim, Tyler Loree). An and Larrabee are the only two individuals who competed for UCLA at the NCAA Championships last season. Bruins' senior Matthew Yamin will serve as the team's substitute.
UCLA's Lineup: Josh Kim, Baylor Larrabee, Tyler Loree, Kyle An, Alex Papayoanou
UCLA's Substitute: Matthew Yamin
Bruins in the Big Ten Conference
For the second consecutive season, the UCLA men's golf team won the Big Ten Championships. The Bruins won the team title on Sunday, May 3, and freshman Josh Kim secured his first collegiate medal at the event. Kim, a freshman from Danville, Calif., birdied the 16th and 17th holes in the third round and finished at 1-under 69 (third round) to win the individual title by four strokes. He shot 8-under 202 at the Big Ten Championships.
As a team, UCLA won the tournament title by four strokes (2-over 282). UCLA shot 1-over 281 in the opening round and 11-under 269 in the second round (Saturday, May 2). The Bruins finished the weekend with a team score of 8-under 832, four strokes ahead of second-place Illinois (4-under 836). Illinois had closed the gap on UCLA in the final four holes, but birdies from Kim and sophomore Baylor Larrabee in the final three holes allowed the Bruins to clinch the win.
Sophomore Baylor Larrabee and freshman Josh Kim secured first-team All-Big Ten Men's Golf honors, with Kim being named the league's Freshman of the Year in a unanimous decision, as announced by the Big Ten earlier this month.
Larrabee, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2025, secured all-league honors for the second-straight season – he was a second-team honoree last season. Kim captured first-team honors in his first collegiate season after having won his first collegiate medal on Sunday at the Big Ten Championships, hosted at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Oregon. This marked the first time in program history in which UCLA had the conference's Freshman of the Year in back-to-back seasons.
Both Kim and classmate Tyler Loree were two of five student-athletes named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. In addition, fourth-year head coach Armen Kirakossian was recognized as the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the second-consecutive year.
The Big Ten Conference recognizes 10 student-athletes as first-team honorees and 10 student-athletes as second-team selections. In addition, UCLA senior Matthew Yamin was honored as one of 18 conference selections on the Big Ten Men's Golf Sportsmanship Team.
The full news release of UCLA's All-Big Ten selections is available here.
Course Information
Omni La Costa Resort & Spa – Carlsbad, Calif.
Street Address – 2100 Costa Del Mar Road (zip code, 92009)
Yardage – 7,538 yards (par 72)
Omni La Costa Website – link here
Television Coverage – GOLF Channel
NCAA Men's Golf, Home Website – www.ncaa.com/sports/golf-men
Weather Forecast in Carlsbad
Temperatures expected in the low 70s, with skies partly cloudy
NCAA Championships, Live Scoring
Live scoring will be available from Scoreboard, powered by Clippd (live link here).
