On a breezy Wednesday afternoon in Carlsbad, California, Oklahoma State men’s golf did what it has done 11 times before: win big. With a calm intensity and a couple of clutch birdies late, sophomore Eric Lee sealed the deal with a 2-up victory over Virginia’s Josh Duangmanee, giving the Cowboys their 12th NCAA men’s golf championship and their first since 2017. The final tally was Oklahoma State 4, Virginia 1, and honestly, if you watched even a bit of this match at La Costa, you know this team was built for this moment.
Lee, who transferred from Cal and has quickly become a mainstay on this stacked OSU squad, was the closer. He drained a 25-foot birdie on the 17th hole to take the lead, the kind of putt you dream about and replay in your head a hundred times. Then he calmly chipped it to 5 feet on the 18th and watched Duangmanee’s 15-footer slide past the cup before closing things out.
It wasn’t just that final point, though. Lee had already proven he thrives under pressure. Just a day earlier, he delivered a 6-foot par putt on the 19th hole to eliminate Ole Miss in the semi-finals, and don’t forget the Cowboys had taken down their in-state rivals, Oklahoma, in the quarters. The win also marks a major moment for the Big 12 Conference, its eighth men’s golf title since the league’s inception in 1996-97, and the sixth since the NCAA adopted match play in 2009. Oklahoma State remains the most decorated program in the conference’s golf history, and they proved why yet again. Freshman Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson, all the way from Sweden, came out firing in the first match. He took down Maxi Puregger 3 and 1 and set the tone for the rest of the day. Cool, composed, and downright clinical with his irons, he looked like a guy who had been here before. Then there was Gaven Lane, who rolled through his match with Virginia’s Paul Chang like it was just another day at the range. Lane won 4 and 3 and gave OSU their second point of the afternoon. By the time Lee dropped the hammer on 18, the Cowboys had officially clinched it.
Ethan Fang was also leading his match 1-up when it was called off after 15 holes; no need to finish when the title’s already in hand. It was a cloudy afternoon in Carlsbad, the kind of weather that usually doesn’t make the highlight reels. But inside that quiet storm, Oklahoma State played with clarity and swagger, blending young fire and veteran grit. This win wasn’t just about the last four days, or even the last eight years since their last national title. It was about bouncing back from near misses, the weight of expectations, and watching other programs hoist the trophy they had always believed belonged in Stillwater.
Head coach Alan Bratton, who has seen it all at OSU first as a player, then as a coach, has now added another feather to his already heavy cap. This victory speaks to the culture he is helped shape, where consistency, composure, and a little bit of Cowboy swagger are always in style.
Let’s not forget the context either. This was no easy path. The Cowboys had to claw through a loaded bracket, knock off some of the country’s best, and then keep their nerves in check under match-play pressure, which, let’s be real, is a different animal altogether. What’s next? Well, this team doesn’t look like it’s going away anytime soon. With Lee, Fahlberg-Johnsson, and others likely to return, the Cowboys could easily be in the mix again next spring. For now, though, they’ll enjoy the spoils of a title well-earned, one that brought the orange and black back to the top of college golf, right where they believe they belong.
