CARLSBAD, Calif. — In the storied history of the Oklahoma State men’s golf program—one that includes a legendary past head coach in Mike Holder, alums such as Rickie Fowler and Viktor Hovland, and 11nnational championships—only one of those titles had previously come in the 15 years of the match play era.


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And even that championship­ in 2017—an impressive 5-0 win over Alabama—was accompanied by some eye rolls and sarcasm.

“Of course they did.”

The nationals that year were on the Cowboys’ home course of Karsten Creek in Stillwater, and though OSU was stacked with future PGA Tour players, enough coaches grumbled about it to cause a movement to not allow any teams that kind of distinct advantage, though Arizona State would host three subsequent championships at Grayhawk in Scottsdale, Ariz., with which they were very familiar.

Uneasiness with that played a part in the University of Texas and head coach John Fields, whose Longhorns beat ASU at Grayhawk, formulating a plan for a permanent home for the men’s and women’s championships at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. Among college golf leaders who were vocal in their support were none other than Holder and Oklahoma State’s current coach, Alan Bratton.

They got their neutral site, with La Costa hosting for a second straight year and into at least 2028, and the Cowboys have a title at which no one can scoff.

Coming back from four early deficits among the five matches, No. 2-ranked Oklahoma State flipped the competition in about an hour’s time on the back nine on La Costa North, and after two Cowboys wins that didn’t reach the 18th hole, sophomore Eric Lee rolled in a 30-foot birdie on 17 and secured a 4-1 victory at the last to secure OSU’s 12th title—the most for any team since the 1960s.

The Cowboys got points on Wednesday from two sophomore transfers from Cal—Lee and Ethan Fang (who led 1 up through 15 when the championship was decided)—along with sophomore Gaven Lane (4 and 3) and freshman Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson (3 and 1). The only Cowboy loss—3-and-2 to Virginia standout Ben James—was suffered by sophomore Preston Stout, a first-team All-American who medaled in the Big 12 Championship.

As evidenced by this team of all underclassmen, the Pokes are young and very talented.

“I’ll remember for sure the chemistry of this group and just, they really like each other,” said Bratton, who won a national title as a player for Oklahoma State over Tiger Woods’ Stanford in 1995. “They’re fun to coach. I kept telling everyone all year just how fun they were to be around with, to go on the road with. “You know, when you’ve got talented guys that work hard to get along, this job’s really rewarding.”

The road to the final was challenging. OSU had to first beat in-state rival Oklahoma in the quarterfinals on Tuesday morning and then was pushed to the limit in the afternoon by Ole Miss, with the Cowboys’ Fahlberg-Johnsson and Lee pulling off wins in extra holes.

They faced a seeming underdog in 11th-ranked Virginia, which reached its first final by upsetting defending champion Auburn 3-2 in the quarters and routed Florida 4-1 in the semis. The Cavaliers boasted four players in the top 100 in the WAGR, but they still did not possess the wealth of talent that Oklahoma State showed in winning seven team events while having three different players take individual titles during the season.

Eric Lee (center) celebrates with teammates.

Tyler McFarland

“The strength of our team has been our depth and they’ve shown nothing but confidence and toughness,” Bratton said.

The depth was certainly boosted by the arrival of the Cal players over the summer after both entered the transfer portal. Fang, from Plano, Texas, said that he strongly considered going straight to Oklahoma State out of high school, but ultimately went first to Berkeley. He and Lee formed a bond, and after Fang opted for a transfer to Stillwater, Lee, a Southern California native, wasn’t far behind in his decision.

“After a lot of convincing, we finally got him to get here,” Fang said with a grin on Wednesday.

Of course, incoming transfers can go two ways: form strong bonds with their new teammates or create unexpected schisms. Bratton said it went very smoothy. “There was already a friendship on the team. These kids have played against each other and with each other,” he said.

Lee ended up having the brightest spotlight on him in the last two matches. In the semis, he trailed for much of the back nine against Ole Miss’ Cohen Trolio before forging a tie on 14 and eventually winning the Cowboys’ clinching point with a par on the first extra hole.

Lee admitted that he pled with his teammates on Wednesday morning to not put him in the same spot. “I hope you guys just finish it before I even finish my match,” he said.

That didn’t exactly happen. With the match 2-1 in OSU’s favor, Lee made a 30-foot birdie putt at the 17th to take a 1-up lead. There were still jangling nerves when Lee went for the par-5 18th in two shots after his opponent, Josh Duangmanee, drove into the water. Lee missed well right into a dry penalty area, but then made an incredible pitch to only six feet and didn’t need to try his birdie putt when Duangmanee mopped up a bogey.

“Once I went through that type of situation, I think I’ve come to like it a lot,” Lee said on the 18th green as his team celebrated in the background. “And hopefully I’ll have a lot more in the future too.”

As Bratton spoke to reporters in the aftermath, a fellow coach suddenly appeared to give him a big hug. It was Texas’ Fields, twhose Longhorns were beaten 3-2 by Florida in the quarterfinals. “I’m really happy for you,” Fields told Bratton. “Happy for the entire program. Happy for college golf.”

Fields quickly reminded Bratton of the site visits they’d made to La Costa as the North Course was being renovated, in part for the NCAA Championships, by architect Gil Hanse. They’d been among the first to take steps on the envisoned “Road to Omni La Costa,” and Oklahoma State had figuratively reached the beatiful waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Fields joked about them having “intel” on La Costa, but no one will roll their eyes at that one. The Pokes didn’t need anything more than talent for this title.