ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Saturday, May 13th, the 2023 NCAA Men's Golf South Central/West Regional came to a close in dramatic fashion as Sonoma State would put together a spectacular 5-under final round to climb five spots and force a sudden death playoff with Western Washington. After remaining tied after two holes, the playoff would quickly turn into a card-off as play would be halted due to darkness. The tiebreaker would be settled on the combined total scores of each non-counting score from all three rounds. The dropped scores for SSU would add up to 236 and Western Washington to 238, giving the Seawolves the regional team title.
Sonoma State's
Griffin Pace would have a career week as he went on to win the individual title, finishing his three rounds of action with a score of 204 (-12), the only player to finish the tournament under par in double figures. After a grind in the first two rounds, Pace's stellar play would keep the Seawolves within striking distance allowing teammates
Jules Lavigne and
Alec Padilla to step up with 1-under-par final rounds to contribute to the team's comeback. Head coach
Val Verhunce and his squad would climb five spots on the final day to force the playoff, after starting the final round on the outside looking in.
The team will now advance to the National Championship tournament in Ohio, their first appearance at nationals since 2021. Pace also becomes just the third player in program history to take home the individual regional title. He would record three straight rounds under par for the first time in his career on his way to the individual regional title.
Round 1 Leaderboard
Round 2 Leaderboard
Round 3 Leaderboard
Congratulations to the Sonoma State men's golf team on being crowned 2023 NCAA regional champions and advancing to the National Championship. Head to sonomaseawolves.com for updated schedule, media links, location and more for the national championship event. Be sure to follow your Seawolves on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to get all the latest SSU athletics updates and information. Sonoma State athletics also has launched a new fan app in partnership with From Now On. Download the free app today in both the Apple and Google Play stores by searching Sonoma State Seawolves in the app store. @SonomaSeawolves | #NomaNation
