University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
The Thunderbird Collegiate
Men's Golf Looks Ahead to The Thunderbird Collegiate
April 09, 2026 | Men's Golf
PHOENIX – The UCLA men's golf team will compete on Friday and Saturday at The Thunderbird Collegiate at Papago Golf Club in Phoenix.
Last season, the Bruins finished in seventh place out of 10 teams at The Thunderbird Collegiate in Arizona. This season's field includes nine programs – No. 9 Arizona State, No. 21 New Mexico, No. 28 Long Beach State, No. 31 UCLA, No. 32 Utah, No. 43 Colorado, No. 47 San Diego, No. 61 Oregon State and No. 92 Grand Canyon.
Fans will be able to track the live scoring of the upcoming tournament in Arizona by visiting Scoreboard. The two-day tournament includes nine teams, with seven of those programs currently ranked among the top 50 in the weekly Scoreboard rankings (full rankings here).
"This is an event that our guys always love to participate in, and the staff here in Arizona does a great job with the Thunderbird Collegiate," UCLA head coach Armen Kirakossian said. "It's a great time of the year for us with the Masters going on, all of our guys following that, and the tournament puts a big TV screen out on the middle of the golf course. So it feels like we've got two tournaments happening at the same time. This is an event that we've had some feast or famine result, finishing second against a really stacked field two years ago, and then last season we finished seventh. Our guys like playing at this golf course. It is somewhat weather-dependent, but it really does matter if the wind starts to pick up and the golf course tends to dry out. That can be complicated. If the wind dies down, then it can be very scorable. You need to be able to make adjustments on the fly. I'm not sure if there is a tournament that will have a larger disparity, from the morning round to the afternoon – how far the ball goes, the temperature difference. But you have to make in-round adjustments as your day goes on. That's something we have tried to prepare for the best that we can. We try to teach the new guys that."
"As far as our individuals go, Josh is coming off his best tournament as a Bruin so far at Stanford," Kirakossian said. "He will look to continue to build upon that momentum. Kyle had a big final round for us at Stanford, and we are looking for him to build on that a bit. Baylor had a nice finish at North Ranch. He's looking to get a nice result under his belt and get some momentum here as we gear up for the Big Ten Tournament. It's a fun week, and we want to see if we can build upon that momentum from Stanford as our team gets closer to the postseason."
UCLA last captured the team title at The Thunderbird Collegiate in 1998. This tournament has taken place each season since 1973.
This marks the sixth of seven spring golf tournaments for UCLA, including the Big Ten Championships will take place from May 1-3 in Oregon.
Most recently, UCLA finished in second place out of 30 teams at The Goodwin (March 26-28). As a team, the Bruins carded 13-under 827 over the three-day tournament. Bruins' freshman Josh Kim finished in a tie for sixth place, shooting 6-under 204. Senior Kyle An (T-15th) and junior Alex Papayoanou (T-19th) also registered top-20 individual finishes at Stanford Golf Course.
Josh Kim has posted back-to-back top-15 finishes in UCLA's past two tournaments. He finished in a tie for 13th place at The Desimone Invitational (March 9-10) in Daly City, Calif., before the sixth-place finish (tie) at The Goodwin. Kim finished with round scores of 69-65-70 at The Goodwin and has now totaled three rounds under 70 in his last six rounds.
Freshman Tyler Loree has had two top-30 finishes in the Bruins' last three tournaments. He finished in a tie for 18th place at the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas, from March 1-3. Loree finished that tournament with round scores of 71-71-75 at the par 72 course. In addition, Loree recorded a 28th-place finish (tie) at The Desimone Invitational from March 9-10.
UCLA's Lineup: Tyler Loree, Josh Kim, Baylor Larrabee, Kyle An, Alex Papayoanou
UCLA's Individual Competitor: Matthew Yamin
The Field: listed in alphabetical order – Arizona State, Colorado, Grand Canyon, Long Beach State, New Mexico, Oregon State, San Diego, UCLA, Utah
Par and Yardage: Papago Golf Club (hosted by Arizona State), par 71 and 7,555 yards
Friday's Schedule: Play will begin at 7:00 a.m. (PT) on Friday, April 10. Teams will be in continuous play, so the second round will begin as soon as the first round has concluded.
Live Scoring: Fans can follow along with live scoring at Scoreboard.
Weather Forecast: Very warm with clouds and sun, highs expected in the high 80s and low 90s.
UCLA's 2025-26 Roster
| Name | Year | Height | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle An | Sr. | 5-9 | Aliso Viejo, Calif. |
| Luciano Conlan | Jr. | 6-0 | Kaneohe, Hawai'i |
| Trevor Garus | So. | 6-0 | Boise, Idaho |
| Josh Kim | Fr. | 5-11 | Danville, Calif. |
| Logan Kim | So. | 6-1 | Glendale, Calif. |
| Baylor Larrabee | So. | 6-5 | Ferndale, Wash. |
| Tyler Loree | Fr. | 6-0 | Kula, Hawaii |
| Alex Papayoanou | Jr. | 5-10 | The Woodlands, Texas |
| Matthew Yamin | Sr. | 5-11 | New York, N.Y. |
Players Mentioned
