University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
NCAA Championships
Men's Golf Opens With Strong Finish on Day One in Carlsbad
May 29, 2026 | Men's Golf
CARLSBAD, Calif. – The UCLA men's golf team finished the first round of the NCAA Championships on Friday in first place out of 30 teams. The Bruins shot 8-under 280 and have secured a four-stroke lead above second-place Auburn at the conclusion of the first day.
Sophomore Baylor Larrabee carded 5-under 67 in his second appearance at the NCAA Championships in as many seasons, but at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. He concluded the day in fourth place on the tournament's individual leaderboard.
In all, three UCLA golfers were among the top 34 individual finishers, through round one. Larrabee was in fourth place, junior Alex Papayoanou (3-under 69) was tied in ninth place and freshman Josh Kim (1-under 71) finished in a tie in 25th place.
Senior Kyle An (T-57) shot 1-over 73, while freshman Tyler Loree (T-91) carded 3-over 75.
The second round of action will continue on Saturday, May 30, at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. Stroke play runs from Friday through Sunday for all 30 participating teams. The top 15 teams, after the third round (Sunday) will advance toward one additional day of stroke play on Monday. The top eight teams after those four rounds will move on to the tournament's match play quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Friday's top five teams included (1) UCLA, (2) Auburn, (3) Pepperdine, (T-4) San Diego and (T-4) Duke. The Bruins have a six-stroke lead on San Diego and Duke, heading into Saturday's second round.
Glancing at the individual leaderboard, Larrabee finished the day in fourth place behind a trio of top finishers who shot 6-under 66 – Connor Williams of Arizona State, Ian Maspat of San Diego and William Jennings of Alabama.
Last season as a freshman, Larrabee shot 3-over 75 in the first round of the tournament in Carlsbad. He followed last May with scores of 5-over 77 in the second round and 9-over 81 in the third round.
UCLA's second round of action this Saturday will begin at approximately 12:45 p.m. (PT) from the course's first hole.
UCLA's quotes from Friday's opening round in Carlsbad
Head Coach Armen Kirakossian: "I'm just really proud of how the guys came out, really steady, a lot of pars. And I don't think we really had a counting bogey until hole 15 or something like that. It was a lot of steady golf for us early. The guys did a good job of sticking to the gameplan and staying patient. One thing we noticed right away was that the greens were much softer than they had been, compared to last year at least. We had some rain overnight. Then we had some rain when we were teeing off today. That softened the golf course, and that adjusted everybody's strategy just a touch. I am proud of the guys for making that adjustment and realizing it might be a little bit different of a day than what we had originally planned. We thought that we might have some firmer, faster conditions. But it was a touch softer than we had thought. They did a good job of making the quick adjustment. When you have the morning round, you have to do your best to take advantage of that. That is typically when scoring is a little easier. The guys did a good job of doing that. We're looking forward to our opportunity to get back on the golf course. We will have an afternoon round and I'm sure it will be much firmer and faster, and we'll try to do our best to be prepared and ready to go for that."
Bruins' sophomore Baylor Larrabee: "Today's round was great. The biggest thing, in terms of success, was just the team vibes that we've had. From today and into our last few tournaments, it's really easy to play well when you look over, a couple of fairways over, and your teammates are just smiling and people are grateful for the moment that they're in. So yeah, the round was awesome. It was a lot fun to be out there, looking over at the boys a few fairways over. This is what we want. This is where we know we could be. I'd say that my experiences here last May helped a lot. It's been really cool to play this course again after playing it last year – just seeing that, OK this par five is reachable in two, just really seeing where you have improved in spots. I think that is really cool and is a great part about this course – because the margins are so small that once you have improved over time, you can see that you're a very different player than I was back then. The moments we had last May really helped. And being able to get comfortable under the pressure of a national championship is really important for me, this year. Last May, there definitely was more tension and more stress. But this year, it's felt comfortable. It's about enjoying the moment. Be grateful for the moment that you are in because you only get to do this for a few years, so you have to be appreciative of that. You have to keep that mindset for the next round, to be grateful that you get to play at this awesome event. There are some unbelievably talented teams that have not been able to make it here. You have to be grateful to get teed up here and play another round with the boys each day. That is a blessing. You have to be grateful for the moment. This is the energy that we've had and the energy that we want to keep so we can stay steady tomorrow."
