College golf: USD’s Andi Xu qualifies for NCAA men’s championships at La Costa

USD senior Andi Xu is headed to Omni La Costa Resort & Spa for the NCAA men’s golf championships next week.

He’ll be the only golfer from local Division I teams, however. USD and San Diego State came up just short in their bids in the final round of regionals Wednesday. The top five teams in each of six 54-hole regionals advance to the championships.

Xu, a Torrey Pines High alum, shot 2-under 68 in the final round to finish second out of 75 golfers behind Oklahoma’s Ben Lorenz at The Farms Golf Club of Rancho Santa Fe. The top individual from each regional not on a qualifying team advances.

The Toreros finished seventh at The Farms regional, seven strokes behind fifth-place North Florida. Also advancing are Oklahoma, Cal, Oklahoma State and West Virginia.

SDSU made a late charge at Purdue’s regional in West Lafayette, Ind., but finished sixth after being in ninth entering the day. Host Purdue was in the top five, along with Vanderbilt, Florida, Arizona and New Mexico.

The Aztecs also finished sixth last year. They last qualified in 2021.

“I’m disappointed,” SDSU coach Ryan Donovan said “I think we were in a good enough spot to get to the national championships this year. A little frustrated with that. We have a very good team. … To have the fan base out there watching (at La Costa) and the donors and supporters, it would have been pretty special.

“There are definitely some feelings there, but you have to move on and get ready for next year.”

The most dramatic regional was at Stanford, where the hosts got a pair of birdies on the final hole to pass Mississippi for the fifth and final spot to join Illinois, Florida State, Texas A&M and SMU at La Costa.

Texas is the official host of the NCAA championships rather than SDSU or USD to preserve their status as a fully neutral site. The Longhorns easily won their regional, ahead of Tennessee, Notre Dame, Utah and Wake Forest.

The other 10 men’s qualifiers: Auburn, Virginia, Texas Tech, Ohio State, LSU, Clemson, East Tennessee State, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Baylor.

The women’s championships begin Friday, also at La Costa. The 30 teams and six additional individuals have three rounds of stroke play to cut the field in half. The individual champ is crowned from a fourth round on Monday, followed by a single-elimination match play bracket with the top eight teams on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The men’s championships begin May 24. They will be at La Costa for 2024, 2025 and 2026.