BOULDER CITY, Nev. – The 2026 NCAA Men's Golf Championships are off and running at Boulder Creek Golf Course, where Western Washington University kicked off its 11th all-time national championship appearance on Monday.
 
The Vikings posted a team score of 4-over-par 292 on Monday and sit in a tie for 13th place among the field of 20 teams competing for an NCAA title. Conditions were excellent with clear blue skies, temperatures touching the low 80s and some mild wind gusts throughout a mostly calm day. "Today was a bit of everything for us," said WWU head coach Luke Bennett. "Some of the guys got off to really solid starts while others struggled. As a group, we are not far off where we know we can be. We just need to clean up a little bit of putting and take advantage of a few of these par-5s out here. We can get right back into the mix, and we are looking forward to getting after it early tomorrow morning."
 
Christopher Zamani led the Vikings with a stellar 2-under-par 70 on the opening day at the par-72, 7,595-yard course. He sits in a tie for 19th place among the field of 108 players. Zamani came out of the gates on fire, making four birdies across his first five holes on his way to a 4-under-par 32 across the front-nine. The junior's 8-iron was his best friend on Monday, as he came through with it whether the wind was gusting in his face or helping from behind.
 
After a sound tee shot on the par-4, 437-yard opening hole, Zamani wrestled with a gusting wind to stick a 140-yard 8-iron shot to four feet for a routine birdie. His aim was true off the tee once again on the par-5, 582-yard second hole, as he found himself 154 yards out after his first two shots. He once again reached for his 8-iron, this time landing it six feet from the cup for another makable birdie putt. "I judged the numbers hitting into greens well and also hitting into the wind," Zamani said after his team-leading round. "I was able to capitalize on some short looks for birdie. I just tried to stay patient out there the whole round, which is important at this course. Everyone on the team did a good job of that today."
 
Zamani's strong play continued onto the back-nine, where he striped another 8-iron on the par-3, 179-yard 12th hole to 15 feet for a two-putt par. The lefty then smashed a picture-perfect drive on the par-5, 579-yard 13th hole, using a friendly wind to ride the curve of the fairway on his way to his fifth and final birdie of the day. "I learned a lot about that tee shot from the practice round," Zamani said. "If you stay left of the fairway bunker, you can give yourself a pretty good yardage to get on in two. We were also down-wind so the hole was playing short, and I was able to leave myself a two-putt birdie."
 
GNAC Player of the Year Conrad Brown, who was announced on Monday as a PING all-west region selection, put together a 1-over-par 73 his first time through the course and is in a tie for 48th place. Brown's first of three birdies on Monday came on the par-5, 582-yard second hole as he smashed his drive and then scorched a down-wind 8-iron from 195 yards out just off the back of the green. Navigating a treacherous slope as well as a sprinkler head, Brown concocted a clever sideways putt that was perfectly judged and left him a reasonable birdie try by the time it settled around 15 feet below the hole. "I didn't think at first I'd hit that putt sideways, but I saw the slope way off to the right and I knew I had to hit it somewhere where it could gather speed later in the putt and funnel down."

Brown's sound decision making lasted the entirety of the round. On the par-4, 440-yard sixth hole the desert-saddled course left him with a sandy lie and a difficult choice of club selection to ensure enough carry. After Brown observed one of his playing partners carry past the green, he set the 9-iron in his hands back into his bag in favor of a pitching wedge before promptly sticking his approach shot to around eight feet.
 
Brown finished the day strong, making a birdie on the 13th and finishing with four consecutive pars – each with notable shots. A late club switch on the par-4, 402-yard 15th hole again proved to be the right decision, as Brown spun his 50-degree wedge from 117 yards out to a good spot on the green for an uneventful two-putt. The daunting, par-5, 635-yard 16th hole looked a mile long even after Brown hit a straight-as-can-be 3-iron into the middle of the fairway. He reached for the same club on his second shot, and caught a combination of tailwind and roll out that left him just off the front of the green. "I couldn't believe where I was seeing the ball up there," Brown said on his second shot, which rolled out well past 300 yards.

Brown kept the momentum going with his outstanding short game to finish the round, chipping to 15 feet and two-putting to close out the 16th hole. On the par-3, 179-yard 17th hole, Brown stuck his tee shot at the front of the green before perfectly judging a lengthy putt that settled just four feet from the back-middle pin location. After hitting a strong 3-iron off the tee and getting onto the putting surface in two on the closing par-4, 469-yard 18th hole, Brown again perfectly judged his lag putt, nearly holing it from above the right-side pin location. "It was good to get the speed right on those two, and they were both really good rolls," Brown said on how he closed his day. "It is great to get off the course with pars on those two, because they are challenging holes. On 17 with the pin in the back it is always challenging with the wind, and on 18 it is a risk-reward hole in deciding between driver or 3-iron off the tee."
 
Matching Brown with a 1-over-par 73 on Monday was senior captain Peter Dionne-Yahr. Like Zamani, Dionne-Yahr opened his round strong with back-to-back birdies on the first two holes. He opened by making a 15-foot putt on the first hole, before taking advantage of a tailwind to reach the par-5 second hole in two shots and two-putting. Dionne-Yahr's other birdie on Monday came on the par-4, 487-yard seventh hole, as he cruised to a 1-under-par 35 on the front-nine.
 
He continued to give himself good looks throughout the second set of nine holes, as he carded six pars in-a-row amid the finish to his round. On the par-5, 579-yard 13th hole Dionne-Yahr nudged a 125-yard 50-degree wedge to within 20 feet, before coming up just short with a birdie effort. One of his top moments of the day came on the par-4, 455-yard 14th hole, as he faced a strong head wind standing on the tee box. He came through with a picture-perfect drive down the middle of the fairway, before striping a 6-iron from 190 yards out just off the front of the green. Producing his third consecutive stellar shot, Dionne-Yahr punched a putt nearly the full length of the green leaving himself an easy finish towards the back-right pin. "It is always hard hitting into the wind – you just have to step up and hit the right shots," said Dionne-Yahr, who is in a tie for 48th place. "If you hit the ball solid enough, you can get more distance out of it. I hit a good drive and another good iron shot, and it was a solid two-putt."
 
The tee boxes were forward on the par-4, 402-yard 15th hole, where Dionne-Yahr ripped a driving iron down the right side of the fairway to leave himself 150 yards from the cup. With the ball slightly above his feet, he purely struck a 9-iron to leave himself 20 feet from the pin for another sound two-putt. "That definitely gave me some confidence," Dionne-Yahr said about the strong approach shot during the closing stretch of his round. "I am just excited to play again tomorrow. I am feeling confident and the putting feels good – we just need to see the putter drop a few more times tomorrow."

Checking in with a 4-over-par 76 on Monday was junior Nick Ennis, who was the first Viking off at the national championship. Both of his birdies in the first round came on the front-nine, where he carded a 2-over-par 38. Ennis used his length off the tee to save strokes on both the par-5 second hole and the par-5 fifth hole. "My tee shots throughout the round were pretty good," said Ennis. "I felt solid with driver in my hand, and the course was a lot more playable today compared to the wind in the practice round yesterday."
 
One of Ennis's top shots of the day came from the giant bunker in the middle of the fairway on the par-4, 443-yard 11th hole. After a good drive that narrowly missed carrying the bunker, Ennis stepped up and hit a 54-degree wedge from 115 yards out that rode the slope of the green to within 10 feet of the hole. He made one of his many two-putts on the way to seven pars across his final nine holes of the afternoon. He is in a tie for 85th place on the leaderboard. "I feel like I played solid today, I just had a bunch of clean-ups," Ennis said. "I hit a bunch of greens but wasn't too close to the stick. I made some good five-footers."

Rex Wilson had his moments amid a 7-over-par 79 his first time through the championship layout, as he is sitting in a tie for 98th place after 18 holes. One of the most iconic shots of the round came off Wilson's driver on the par-5, 579-yard 13th hole. Using the wind to his advantage, Wilson caught the fairway just past the bunker on the left side as his tee shot landed on a massive downslope and rolled out to just 100 yards from the hole. The unbelievable carry left him more than 100 yards further down the hole than one of his playing partners, who hit a sound drive into the fairway himself. "I was pretty sure if I hit it down the line like that it would carry," Wilson said on the massive tee shot. "It was a pretty stock wedge shot from there – that's always a number I like to see. And then it was just about executing an uphill putt."
 
Like all four of his teammates, Wilson also made a birdie on the par-5 second hole where he smoked a down-wind 7-iron from 220 yards out to just 10 feet from the pin. He was the lone Viking on Monday to save a stroke on the par-4, 480-yard ninth hole, which was one of his best efforts of the day. After cutting his drive off a fairway bunker, he stuck his approach shot pin high before draining a 10-foot putt into the center of the cup to make a three. Wilson finished the round with four consecutive pars. "My ball striking was good and I felt like I was hitting good putts – I just need to see some more of them fall tomorrow," Wilson said in evaluation of his round.
 

 
After the first 18 holes of play West Texas A&M and Missouri-St. Louis are tied for first place after each shooting a team score of 10-under-par 278 on Monday. West Texas A&M's David Vega Gerstel and Luis Palomo are tied with George Cordall of Lee for first place after all three shot a 6-under-par 66 their first time through the course.
 
COMING UP: The Vikings are back in action first thing Tuesday morning for the second round of the NCAA Championships. WWU will play the same lineup as Monday, beginning with the very first tee time of the day at 7:30 a.m. (Pacific). A live leaderboard is available online here.
 
WWU's Championship Lineup & Tee Times
All times listed are Pacific. All players tee off on Hole 1 (Desert Hawk Course)
Round 2 – May 19, 2026
7:30 a.m. – No. 5 Nick Ennis
7:41 a.m. – No. 4 Christopher Zamani
7:52 a.m. – No. 3 Rex Wilson
8:03 a.m. – No. 2 Peter Dionne-Yahr
8:14 a.m. – No. 1 Conrad Brown
 
NCAA Championship Format
At the finals, all 20 teams and eight individuals will complete 54 holes of stroke play. Following 54 holes of stroke play, an individual champion will be declared along with finishers 2-10 based on cumulative total score and any applicable tiebreakers. The top eight teams after 54 holes of play will be placed into a bracket and seeded based on 54-hole scores. The pairings for the quarterfinals will be Seed 1 versus Seed 8, Seed 2 versus Seed 7, Seed 3 versus Seed 6 and Seed 4 versus Seed 5, competing in head-to-head medal play (stroke play over 18 holes and low score wins).
 
NCAA Division II Championship Records (GNAC Teams Since 2008)
54-Hole Total – 206, Jordan Lee, WWU, 70-67-69 (May 22-24, 2023)
72-Hole Total – 279, Sean Packer, WWU, 69-69-71-70 (May 14-17, 2008)
Single Round – 65, Jake Webb, WWU (May 22, 2013)
54-Hole Total, Team – 859, Simon Fraser, 289-285-285 (May 18-20, 2015)
72-Hole Total, Team – 1,129, Western Washington, 290-281-284-274 (May 14-17, 2008)
Single Round, Team – 274, Western Washington (May 17, 2008)