Team golf takes this to another level, leading to additional context amongst teammates. The sport I love most may be several decades behind baseball - the king of analytical historic research - but we are learning new ways to quantify golf beyond the counting scores, and in doing so, deepen our fandom of arguably the loneliest collegiate team sport.

For this two-part series - split by gender as part A/B rather than I/II - I've been given access to the suite of Scoreboard's Pro Analytics to go deeper into a season-long analysis of men's and women's college golf. Even without the benefit of the shot-by-shot data, there is still a wealth of insight available through these metrics which weave together all of those contexts. This is not meant to be a complete or even exhaustive account of the 2025-26 season. However I hope you find the numbers interesting and see a new way to enjoy (and perhaps argue about) college golf.

Auburn posted the best combination of Average Counting Score (69.46) and Drop Score Differential (1.68).

Newly crowned PGA Tour winner, Jackson Koivun, was drawing attention well beyond college golf for a number of years. Since winning the 2023-24 NCAA team title and nearly every major award his freshman year, Koivun has dominated the sport’s conversation with constant superlatives. Yet the standout junior did not win the 2025-26 individual NCAA title, nor did he single-handedly deliver Auburn a second team championship in three years, which goes to show there are success stories throughout the sport.

Two of the most revealing sections in Scoreboard’s Pro Analytics dataset are the Counting Scores and Drop Scores metrics. Across NCAA D1-3, NAIA, and NJCAA 1-2, Auburn posted the best combination of Average Counting Score (69.46) and Drop Score Differential (1.68). This means that not only were their counters averaging sub-70 scores, their drop score in any given round was generally less than two strokes from counting.

This isn’t unique to NCAA Division I golf. In fact, looking through all of the 2025-26 champions reveals each was at or near the top in their respective divisions. Take for example Florida Southern, who had an average counting score of 70.97 and Drop Score Differential of just 2.10 on their way to capturing their 14th NCAA Division II team title. The NCAA Division III champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS), who prevailed in a dramatic playoff for their second team title, were at 70.84 and 2.22. The Oklahoma City men - who were informed in November that both golf programs would be dropped at the conclusion of the season - did not go gently into that good night. They went out as NAIA team champs after accumulating 7 wins with a 127-15-0 record while maintaining a 71.84 average counting score and 2.91 Drop Score Differential. Both the NJCAA Division I (McLennan CC) and Division II (Murray State College) champs had similar seasons, each accumulating 6 wins, while the former went 71.57/2.58 in these metrics and the latter went 73.83/2.90.

LSU’s average score on 18-hole days (as opposed to 36-hole days) was over a stroke worse than Auburn.

Where do these saved strokes come from? Various Pro Analytics metrics provide clues. Auburn’s consistency shows in finishing top 5 in 81.4% of rounds and beating the field 90.7% of the time; Koivun did so in 97.5% of rounds. Texas, with a similar Average Counting Score (69.55) but higher Drop Score Differential (2.27), lost ground partly by averaging about a stroke worse in multiple temperature categories despite being well under the Division average. LSU, who surprised some with their record round 3 in the NCAA DI Championship, finished the year with numbers close to Auburn (69.51/1.72) and even had a better Deviation Average - the measure of the round-to-round difference from their scoring average. However LSU’s average score on 18-hole days (as opposed to 36-hole days) was over a stroke worse than Auburn.

The Momentum metrics add another layer with stats such as: Bounce Back % (following a bogey+ with a par or better), Bogey Train %, Drop-Off % (following a birdie+ with a bogey+), and, my favorite, the Gas Pedal % (birdies on birdies!). Just like on the women’s side, we can use these metrics as comparisons between players or teams. One application is looking at the individual match play matchups in the NCAA Division I and II championships. Even with the difference in format - DII using the medal MP format which counts the actual stroke difference at the end of 18 holes vs DI using the “traditional” holes-won format - all 10 of the matchups in the Finals went in favor of the player with the better season-long Gas Pedal %. Of course this is an extremely small sample size, however even if all other match play rounds are included, there seems to be at least as strong of a correlation as going based strictly on the players’ final stroke play position and/or season-long ranking.

All 10 of the matchups in the Finals went in favor of the player with the better season-long Gas Pedal %

Although these are an accumulation of stroke play stats, it is notable to see those play out on the scorecard in match play competition. Let’s zoom in on the DII Finals matchup between top-seeded Florida Southern and Wingate. Coach J.D. Lamm’s Bulldogs were making their first ever Finals appearance, but had shown great match play poise in winning the South Atlantic Conference the month prior. Both teams had survived the gauntlet of the South/Southeast Regional to make Nationals, which coincidentally was the same Regional the eventual individual national champion Octavio Laurent (USC Beaufort freshman) played.

The lead Finals match went in favor of Florida Southern's Tyler Mistretta over the previous season’s Phil Mickelson Freshman of the Year Award winner, Brandon Skidmore. The second match also went in favor of the Mocs as Donte Groppuso logged just one bogey on his way to a 66. Wingate’s Mattia D’Errico played well in the match but frustratingly was unable to gain momentum as Groppuso matched his birdies and even played the final four holes at -4 to D’Errico’s -2. Alfie Storer got Wingate on the board in his victory over Anthony Monteleone who had finished T4 in stroke play but had a roller-coaster day compared to Storer’s clean card. The other Wingate point came from the anchor match as Lewis Beeden, who shot 5-under in a late four-hole stretch, prevailed despite trading drop-offs with Colton Swartz. The decisive point for the Moc’s 14th team title - first under Coach Brian Richey - came from the eventual DII Jack Nicklaus Award winner, Max Barlie.

Auburn’s match play victory over UCLA was more decisive. However, what the Bruins did over the season and overcoming the odds to make the Finals was truly remarkable. Despite beating the field in just a little over 55% of their rounds, UCLA showed up in the toughest moments. Only 45% of their rounds were among the top 5 of the field, yet they finished runner-up in the Goodwin, repeated as Big Ten conference champs, finished third at Regionals, survived a playoff to secure a spot in the match play portion of the NCAA DI Championship, and then became the first playoff survivors to advance to the Finals.

Coach Clinard’s second team title was by no means guaranteed. The Tigers became just the second team since the format switch in 2009 (Oklahoma State, 2018) to secure the top seed out of stroke play then actually win the match play championship. They got the most out of their star players, especially in a highly-anticipated televised Semifinal match against the reigning champion Oklahoma State. The feature matchup was Jackson Koivun against the NCAA individual champion, Preston Stout. Both players had unbelievable seasons which included securing their third individual medalist honors in their respective conferences. Though officially logged as unfinished in the NCAA record books due to Auburn securing its third point before this match could properly conclude, the Gas Pedal leader (26.6% to 25.87%) was again on top as Koivun looked poised to secure the 1up victory at the (in)conclusion.

Another insightful metric to compare the two heavyweights would be their 1st/2nd/3rd six-hole splits which looks at their average score to par across each grouping of holes, which is notably in the order that they played them as opposed to simply going based on the course scorecard. Koivun had the better metrics here, excelling in the first and final groupings, going -0.16 | -0.13 | -0.18 as opposed to Stout’s -0.11 | -0.13 | -0.13 splits.

There is an incredible wealth of talent throughout the sport. Take for example Virginia’s Ben James, the highly touted senior who secured his pro card via the PGA Tour University program. He often started each round stronger than practically everyone in college golf, made evident with his 2025-26 6-hole splits: -0.21 | -0.11 | -0.12. The reverse of that was Alabama’s William Jennings (-0.03 | -0.10 | -0.14) who finished runner-up to Stout at NCAAs by a single stroke and was collectively 9-under in those final 6 holes across the four rounds. Impressively, BYU’s Kihei Akina - the eventual DI Phil Mickelson Freshman of the Year Award winner - shared the same splits as Stout.

The #1 ranked player in NCAA D2 was Lee University’s Drew Zielinski whose (6-hole splits) splits were 0.00 | -0.03 | -0.20

Digging further, the #1 ranked player in NCAA D2 was Lee University’s Drew Zielinski whose splits were 0.00 | -0.03 | -0.20. Compare that to the +0.03 | -0.10 | -0.03 splits of individual NCAA champion Octavio Laurent, who transferred to Kansas State for the 2026-27 season. The aforementioned (#3 ranked) Max Barile of champion Florida Southern logged an impressive -0.05 | -0.07 | -0.11 splits. This was remarkably similar to the NCAA D3 Jack Nicklaus Award (repeat!) winner, Jonathan McEwen of Washington & Lee (-0.11 | -0.07 | -0.08).

McEwen, the heavy favorite entering the championship, finished runner-up to Sebi Aliaga of CMS at the 2026 NCAA DIII Championship. Although Aliaga’s six-hole splits (-0.03 | +0.02 | -0.02) are notable, it’s actually a bit more illuminating to look at his nine-hole splits (+0.01 | -0.03) which does a better job of telling the story of his championship. The remarkable freshman shot even par rounds to open the tournament then concluded with back-to-back five-under par rounds. He had five bogeys and a double bogey in the first two rounds, followed by a bogey-free 67 in round 3. The final round produced incredible action as Sebi’s second 67 included a bogey, an eagle, and four birdies, the final one capping a remarkable team round of 273 (-15). CMS vaulted three spots into a tie with Illinois Wesleyan, which ultimately broke in their favor on the first playoff hole (which all 10 players played) with birdies from Arnold He and, of course, Aliaga. Coach Mitchell Fedorka, himself a Jack Nicklaus Award winner (2009) and two-time NCAA runner-up, is used to seeing his team rack up the birdies in the final round, however this time it secured CMS the biggest prize of all.

So now what can be done with the above info? These metrics are a snapshot in time, simultaneously historical records and bits of data which can be re-framed for any context needed. Coaches can look at any subset of these and select points of emphasis, track year-over-year changes, or even assist in deciding who gets a seat in the van. Players can do the same, utilizing the comparison tool to find their measuring stick - against teammates, Conference rivals, or anyone in the entire Division - and (ideally) motivation for improvement. Fans are going to do what fans do: boast about the things our team does well and dismiss and/or yell about the rest.

At the end of the day, golf is about getting the ball in the hole in the fewest strokes possible. Some may only be interested in that singular pursuit, however for others the Pro Analytics data provides an additional lens through which to view the different contextual metrics and paint a richer portrait of player and team performance. If nothing else, I hope we have found a unique way to remember the historic 2025-26 college golf season and perhaps contextualized the sport in a more interesting way.

David Tenneson is a college golf historian and the face behind 5count4.

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