For the first time this season, Mark Broadie’s NCAA Division I golf rankings are out.
The anticipation lasted a little longer than expected, too, as only the first five men’s teams went live around 3 p.m. ET, with the rest likely filtering in once the servers recovered from what was surely an influx of anxious coaches, players and fans.
Debuting at Nos. 1 are the Utah men and Wake Forest women. While the Demon Deacons, perfect through two events (the Annika Intercollegiate and Jackson T. Stephens Cup), are no surprise, the Utes edged Virginia, Vanderbilt and Auburn for the top spot without winning a tournament.
Utah was second at The Tindall and third at The Wohali, perhaps proving that playing only events starting with a definite article is some sort of cheat code. But seriously, the job that head coach Garrett Clegg has done in nearly a decade at Utah is remarkable. The Utes have made NCAA regionals in four of the last five seasons, and in 2022, they advanced to the NCAA Championship for the first time in almost 35 years. Last year, they finished No. 17 in Broadie’s ranking, though they failed to qualify for the 30-team field at La Costa.
Utah’s Gabriel Palacios is the top-ranked individual in the national rankings while his teammate Davis Johnson is fifth. Virginia’s Ben James is second, less than 13 average points behind Palacios.
Virginia, last season’s national runner-up won at Colonial and was second at Chattanooga’s event at the Honors Course, but with a four-way tie for first at the Hogan and T-8 just six shots back, the Cavaliers only mustered 71.99 points for that co-title, about 10 fewer points than what they received for their runner-up.
Arkansas rounds out the top five in the men’s ranking, while New Mexico and BYU are two fresh faces inside the top 10 compared to previous seasons. Another mid-major, Charlotte, is No. 16, a spot ahead of defending national champion Oklahoma State, which won at Olympia Fields but finished T-10 at Notre Dame’s tournament without its two first-team All-Americans, Preston Stout and Ethan Fang.
On the women’s side, Wake Forest is clear of USC, Stanford, Oregon and Texas A&M. The Demon Deacons beat the Cardinal at the Stephens Cup, in both stroke play and match play. That’s Stanford’s only tournament of the fall so far, though it hosts its home event this week. There are few surprises in the top 20, though Pepperdine at No. 8 stands out, with the Waves posting a respectable seventh at Annika before finishing a distant runner-up to USC at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic.
Among the teams in the top 25, Oklahoma jumps out in a good way, as the Sooners hold the 19th spot, their best national ranking in a long time, thanks to three top-5s, albeit no wins.
Individually, the annual Blessings bump went to Mississippi State’s Avery Weed, who won the event and received 180.78 points, well over double what she got for a runner-up at the Carmel Cup at Pebble Beach. Weed is ranked No. 1 nationally over Arkansas’ Maria Jose Marin, who – you guessed it – was second at the Blessings.
As with any ranking, once there is more data, some of the head-scratching rankings should sort themselves out. And hopefully, after weeks of waiting, there will be weekly updates.
Let the rankings debates begin!
For full rankings, click here.
