The Arkansas State men’s golf team won its third Sun Belt Conference Championship by defeating Coastal Carolina 4-1, according to an Apr. 30 announcement from the university.
This victory gives Arkansas State an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships after also defeating Southern Miss in the four-day tournament at Annandale Golf Club. The Red Wolves entered match play as the No. 2 seed, having finished stroke play in second place with a total of 11-under par 853.
“It was a tough grind of golf today, none of these are easy to win,” said A-State head coach Mike Hagen. “We had to get past Southern Miss this morning and that’s for sure an NCAA quality team. We were able to get that and then I thought we had some good matchups against Coastal Carolina in a rematch from last year. Another one, I knew wouldn’t be easy, but I’m proud of our young guys for stepping up in a big way today.”
Key performances included junior Jake Lile’s early advantage with a decisive win in match two against Coastal Carolina and junior Milan Reed clinching another point on the final hole. Senior Thomas Schmidt lost his match, but Jake Wallis secured victory for A-State on the last hole as well. In their earlier matchup with Southern Miss, Lile again clinched the deciding point with a chip-in off the seventh green.
The Arkansas State Red Wolves Men’s Golf program competes in the Sun Belt Conference according to the official website. The team plays home events in Jonesboro, Arkansas according to its official site and is affiliated with Arkansas State University as part of its athletics program according to university information. The roster features players from various international and domestic backgrounds including Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Australia, England and several U.S. states as reported by school sources. It functions as an intercollegiate athletics program at Arkansas State University according to institutional records and is categorized specifically as an intercollegiate men’s golf program by official designation.
A-State set a single-season program record with a stroke average of 281.73 and achieved four wins along with three runner-up finishes over ten events played this season. This marks their eighth appearance in NCAA Regionals as a team—the first since 2024—and fourth under head coach Hagen.
