Michigan Wolverine Hunter Thomson Wins NCAA UrbanaRegional, Advances to NCAA Finals
From U-M sports information office
With a 54-hole regional total of 203 (-10) at the Atkins Golf Club, senior Hunter Thomson of the University of Michigan men's golf team won the 2025 NCAA Urbana Regional on Wednesday (May 14) and earned the advancing individual spot for the NCAA Finals.
With his third win of the season, Thomson, who played in a second straight regional as an individual, heads to Carlsbad, Calif., for a shot at the NCAA individual title at the La Costa Resort and Spa, Friday through Monday, May 23-26.
In addition to Thomson's advancement, host Illinois (286-275-276) and No. 2-ranked Oklahoma State (277-281-279) shared the regional team title at 837 (-15) while UNLV was third at 846 (-6). Rounding out the advancing top five teams, Troy was fourth at 850 (-2) and Texas Tech was fifth at 851 (-1).
Thomson won U-M's third regional, joining former All-Americans Lion Kim (2011 Central Regional; 205, -8) and Kyle Mueller (2018 Columbus Regional; 208, -5) on the Maize and Blue's exclusive list. Overall, Thomson becomes the 13th Wolverine individual to make the trip to the NCAA Finals and the first since Mueller's trip in 2018.
Playing as the top seed among 10 invited individuals, Thomson opened his regional using four birdies to post a 69 (-2) and position himself tied for sixth after 18 holes. Heading back out Tuesday morning, he added five more birdies to his regional total and tied the second round's low round tally with his 67 (-4) to move him a shot back of the individual lead at 136 (-6).
With birdies on two of his first three holes, Thomson made the turn in his final round one-under as a bogey on No. 7 gave a shot back. Still in contention, he made his move as he notched four birdies in his first seven back-nine holes to grab the regional lead by two shots.
With the advancing top-five teams set, Thomson found himself battling with Cincinnati's Ryan Ford for the individual spot. Carrying his two-shot lead into the par-3 17th, both golfers parred, helping Thomson head to the final hole, maintaining his advantage. As Ford closed at par on the 18th, Thomson's missed putt yielded a closing bogey, but he captured the regional crown by a single shot -- 203 (-10) to Ford's 204 (-9).
Averaging a U-M record and first sub-70 average (69.89), Thomson posted three straight regional rounds under par to help him set a career season-best with 23 sub-par tallies in 38 rounds. With his 203 (-10) 54-hole regional total, he has nine of 13 events under par and 23 total in his career.
