RIVERSIDE, Calif. (May 10, 2025) – Will Tate saved his best for last at the NCAA Division II West/South Central Regional Championship in Riverside, California, shooting one-under during the third and final round to wrap up the tournament at three-under and finish in a nine-player tie for 38th place.

Tate opened up the final round by staying at even-par through six holes before a birdie on a par-4 on hole seven put Tate at one-under-par through the front nine.

Then after a bogey on a par-4 on hole 10 to open the back nine, Tate got back to under-par with a birdie on the par-5 hole 14, the same hole he hit an eagle on during round two. Then also just like round two, Tate pared out on the final four holes.

After making three bogies during each of the first two rounds, Tate made just one bogey during the final round.

Tate spoke on his performance during the final round and said, "Today was pretty similar to the first two days really. We got off to a steady start on the front nine as I made all pars to start and then put together a nice putt for birdie on hole seven. I made a little mistake on hole 10 with my only bogey of the round, but it was all pars the rest of the day, expect for my final birdie on hole 14 in which I hit the green on two strokes. Overall, it was a really good experience playing somewhere I hadn't played before and getting to compete against a really good field of players. In the end I believe I put together a really respectable score and showed a really good fight."

Tate (71-71-71; 213; -3) becomes the first Falcon to shoot under-par during all three rounds at the regional championship. He rose four spots from round two to round three to secure his spot in the top-half of the field out of 108 golfers.

On becoming the first UTPB golfer to shoot under-par during all three rounds at regionals, Tate added, "It's nice to know that I am making these little pieces of history and making my mark here at UTPB. It's a byproduct of all the hard work I have put in to get here. It wasn't a goal of mine initially to put myself into the history books at UTPB, but is a nice little extra for sure."

Tate also finished tied for first among the eight individuals playing in the field. Each of the top-three individuals after round two played together during round three, pairing Tate with Lubbock Christian's Hayden Bowman (76-67-70; 213; -3), who made four birdies and two bogeys during the final round and made up one stroke on Tate over the course of the day.

The winner of the tournament by three strokes was Oklahoma Christian's Oskari Nikku (63-69-67; 199; -17), who recorded two eagles during the final round and shot under 200 for the tournament.

UTPB's Head Coach Paul Chavez summed things up by saying, "As Will said, today was pretty much a repeat of day one and day two. We just could not get the momentum going to make a few birdies back-to-back. Scores were very low all the way around from the top players, so in order to keep pace, birdies were needed, but we just didn't have enough of them. Overall, it was a very respectable performance and Will did a great job. This sets the bar for our program going forward, and now we want to build off of that year in and year out."

Congratulations to both Will Tate and Head Golf Coach Paul Chavez on a terrific 2024-25 UTPB men's golf season.