No. 10 Seed Men’s Golf Ready for NCAA Athens Regional

HOUSTON — The Rice Men's Golf team enters the NCAA Athens Regional as the 10^th seed, played May 18-20 at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga.

TEAM FIELD

Rice, who is ranked 62^nd in the latest Scoreboard rankings, will be joined by No. 1 seed Auburn, No. 2 seed Illinois, No. 3 seed Vanderbilt, No. 4 seed BYU, No. 5 seed Georgia, No. 6 seed Louisville, No. 7 seed Kansas, No. 8 seed Northwestern, No. 9 seed College of Charleston, No. 11 seed Southern Miss, No. 12 seed Harvard, and No. 13 seed Howard.

JUSTIN EMIL QUOTABLE

"We are thrilled to be selected for regionals but our goal since Day One has been to get to Nationals. This is the next step toward that goal. We have to be disciplined and in the moment this week to advance."

HOW TO WATCH

Fans can watch the NCAA Athens Regional on Babygrande.com or by clicking here.

LIVE SCORING

Fans can follow live scoring of the NCAA Athens Regional by visiting Scoreboard.com or by clicking here.

LINEUP

Lukas Boandl – No. 1 position … ranked 93rd in the latest Scoreboard rankings … American Conference Golfer of the Week (4/16) … leads the team with a 70.53 stroke average … school record 23 rounds of par or better and 13 rounds in the 60's … team-high 127 birdies … three top five, four top ten, and eight top 20 finishes … is third in school history in career stroke average (72.60) and average vs. par (0.98) … career leader in rounds of par or better (61) and rounds in the 60's (27), second in top five finishes (6) and top 20 finishes (20), and ninth in top 10 finishes (7) … tied for first at the Trinity Forest Invitational at -12 before falling on the second hole of a playoff … opened with consecutive 66's before closing with a 69 … set the school record for 36-hole score (132), and his 54-hole score of 201 is the second lowest in school history … runner-up finish at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic (9/29-30), finishing -8 and helping the Owls to the team title … tied for fifth at the Mossy Oak Collegiate (4/13-14) … fired a second round 65, tying the second lowest round in school history … tied for ninth at the American Championship (4/27-29), finishing -8 after rounds of 66-68 ... tied for 12th-place at the Argent Financial Classic (9/7-9) … tied for 11th at the Cabo Collegiate … tied for 13th at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational (10/25) … 2025 AAC All-Conference ... 2025 NCAA Bremerton Regional participant.

Daniel Zou – No. 2 position … One of four golfers to participate in all 11 team tournaments ... American All-Conference ... second on the team with a 71.66 stroke average … second with 19 rounds of par or better and third with 104 birdies … seven rounds in the 60's … tied for fifth at the American Championship (4/27-29), finishing -11 ... closed the tournament with a bogey-free eight-under 64, the second lowest round in school history ... tied for seventh at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic (9/29-30) finishing at -5 … tied for 11th at the All-American Intercollegiate (3/16-17) … tied for 15th-place at the Argent Financial Classic … 2025 AAC All-Conference ... 2025 AAC Freshman of the Year ... AAC Golfer of the Week (3/5) … 2025 NCAA Bremerton Regional participant.

Henry Daly – No. 3 position … transfer from Virginia … in his second stint at Rice, where he began his collegiate career as a freshman in 2022 … third on the team with a 72.89 stroke average … third with 16 rounds of par or better … second on the team with 122 birdies … six rounds in the 60's … had a career-best tie for fourth-place finish at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic (9/29-30), where he tied his career-low round 67 in the first round … tied for eighth-place at the Cabo Collegiate (3/1-3), where he opened with rounds of 69-68 … his 54-hole score of 208 was a career-low … tied for 18^th-place at the Trinity Forest Invitational (10/5-7).

Reggie Zhu – No. 4 position … participated in 10 tournaments ... averaging 73.17 strokes per round … 13 rounds of par or better … is sixth in school history in career stroke average (73.36) and average vs. par (1.80) … tied for 12th-place at the Trinity Forest Invitational (10/7-9), where he fired a season-low 67 in the final round … tied for 13th at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic (9/29-30), where he helped the Owls to the team title ... finished in 13th-place at the American Championship (4/27-29) ... began the tournament with a 66-69 to become the first golfer in Rice history to start the conference championship with back-to-back rounds in the 60's .. the 66 tied his career-best, while his 36-hole score of 135 was a career-low.

Raines Watson – No. 5 position … averaging 73.75 strokes per round … 13 rounds of par or better … three rounds in the 60's … has recorded 99 birdies … tied for fourth-place at the Bentwater Intercollegiate (2/9-10), closing with a pair of 70's … 12^th-place at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic (9/29-30) … set a season-best for low 54-hole score (212) at the Hal Williams Collegiate (2/16-17) … fired a season-best 67 in the first round of the Cabo Collegiate (3/1).

Davis Byrd – Substitute … has a 74.78 stroke average … six rounds of par or better … has 45 birdies on the year … tied for 19^th-place at the Colin Montgomerie HCU Invitational (3/2-3) … tied for 23^rd-place at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic after opening with rounds of 72-71 (10/29-30) … tied for 28^th-place at the All-American Individual (3/16-17) … tied for 32^nd-place at the Bentwater Intercollegiate (2/9-10).

PAIRINGS

The Owls will tee off at 8:25 a.m. CT from hole No. 10. Rice will compete in groups with student-athletes from Southern Miss and Harvard. Tuesday and Wednesday tee times and pairings will depend on results following the previous round.

UP NEXT

With a top five finish at the NCAA Athens Regional, Rice will advance to the NCAA Championship, played May 29-June 3 at the Omni La Costa Golf Resort in Carlsbad, Calif.

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