Making history may be just as challenging as repeating it, WVU Golf is finding out this year.
Led by Big 12 Coach of the Year Sean Covich, PING All-Midwest Region Team selection Max Green, and just three senior golfers, the Mountaineers turned heads in 2024.
For the first time since the program’s revival in 2015, and thus the first time since 1947, the Mountaineers competed at the highest level last season, qualifying for the NCAA Championships in Carlsbad, California.
To qualify, West Virginia posted a program-best fifth place finish at the Big 12 Championship, followed by a third place performance in its first ever NCAA Regional in Rancho Santa Fe, California. As a top five team in its region, WVU advanced to the 30-team championship.
Despite placing just 28th in Carlsbad, WVU Golf made history for itself. Now, with four of its five postseason starters returning in 2025, the pressure is on to do it again.
Seniors Todd Duncan, Max Green, and Pierce Grieve and junior Kaleb Wilson represent the peak of Mountaineer golf this season. In six regular season tournaments this spring, the four will fight to return to the NCAA Championship, hosted once again by Omni La Costa Resort.
Individually, each returning starter has expectations to play his best collegiate golf to date this season.
For Duncan, outdoing his junior season means topping his team-best 8-over-par finish at the NCAA Championship, which included WVU’s only par round of the event. For Green, it means maintaining his status as WVU’s leader while attempting to establish a professional future. Grieve is on track to keep up with Green on his professional path, and Kaleb Wilson has the job of proving that Mountaineer Golf can stay competitive for a long time.
In the fall preseason, West Virginia quickly learned that meeting those expectations would not be a walk in the park.
At the University of Minnesota’s Gopher Invitational, in which Max Green placed sixth last year, WVU shockingly placed below much of its fellow Big 12 competition.
Duncan and Wilson shot five-over-par and tied for 19th in the three-round competition to be the only Mountaineers in the top 20. WVU placed 12th out of 15 teams at +36 as Iowa State, which WVU shot 34 strokes better than in the Big 12 Championship last season, took first with a +8 team score. Covich was openly upset after his team’s fall debut.
“This was a very disappointing opening tournament for our team,” Covich said. “I know we have more talent than what we showed this week. This should serve as a wake-up call to our guys that last season is over and it’s time to get to work.”
Since, the Mountaineers have stepped up in small ways, such as Wilson taking his first collegiate invitational victory at Nemacolin. Wilson’s 7-under-par finish put himself and the Mountaineers on top. Grieve, Duncan, and freshman Ryan Leach all golfed under par with Wilson as well to take fourth through second respectively.
Without any other Big 12 competitors at Nemacolin, though, the victory did not mean WVU was back to its full powers. In fact, at the conference’s Match Play Championship just one week later, WVU finished 2-2-1 and saw only glimpses of the Max Green that played in 2024.
West Virginia wrapped up fall play with a fifth-place, 17-under-par outing in the Bahamas. Kaleb Wilson finished nine-under-par for 10th place as Green shot six-under to tie for 13th. Non-starters Leach and junior Westy McCabe shined with -3 and -5 scores respectively.
Now, with the wind in its sails and Green headlining Mountaineer golfers to compete during the season break, having qualified for the Jones Cup Invitational, West Virginia still has a lot of work to do to repeat its historic spring season.
West Virginia’s campaign to return the NCAA Championship kicks off Feb. 3 at the Battle at Briar’s Creek in John’s Island, South Carolina.
Photo from WVU Men’s Golf
