Story Links

LA QUINTA, Calif. —  Long Beach State went for the rare Big West men’s golf four-peat, capturing the 2026 Big West Championship crown by a record score of 816 besting their previous 22-under set a season ago.  


With a margin of victory of 47 strokes, the Beach recorded the largest gap in the 54-hole championship history of The Big West. The only wider gap came in 1981, when San Jose State was an 84-stroke victor in a 72-hole event.  


The win is Long Beach State’s seventh overall title and earns the team The Big West’s automatic entry into the regional field of the 2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship. The team will learn their regional seed and destination tomorrow at 11 a.m. on The Golf Channel.  


Of all Division I teams who qualified for the 2026 field via stroke play, LBSU’s 48-under score ties American Conference champion Charlotte for lowest under par total as the current 49ers and former 49ers were both one stroke shy of the mascot moniker.  


The Beach were led by individual medalist Steen Zeman, a graduate student from Oxnard, Calif., who also closed the championship with the wire-to-wire victory with rounds of, 67, 66 and 72 to put together a three-day total of 11-under 205 for a one-stroke win. Zeman is the 11th LBSU golfer to earn the individual trophy and the third in the last four seasons. 


Just one stroke back on the leaderboard was Long Beach State duo Jack Cantlay and Jaden Huggins, finishing at 10-under 206 to narrowly miss to top line. Cantlay, a senior from Los Alamitos, Calif., moved up two places after a third-round 68 while Huggins, a product of Murrieta, Calif., in his senior season had a second-round 65 to highlight the week.  


Fourth place went to LBSU’s Alejandro de Castro Piera, a senior from Sant Esteve Sesrovires, Spain, whose closing 66 brought him within two of Zeman at 9-under 207. Rounding out the top five, and in turn the All-Tournament Team, was 2025 individual medalist and junior Krishnav Nikhil Chopraa, rising five spots with a final round 66 to total a 7-under 209.  


With the top five comprised of the complete Long Beach State lineup, the Beach have accomplished yet another historic feat. This marks the first time in league history that the All-Tournament team makeup has come from one member-institution since 1970.  


The day began with a tie for second place in the team standings and Cal Poly was able to remain in the red at 1-under 863 with UC Irvine jumping up a spot to third and the trio of UC Santa Barbara, Hawai’i and UC San Diego tying for fourth at 7-over 871. 


UC Davis (+11; 875); Cal State Fullerton (+18; 882), UC Riverside (+36; 902) and CSUN (+43; 907) rounded out rest of the team standings.  


Individually, six institutions saw at least one golfer place in the top 10 with Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara seeing two players on the listings.  




Team Leaderboard – FINAL RESULTS 






















276-270-270—816 (-48)    











290-284-289—863 (-1)    











293-284-291—868 (+4)   











295-292-284—871 (+7)  











293-281-297—871 (+7)    











291-292-288—871 (+7)   











291-290-294—875 (+11)    











298-292-292—882 (+18)    











311-293-296—900 (+36) 











310-300-297—907 (+43)    







Individual Top 10 – FINAL RESULTS



















Steen Zeman (Long Beach State) 



67-66-72—205 (-11)    








Jack Cantlay (Long Beach State) 











Jaden Huggins (Long Beach State) 



71-65-70—206 (-10)  








Alejandro de Castro Piera (Long Beach State) 











Krishnav Nikhil Chopraa (Long Beach State) 











Dane Watanabe (Hawai’i) 











Dylan Ma (UC Santa Barbara) 



74-70-68—212 (-4)    








Rei Harashima (UC Irvine) 











Zhenxian Zhang (UC Davis) 











Rafael Bobo-Lloret (Cal Poly) 











Ryan Gay (UC Santa Barbara) 











William Tanaka (Cal State Fullerton) 



75-66-73—214 (-2)   















*top 5 named to All-Tournament Team