Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Arone, Naik’s Top-20 Finishes Lead Wolverines to 11th at Big Ten Championships
5/3/2026 9:38:00 PM | Men's Golf
» Michigan finished 11th at the Big Ten Championships with an 859 (288-283-288) total in a tightly packed field, as just five strokes separated fifth through 11th place.
» Sophomores RJ Arone (T14; 211, +1) and Nilay Naik (T20; 213, +3) led U-M with top-20 finishes, while freshman Jordan Hwang tied for 40th (217) in his Big Ten debut.
» Arone closed with a team-low 69 (-1), his 18th sub-par round of the season, and set Michigan's sophomore single-season scoring record (71.00 avg), while Hwang capped his freshman campaign with a program-record 72.84 average.
Site: North Plains, Ore. (Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course)
Tournament: Big Ten Championships
Course: Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course (par 70, 7,018 yards)
U-M Team Standing: 11th of 18 (288-283-288/859)
Top U-M Individual: RJ Arone, T14 (70-72-69/211, +1)
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, May 6 -- NCAA Selection Show (Golf Channel), 2 p.m.
NORTH PLAINS, Ore. -- Paced by top-20 finishes from sophomores RJ Arone (T14) and Nilay Naik (T20), the University of Michigan men's golf team closed out the Big Ten Championships with a final-round 288 on Sunday (May 3), finishing 11th overall with an 859 (288-283-288) 54-hole total at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course.
Despite the 11th-place finish, the margin told a much different story. The Wolverines sat in the middle of a tightly packed leaderboard, with just five strokes separating fifth through 11th place. U-M's 859 total was only five shots back of fifth and just three strokes shy of eighth, highlighting how narrow the gap remained throughout the final round.
With his 18th sub-par round of the season, Arone fired a team-best 69 (-1) to climb into a tie for 14th individually with a 211 (+1) total. His final-round surge marked the sixth time in 11 events he has led the Wolverines and helped him reset the sophomore single-season scoring record with a 71.00 average, surpassing former Wolverine All-American Kyle Mueller (71.72; 2015-16).
Naik followed with a 213 (+3) total in his first Big Ten Championship, tying for 20th and giving U-M two players among the top 20. Likewise competing in his first conference championship, freshman Jordan Hwang posted a 217 (73-72-72) to tie for 40th, while also setting Michigan's freshman single-season scoring average record at 72.84, narrowly surpassing Mueller's 72.86 (2014-15). Sophomore Dean Muratore rounded out the scoring lineup, tying for 58th with a 221 (73-70-78).
Michigan also set a new single-season team scoring record, closing the year with a 285.75 per round average to lower the previous program mark of 287.37 set last season.
UCLA captured the team title with an 832 (-8) total, holding off Illinois (836) and Washington (842). Bruin Josh Kim earned medalist honors with a 202 (-8; 67-66-69).
Michigan will learn its postseason destination during the NCAA Selection Show on Wednesday (May 6) at 2 p.m. on Golf Channel. Six NCAA Regional sites will host competition May 18-20, with the top five teams from each regional, along with the top individual not on an advancing team, advancing to the NCAA Finals scheduled for May 29-June 3 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.
Final Team Standings
1. UCLA 281-269-282 = 832 (-8) 2. Illinois 279-286-271 = 836 3. Washington 281-280-281 = 842 4. Rutgers 287-285-278 = 850 5. USC 293-277-284 = 854 6. Purdue 295-275-286 = 856 Penn State 293-283-280 = 856 8. Nebraska 284-286-287 = 857 9. Minnesota 285-288-285 = 858 Northwestern 285-292-281 = 858 11. MICHIGAN 288-283-288 = 859 12. Michigan State 298-281-283 = 862 Oregon 290-286-286 = 862 14. Maryland 291-287-293 = 871 15. Iowa 293-288-295 = 876 16. Indiana 294-293-291 = 878 17. Wisconsin 296-293-290 = 879 18. Ohio State 297-293-295 = 885
Top Individuals
1. Josh Kim, UCLA 67-66-69 = 202 (-8) 2. Finn Koelle, Washington 71-68-66 = 205 3. Jaden Dumdumaya, USC 69-66-72 = 207 Max Herendeen, Illinois 68-69-70 = 207 Jack Buchanan, USC 70-68-69 = 207 Ryan Voois, Illinois 72-69-66 = 207 7. Tyler Loree, UCLA 71-66-71 = 208 Baylor Larrabee, UCLA 69-69-70 = 208 9. Emil Borrestuen Herstand, Washington 68-73-68 = 209 Chun-Ta Wu, Minnesota 69-72-68 = 209 Bennett Espenshade, Rutgers 73-70-66 = 209 Sam Easterbrook, Purdue 76-67-66 = 209
Michigan Individuals
T14. RJ Arone 70-72-69 = 211 (+1) T20. Nilay Naik 72-69-72 = 213 T40. Jordan Hwang 73-72-72 = 217 T58. Dean Muratore 73-70-78 = 221 SUB Jason Gordon 74-83 = 157 SUB Johnny Solis 75
Players Mentioned
