KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the fourth consecutive year, the Marian men's golf team will be one of the 29-member field at the 2026 NAIA National Championship, as the Knights were named as one of the qualifiers during Friday's NAIA qualifier release show.
The 29-team field will compete at the 74th-Annual NAIA Men's Golf National Championship, set for May 12-15, 2026 at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. The event will be held at TPC Deere Run for the 10th time, dating back to 2009.
The 2026 tournament field includes 18 teams that qualified by winning their conference championships, another - Grand View (Iowa) - that earned a second automatic bid from the Heart of America Athletic Conference, and 10 teams selected through the final Netting Professionals NAIA Men's Golf Coaches' Top 25.
There are also 11 individual qualifiers in the field. Individuals qualified as conference medalists not on a qualifying team, members of the 2025 all-tournament team, or through at-large selection based on Clippd Scoreboard rankings.
Defending national champion Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) is in the field, along with four teams will make their first appearances at the championship - Blue Mountain Christian (Miss.), Hastings (Neb.), IU East (Ind.), and USAO (Okla.) - and Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), qualifying for the championship for the first time in 15 years.
Texas Wesleyan will make a record 57th appearance and enters with an NAIA-record 12 individual national champions in its program history, while Sooner Athletic Conference foe Oklahoma City is making its 32nd appearance, bringing 11 national championship Red Banners into the field, the most in NAIA history.
Wayland Baptist (Texas) and British Columbia will each make their 20th appearances, while St. Ambrose will compete in the championship for the 19th time.
May 12-13 tee times, as well as first- and second-round pairings, will be announced Monday, May 4, on the NAIA website.
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