University of Arizona
Big 12 Match Play
Arizona Heads to Salt Lake City for Big 12 Match Play
10/09/2026 | Men's Golf
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Arizona Men's Golf returns to action this Monday through Wednesday, October 12-14, as the Wildcats compete in the 2026 Big 12 Match Play Tournament. The three-day event will take place at The Country Club of Salt Lake, hosted by the University of Utah.
The Wildcats enter the tournament as the No. 9 seed and will compete in Pool A alongside No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 8 Cincinnati and No. 16 UCF.
The tournament will feature five rounds of match play, beginning Monday at 8 a.m. Mountain Time (7 a.m. MST). Teams will compete in three rounds of pool play before advancing to bracket play Tuesday afternoon, with the final matches scheduled for Wednesday morning.
The six Wildcats that will make the trip to Salt Lake City include:-
Tony Xiong
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Jorge Sampedro
Five players will represent Arizona in each round of match play.
Tournament Format
Unlike traditional stroke-play tournaments, Big 12 Match Play features head-to-head competition, with five individual matches determining each team result. Each individual victory earns one point, while tied matches award half a point to each team. The team winning the overall matchup receives three points toward the pool standings, while tied team matches award one point to each team. The top team from each pool will advance to Tuesday afternoon's semifinals, with the championship match taking place Wednesday morning.
News and Notes
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Arizona enters the tournament as the No. 9 seed in the 16-team field.
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The Wildcats will face Oklahoma State, Cincinnati and UCF during pool play.
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This marks Arizona's third tournament of the 2026-27 season after competing at the Sahalee Players Championship and the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate.
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The Wildcats finished ninth at the Tucker Intercollegiate in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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The tournament will be held at The Country Club of Salt Lake, the home course of the Utah men's golf program.
Field
Pool A
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No. 1 Oklahoma State
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No. 8 Cincinnati
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No. 9 Arizona
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No. 16 UCF
Pool B
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No. 2 Texas Tech
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No. 7 Colorado
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No. 10 Kansas State
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No. 15 Houston
Pool C
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No. 3 Arizona State
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No. 6 BYU
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No. 11 Utah
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No. 14 Iowa State
Pool D
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No. 4 Kansas
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No. 5 TCU
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No. 12 West Virginia
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No. 13 Baylor
Tournament Schedule
Monday, October 12
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Pool Play Round 1 – 8 a.m. MT
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Pool Play Round 2 – 1:30 p.m. MT
Tuesday, October 13
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Pool Play Round 3 – 8 a.m. MT
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Bracket Play Round 4 – 1:30 p.m. MT
Wednesday, October 14
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Final Matches Round 5 – 8 a.m. MT
Previous Outings This Season
Arizona opened the 2026-27 season with a 12th-place finish at the Sahalee Players Championship in Sammamish, Washington. Senior Tony Xiong led the Wildcats with a tie for 20th at 8-over par, while sophomore William Wistrand finished at 10-over par.
The Wildcats followed their season opener with a ninth-place finish at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Arizona will look to carry that experience into its first match-play competition of the fall season.
Fans can follow along with live scoring throughout the tournament on Scoreboard, powered by Clippd.
