Going Out Strong

A year after rupturing hamstring tendons, Colorado Christian’s Lance Christensen Jr. finishes runner-up in men’s Div. II golf nationals; CCU advances as a team to DII quarterfinals

By Gary Baines 

Lance Christensen Jr., has competed for just one season of golf at Colorado Christian University — after playing at New Mexico State and earning his degree there, then transferring to CCU. And prior to the men’s NCAA Division II national championships, he had posted just one top-10 individual finish in 2025-26.

But the player from Kyle, S.D., certainly saved his best for last in his final college golf tournament. Christensen made three eagles and shot a bogey-free 8-under-par 64 on Wednesday in Boulder City, Nev., finishing solo second out of more than 100 players in the DII nationals.

Overall, he went 69-70-64 for a 13-under-par total, placing behind only DII national champ Octavio Laurent of South Carolina-Beaufort, who closed with a 63 to win by four.

For Christensen, it certainly wasn’t too shabby for someone who came into the event ranked No. 207 nationally in men’s DII. Also not bad for a player who slipped and ruptured his hamstring tendons exactly a year ago today. But despite the seriousness of the injury, he returned to college competition in mid-September, months earlier than expected.

“That was probably one of the worst days of my life,” Christensen told 605sports.com in late September. “It was a really tough pill to swallow. I felt like it was my last chance. But there’s always a way, if you stay determined.”

Certainly Christensen’s showing at nationals proves as much.

“It just means so much because I didn’t give up,” he said in the 605 Sports story in the fall. “It’s the closest I’ve ever been to wanting to quit and maybe moving onto the next step of my life. But I realize this is what I wanted to do and I just love it so much. I put so much hard work into it and it means a lot.”

Christensen’s best college showing of the 2025-26 season, prior to this week, was a fifth place in The Sam Proal in Pueblo in late March.

Christensen, the 2019 Class A state high school champion in South Dakota, finished the stroke-play portion of this week’s DII nationals with a remarkable four eagles, to go along with 10 birdies and five bogeys over the course of 54 holes.

Though the stroke-play part of the national tournament concluded on Wednesday, Christensen and his CCU teammates aren’t done yet. The top eight team finishers in stroke play advance to Thursday’s national quarterfinals — the start of the medal/match play portion of the championship. Late in Wednesday’s round, West Florida, which defeated CCU in the 2025 national title match, faltered to fall out of the top eight and allow the Cougars to claim the eighth spot at 9 under par. They’ll face top-seeded Florida Southern in the quarterfinals.

Colorado Christian, which came into nationals ranked 23rd in the nation in men’s DII, won the national title in 2024 and finished second nationally last year.

Christensen wasn’t the only golfer from a Colorado-based school to place in the top 15 individually at the DII nationals on Wednesday. Archie Wyatt, a CSU-Pueblo senior from Scotland, tied for 14th place at 7 under par (67-72-70). Wyatt carded an eagle (on Wednesday), 14 birdies and nine bogeys during the three rounds in Boulder City.

Wyatt recorded six top-10 individual finishes this season.

For all the scores from the men’s DII nationals, CLICK HERE.

About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com