NCAA Regional Qualifiers

Host CSU Pueblo & Colorado Christian women named to field for NCAA Div. II West Regional at Pueblo CC; earning men’s DII regional berths are CSU Pueblo, Colorado Mesa and CO Christian

By Gary Baines 

For the first time since 2018, a Colorado golf course will host an NCAA Division II regional golf tournament. And on Sunday, the NCAA filled in the blanks by letting us know the teams and individuals that will make up the field for the women’s DII West Regional that will be contested May 4-6 at Pueblo Country Club.

Also announced on Sunday were the qualifiers for the men’s DII regionals.

In all, two Colorado-based women’s teams — and one individual not on those teams — extend their season into the regional phase. And on the men’s side, three Colorado-based schools and three individuals advance to regionals.

— CSU Pueblo, Colorado Christian Women Will Tee It Up at Pueblo CC: The CSU Pueblo women, the host team for the DII West Regional at Pueblo Country Club, and Colorado Christian University will be among the 18 teams and six individuals not on those teams who will tee it up at one of Colorado’s oldest courses.

CSU Pueblo scored its sixth team victory of the season — in 10 tournaments so far — when it won its fourth straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference women’s title recently in Boulder City, Nev. The ThunderWolves, ranked 29th in the nation among DII women, are seeded No. 5 for the regional, while CCU (ranked No. 66) is seeded 17th.

CSU Pueblo is being coached on an interim basis for the remainder of the season by John Wristen after Tammy Lin resigned mid-season due to personal reasons. Wristen was a longtime head coach for the CSUP football team, who he led to the 2014 DII national title.

Also set for the Pueblo CC regional — as an individual — will be MSU Denver junior Neige Dunn.

Dallas Baptist was named the top-seeded team in Pueblo.

The top five team finishers from the West Regional — and the top two individuals not on one of those teams — will qualify for the women’s DII national championships, set for May 12-16 at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Meanwhile, Colorado resident Lily Nelson will play for her Henderson State (Ark.) in the Central Regional May 4-6 in St. Joseph, Mo. In all, there are four regional tournaments in women’s DII golf.

By the way, the last DII regional held in Colorado came in 2018 when one of the women’s tournaments was held at Hillcrest Golf Club in Durango.

For all the 2026 women’s DII regional qualifiers, CLICK HERE.

— CSU Pueblo, Colorado Mesa, Colorado Christian Tapped for Men’s South Central/West Regional: Two Colorado-based men’s teams are among the top seeds for the South Central Region, with three local squads in all earning berths into men’s DII regional tournaments, set for May 7-9.

The combined South Central/West Regional will be contested in Stockton, Calif., with CSU Pueblo seeded second out of 10 South Central teams and RMAC champion Colorado Mesa third — both behind top-seeded West Texas A&M. Colorado Christian, the 2024 national champion and 2025 national runner-up, is seeded ninth.

Ten additional teams from the West Region also will compete in the Stockton regional.

CSU Pueblo, which has a team win and five runner-ups to its credit this season, is ranked No. 15 nationally in men’s DII, while Colorado Mesa is No. 22 and CCU No. 24. CMU has won three times as a team this season and CCU once.

In addition, three Colorado-based individuals not on the qualifying teams will tee it up in Stockton: Traejan Andrews of Fort Lewis, and Liam Allan and Lukas Taggart of Colorado School of Mines.

At least the top three team finishers — along with the top two individuals — from each regional will advance to the DII national championships, schedule for May 18–22 in Boulder City, Nev. The final eight team berths will be based largely on the regions represented in the 2025 head-to-head stroke-play portion of the national championships.

For all the 2026 men’s DII regional qualifiers, 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