AUBURN, Ala. (May 14, 2025) – University of North Alabama men's golf junior Xing Luo finished tied for 43rd at the NCAA Regionals in Auburn on Wednesday, May 14. 

This was the final day of the three-day tournament, playing 18 holes. Luo finished with a two-over-par 74 score for the third round. He finished the tournament with a three-round score of nine-over-par 225. He rose nine spots from 52nd on the final day.  

Only 13 of the 78 golfers that recorded a round for the tournament finished under par. Only the host team, No. 1 Auburn (-32) and No. 12 Texas A&M (-5) did so as a team.  

Luo competed with No. 13 seed USC Upstate's Ross Wright for a third time and UT Martin's Jonathan Xoinis.  

Wright finished in 72nd at 13-over at the conclusion of the second day. Xoinis finished in 60th, one stroke back from Luo after the second round.  

His 43rd placement bested nationally-ranked golfers such as No. 85 Enrique Dimayuga from SMU and No. 90 Purdue Sam Easterbrook, among others.

The junior from Katy, Texas netted a 3.25 average on par-three holes for the tournament. Luo added three more birdies during the final round, good for eight total to rank among the top 30 golfers in the stat.  

The final round began at 9:31 a.m. as birds chirped and the sun shined down on the course, the third round was set to be the best weather wise.  

As the course had dried some from the first couple of days, Luo parred on the first three holes of the day. This marked the third straight day to par on the opening hole. 

The third hole was a par-5 which was 587 yards long. On day one, he birdie the hole and day two he bogeyed it. Today, he took two shots that landed right off a sand bunker.  

Luo took a chip that escaped the green and landed on the opposite side of the hill. He decided to chip again off the slope. A beautiful shot saw a couple bounces that hit the hole, but the flag protruding from the hole bounced the ball out to take the chance of a birdie.   

Hole four saw his first birdie come to life. The 375 yard par-4 saw the tee box shot sit in the middle of the fairway. Then the junior's fairway shot went up and to the right that landed a foot away from the hole. An easy tap in gave him his first birdie; Luo had only one yesterday.  

Luo parred hole five, another third consecutive day par on the three shot hole.  

The next fairway was the one that gave him trouble on the first rain-filled day with a double bogey. Hole six saw a middle of the fairway shot that turned into the ball bouncing around 10 feet away from the hole. His putt missed centimeters to the right but added another par to his tally; back-to-back days with a par on the infamous hole.  

Only one stroke under for the day, Luo already climbed 19 spots to 33rd after the first six holes played.  

Another par-5 for the seventh hole. Luo tee'd off with another great fairway shot. However, Luo and The Schmitz Family Head Men's Golf Coach, Austin Phillips went with a different tactic. 

The par-5 saw about a 15-foot rough that separated the fairway from the edge of the green. The past two days, Luo and his group mates played conservative and elected to stay before the rough. 

Today, Luo pulled his hybrid out and had his mind set for the green. He shot and it landed on the green before backtracking into a sand bunker underneath for just his second shot.  

He chipped out of the bunker and the ball nearly met the hole, but rolled just a foot to the right. He added his second birdie of the day on the hole.  

Another par-3 saw a bogey after his putt pulled to the left on the eighth hole. However, he added another par on the ninth hole. That gave the junior a 35 score for the front nine at one-under. This is the first nine holes in the tournament that he shot under.  

He added a par on the 10th hole but bogeyed on the 11th on a par-3 to get him back to an even score for the day. Luo added a bogey on the 12th hole for the third consecutive day. 

The par-5 13th hole saw his third birdie flush for the day as he got back to an even score. His putt missed by an inch to bogey on the 14th. 

However, at one-over for the day through 14 holes, Luo was 39th in the rankings — rising 13 from his 52nd placement to start the final round. At this point, his group mates Xoinis and Wright were at 55th and 67th in the standings, respectively. 

He parred for the 15th hole, one that gave him trouble the day prior. Luo was one-over through 15, while yesterday he was five-over at this stage of the round.  

The junior added a bogey and two pars to finish out the final round of the tournament. He closed as he did the first day, a 74 score at two-over for the day.

"What an amazing experience for Xing to play in the NCAA Regionals and it is well deserved," said Phillips. "He's done so well all year and it's a monumental occasion for our program. Can't wait to see the rest of his career here at UNA and I know there's only more to come for this program."   

For the NCAA Regionals, the top ranked individual from a non-advancing team is awarded the opportunity to head to the National Championship in Carlsbad, Calif. on May 23-28. That opportunity was given to Kennesaw State's Claes Borregaard who finished with an eight-under tournament to finish third.  

This concludes the NCAA Regionals in Auburn, Ala. for Luo and the field, marking the final tournament for UNA Golf this season. Luo is the first North Alabama golfer to make the Division I NCAA Regionals in program history.
 
NCAA Regionals - Auburn 
Auburn University Club 

North Alabama Golfers 
T43. Xing Luo 225 | +9  

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