VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State men's golf team is hosting the 2026 NCAA Division II South/Southeast Super Regional, May 7-9 at Valdosta Country Club. Blazer juniors
Alexander Nilehn and
William Carestam qualified as individuals for the super regional. The regional is free of charge and gets underway at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday.
Click here for live results of the regional and for the official regional championship page.
Nilehn, who earned All-Gulf South Conference Second Team honors this season, is the No. 2-seed among the individuals, while Carestam is the No. 3-seed in the South Region. Eckerd's Reggie Fear is the No. 1-seeded individual and Delta State's Ty Werynski is the No. 4-seed. Fear is fourth nationally, while Nilen is 94
th, Carestam is 91
st and Werynski is 56
th. From the Southeast Region, Lenoir-Rhyne had two selections in No. 84 Matthew McDougall and Sean Finan, while Barton College's No. 84 Ryan Jahr and Young Harris' Samuel Ankelstam qualified.
For the team competition, the South Region consisted of, in seeded order; No. 1 West Florida, No. 4 Florida Southern, No. 16 Nova Southeastern, No. 14 Saint Leo, No. 2 Lee, No. 17 Barry, No. 27 Rollins, No. 36 Palm Beach Atlantic, No. 34 Lynn and Miles College. From the Southeast Region in seeded order; No. 6 Georgia Southwestern, No. 3 Wingate, No. 9 Catawba, No. 10 Columbus State, No. 13 North Georgia, No. 11 USC Aiken, No. 12 Lincoln Memorial, No. 18 USC Beaufort, No. 32 Flagler and No. 45 Emmanuel (Ga.). The rankings are the latest from Clippd.com.
In all, the super regional has 14 teams in the latest top 25 and seven of the top ten of the 20 teams total in the field.
Nilehn, a native of a native of Goteborg, Sweden, has played in all 11 tournaments for the No. 54-ranked Blazers this season and 33 rounds. He has a 72.8 stroke average with 30 rounds in the 70s and two in the 60s with a low-round of 66 at the Saint Leo Invitational. He has one top three finish and (T-3rd) at The Griffin Invitational and finished in the top ten four times this season. Nilehn is ranked 97th nationally and 31st in the region.
Last season, Nilehn earned second team all-league honors, while being named Academic All-District as voted on by College Sports Communicators, GSC All-Academic and earned a spot on the GSC Academic Honor Roll. He also earned Cobalt Golf All-America Scholar honors. For his career, he has played in 30 tournaments and 88 rounds with a career stroke average of 73.6. He has 75 rounds in the 70s and ten in the 60s.
Carestam, a native of Gothenburg, Sweden, and seeded third transferred from Charleston (W.Va.) this year. He has a 72.6 stroke average this season in 11 tournaments and 33 rounds. He earned GSC Golfer of the Week twice this season and has fired 28 rounds in the 70s with five in the 60s, with a low-round of 68 at the NSU Shark Invitational. He has two top ten finishes this season with his best being sixth at the NSU Shark Invitational with a 209 score (68, 72, 69).
VSU had an individual compete in last year's regional as
Chase Long qualified at Mission Inn Golf Club in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. He finished 97
th with rounds of 84, 76 and 72 for a 232 score for 54-holes. In 2022, former Blazer Wesley Hanson also qualified as an individual and that year the regional was contested at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta. Hanson fired a final round 72 to finish 48
th at the regional that season with a 220 score. As a team, the Blazers last competed in the regional in 2019 finishing tied for 12
th, also at Mission Inn.
This year's field will consist of one round each day and there will be a total of seven teams, including the top two individuals not with an advancing team (regardless of region) qualifying for the finals. Tiebreakers and playoffs will be used to determine advancement to the finals, as well as team and individual champions. The 2026 NCAA Division II National Championship is set for May 18-22 at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nev.
Check back with vstateblazers.com each day for compete results of the super regional.
