Section 4: Players & Officials
- NCAA team: 5 players per team in stroke play; lowest 4 scores count per round
- NCAA Championship match play: 5-player team; 5 individual matches per dual contest
- Caddies: NCAA-specific accommodation rules (some venues / divisions allow caddies; others do not)
- Officials: NCAA Tournament Director, rules officials on each hole, video review at championship-level
Eligibility (updated for 2026-27)
In summer 2026, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors finalized an age-based eligibility model that replaces the prior "four seasons of competition within five calendar years" structure with up to five seasons of competition, eliminating sport-specific season-of-competition limits, redshirt bookkeeping, and eligibility-extension waivers for golfers governed by the new model. The five-year clock starts the academic year after a student-athlete turns 19, or upon first full-time college enrollment, whichever comes first. Recruits first enrolling in fall 2027 or later are governed solely by the age-based model; golfers who enrolled in fall 2026, and current student-athletes with remaining eligibility from prior seasons, are governed by whichever of the prior rules or the age-based model produces the more favorable outcome for that individual. Golfers with grounds for a waiver or extension under the prior system needed to file by July 31, 2026, before that option was retired.