BATAVIA, OH – The 17th-ranked University of Rochester men's golf team went 1-1 in match play on the first day of the 2026 University Athletic Association (UAA) Men's Golf Championship at Elks Run Golf Club, bouncing back from a 3.5-2.5 defeat at the hands of the 6th-ranked Emory University Eagles to upend No. 3 Carnegie Mellon, 4-2.
 
With the split, the Yellowjackets head into the final day of match-play competition at the UAA Championship tied for second in the team standings with Carnegie Mellon, with both teams sitting at 1-1, needing the Tartans to defeat the Eagles and tiebreakers to fall their way to have a shot at the UAA title.
 
Three of the four teams in the UAA Championship were ranked nationally in the preseason top-25 poll in Division III. Carnegie Mellon is #3, Emory ranks #6 and Rochester is #17, with NYU also among others receiving votes.
 
In the Emory match, the Yellowjackets and Eagles were back-and-forth throughout, with UR holding the early advantage before Emory took control in the middle holes. With just a few holes remaining, the match was tied 3-3 before the Eagles edged out the win with a tie in the final match.
 
Rochester's wins were from sophomore Henry Zhong and junior Galen Fowles, who both posted 3&2 victories (up three holes with two holes remaining). Both players were sitting at even par through 16 holes when their matches were concluded.
 
Fowles had four birdies and four bogeys in his round, defeating Enze Miao, while Zhong dispatched Jeffrey Rubenstein. Zhong had two birdies, two bogeys, a double bogey and an eagle on the par-4, 9th hole during his round.
 
The Yellowjackets were close in several other matches as well, as Tommy Wang tied with reigning UAA Player of the Year and 2-time First Team All-American Kevin Mu, Anderson Palm fell 1-down to Luke Frey and Arjun Aujla was defeated 3&1 by Zach Pelzar. Emory's Dru Devata secured a 5&3 win over Rochester's Hayden Wang in the other match during the opening round.
 
In T. Wang's match, the UR first-year went 1-up after two holes and was tied through six. He recorded a par on the seventh hole of the day to go 1-up and stayed 1-up until a bogey on the eighth (his 11th overall), dropping back to all square.
 
A birdie five holes later gave Wang a 1-up lead with two holes to play, but Mu showed his poise and notched a birdie to Wang's par on hole 15 (the 17th of the match) to pull even. Both players recorded a par on the final hole to end the match all square. Wang's overall score was 2-over, 73, on the par-71 course layout.
 
Aujla was also even-par through 17 holes in his round, but Pelzar, his opponent, fired a 3-under round through that same timespan, leading to the 3&1 victory. Aujla had three birdies and three bogeys on his card, compared to six bridies and three bogeys for Pelzar.
 
Palm's round finished at 1-over par, 72, leading to the narrow loss. The sophomore All-American notched two birdies and three bogeys in his opening match of the event.
 
In the Yellowjackets' second match of the day against the Tartans, URochester held serve with Carnegie Mellon for much of the contest, and led down the stretch, winning four of six matches to secure the victory.
 
T. Wang was first to finish for the Yellowjackets, defeating Justin Luan, 6&4. The first-year sank seven birdies and, after ties following the first and third holes, extended his lead to as many as six on the front nine of the course. T. Wang would finish Luan off with a birdie on the par-four, 430-yard 14th hole to close out the match, having shot six-under through the first 14 holes.
 
Zhong added another win to his resume to cap off an impressive day, defeating Carnegie Mellon's Steven Shea, 4&3, in the second match to finish on the day. Zhong led for all 15 holes the duo played, opening the match with a birdie on the par-four, 353-yard first hole, before adding four more birdies the rest of the way. When his match concluded on the 539-foot par-five 15th hole, Zhong sat at three-under par.
 
H. Wang and Fowles earned the Yellowjackets' other two wins, both one-up victories that took all 18 holes. H. Wang trailed CMU's Joshua Wang, the reigning Phil Mickelson Outstanding National Freshman of the Year and a PING First-Team All-American, early on in his match, but tied things up with birdies on the eighth and ninth holes before going ahead on the 12th.
 
H. Wang was two after the 13th hole, and though Joshua Wang pulled within one on the par-four 14th hole, The first-year matched the All-American shot for shot down the stretch to hold on for the one-up victory. H. Wang hit five birdies in his second round of the day, shooting four-under against the Tartans.
 
Fowles also trailed his opponent, another reigning All-American in Ryan Dannegger, heading into the final six holes, with Dannegger, having been one-up or tied with Fowles for the first 12 holes of the match. However, Fowles beat out Dannegger's bogey with a par on the par-four 13th hole, and then used a birdie both the 14th and 15th holes to take the lead.
 
Bogeys on 16 and 17 would close the gap to one, but Fowles finished with a par on the 457-yard 18th hole to pull out the match and help Rochester finish off the 4-2 victory. For the round, Fowles shot three birdies and three bogeys, finishing the match at an even par.
 
In the other two matches, Palm fell to Jason Chan, 2&1, while Will Blankenship defeated Aujla, 3&1. Palm led his match for three holes, starting on the 18th fairway, but Chan took over with birdies on three of the net five holes. With two birdies on 13 and 14, Palm tied things up, but Chan would sink two birdies of his own on the next two holes to seal the victory.
 
Overall, Palm shot two-under through 17 holes, notching two birdies and an eagle on the par-four, 407-yard ninth hole.
 
Aujla sank a pair of birdies over his 17-hole competition and was tied with Blakenship for four holes on the front nine, before the Tartans' junior surged ahead with a trio of birdies and eventually finished off the 3&1 victory.
 
The Yellowjackets will wrap up the UAA Championship at Elks Run Golf Club in Batavia, OH, on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 8:00 a.m. against the New York University Violets.