KINGSTON, R.I. - For the second straight year, Rhode Island has accepted a bid to the National Golf Invitational, to be held at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Arizona from May 22-24.

The Rams - who placed fourth out of 10 teams at the event a year ago - are the only returners to the event from the 2025 field. The 2026 field includes four schools currently ranked in the top 100 nationally, according to the latest Scoreboard rankings.  

"Rhode Island has moved itself into the top tier of mid-major golf programs," said NGI Tournament Chairman Lance Ringler of GolfWeek. "Coach Gregg Burke's teams have gone 196-51-4 in the last two years and that is one of the best won-loss percentages in all of college golf.

"We are excited to have the Rams back at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes again this after a fourth-place showing last year."

Burke's squad has won four of the 12 tournaments it played during the 2025-26 season. URI was fourth or better in eight of its 12 tournaments. The team finished fourth at the Atlantic 10 Championship, matching its best finish there since 2021.

"This is a wonderful tribute to the guys for their hard work the last two years," Burke said. "URI had not been to a post-season event since the NCAA did away with the automatic Regional Selections so to go in consecutive years is terrific."

Rhode Island returns four of the five golfers who participated in the 2025 NGI. Josiah Tong placed 10th in the event a year ago to lead the URI contingent. Also going to the NGI for the second time are Aidan O'Donovan, Tyler Bruneau and Luke Stennett. Tony Liu is the fifth team member playing the event this year.

"Aidan, Josiah, Tyler, and Luke played here in this event last year so they know the golf course," Burke said. "Josiah was terrific and finished among the Top 10. Tony replaces Sean Magarian, who graduated. Sean was our most inspirational player a year ago, so we'll need everyone to step up."

This year's field includes three teams from the Mountain West Conference (Grand Canyon, Nevada, Wyoming); Missouri from the SEC, and Augusta from the West Coast Conference. Missouri (88th), Grand Canyon (92nd), Augusta (99th) and North Alabama (100th) of the Atlantic Sun Conference all rank among the top 100 programs nationally.

"This event will go a long way in determining the historical significance of this team," Burke said. "We were terrific first semester and had hints of greatness in Puerto Rico and in the final rounds of both Rutherford and the A10's, but second semester was largely flat. 

"Tyler, Josiah, and Aidan were pretty solid and we'll need them to play even better. Luke and Tony are as talented as anyone on the team, so I'm confident they'll show what kind of players they are in Arizona.

"We are incredibly grateful to our Booster Club for supporting all aspects of our participation in this year's NGI," Burke said.  "We're proud to represent them and URI on a national stage."

2026 National Golf Invitational Field
Augusta (West Coast Conference)
Grand Canyon (Mountain West Conference)
Mercer - (Southern Conference)
Missouri (SEC)
Nevada (Mountain West Conference)
North Alabama (Atlantic Sun)
Rhode Island (Atlantic 10)
Tennessee Tech (Ohio Valley)
William & Mary (CAA)
Wyoming (Mountain West)