Jaden Dumdumaya Named Big Ten Golfer Of The Year

ROSEMONT, Illinois – University of Southern California sophomore Jaden Dumdumaya was named Golfer of the Year in the 2025-26 Big Ten Men’s Golf Honors announced by the conference on Wednesday. UCLA’s Josh Kim was voted unanimously as Freshman of the Year, while Bruins leader Armen Kirakossian received his second straight Coach of the Year recognition after leading his team to a second consecutive league championship.

Dumdumaya is the first Trojan to win Big Ten Golfer of the Year honors. The Benicia, California, native finished T3 at the 2026 Big Ten Championships, his third Top-3 finish and seventh Top-15 result of the season. He also won the Les Bolstad Award as the conference golfer with the lowest season stroke average (69.4).

Kim was voted by all 18 Big Ten head coaches as Freshman of the Year, UCLA’s first, after earning medalist honors at the 2026 Big Ten Championships last weekend at Pumpkin Ridge. The Danville, California, native cleared the field by three strokes to secure his first collegiate win. He has now finished Top-15 in three of his last four events, and been the Bruins top finisher in four of their last six, heading into NCAA Regionals.

Kirakossian led UCLA to a second consecutive Big Ten Championship this spring, and earned his second straight Coach of the Year nod since the Bruins joined the conference. Now in his fourth season at the helm in Westwood, he led UCLA back to the NCAA Championships last season for the first time since 2018.

Dumdumaya and Kim were joined on the All-Big Ten First Team by Max Herendeen, Dane Huddleston, Trey Marrion and Ryan Voois from Illinois, Rudy Sautron from Nebraska, Daniel Svärd of Northwestern, UCLA’s Baylor Larrabee, and Jack Buchanan from USC. In total, 11 different Big Ten universities are represented on the First and Second Team All-Conference rosters.

Kim headlined an All-Freshman Team that also featured teammate Tyler Loree, Oregon’s Sebastian Desoisa, Lucas Politano of Rutgers, and Washington’s Emil Borrestuen Herstad.

The conference also announced Sportsmanship Award honorees for each of the 18 schools. The students chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the students must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. 

Big Ten Golfer of the Year: Jaden Dumdumaya, USC

Big Ten Freshman of the Year: Josh Kim, UCLA*

Big Ten Coach of the Year: Armen Kirakossian, UCLA

First Team All-Big Ten (Alphabetical)

Jack Buchanan, USC*

Jaden Dumdumaya, USC*

Max Herendeen, Illinois*

Dane Huddleston, Illinois

Josh Kim, UCLA*

Baylor Larrabee, UCLA*

Trey Marrion, Illinois*

Rudy Sautron, Nebraska

Daniel Svärd, Northwestern*

Ryan Voois, Illinois*

Second Team All-Big Ten (Alphabetical)

Sam Easterbrook, Purdue

Jacob Goode, Washington

Emil Borrestuen Herstad, Washington

Finn Koelle, Washington

Aiden Krafft, Oregon

Emil Riegger, Maryland

Ryan Shellberg, Iowa

Rowan Sullivan, Northwestern

Freddie Turnell, Illinois

Chun-Ta Wu, Minnesota

All-Freshman Team (Alphabetical)

Sebastian Desoisa, Oregon

Emil Borrestuen Herstad, Washington*

Josh Kim, UCLA*

Tyler Loree, UCLA*

Lucas Politano, Rutgers*

* Denotes unanimous selection

Sportsmanship Award Honorees

Illinois: Ethan Wilson

Indiana: Caleb Schnarr

Iowa: Chance Rinkol

Maryland: Griffin Barke

Michigan: Nilay Naik

Minnesota: Jack Wetzel

Michigan St: Ashton McCulloch

Nebraska: James Ackerman

Northwestern: Jeremy Chen

Ohio State: Topher Reed

Oregon: Ramil Saelim

Penn State: Tim Peters

Purdue: Kentaro Nanayama

Rutgers: Luke Koenig

UCLA: Matt Yamin

USC: Jaden Dumdumaya

Washington: Grady Millar

Wisconsin: Spencer Turtz

The 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship will feature 81 teams and 45 individuals beginning in regional competition, competing for a spot in the championship finals. The regional field will be revealed in a selection show on Wednesday, May 6 at 2 p.m. ET on the Golf Channel. Regional play will begin on Monday, May 18, in Athens, Georgia (University of Georgia Golf Course), Bermuda Run, North Carolina (Bermuda Run Country Club), Bryan, Texas (Traditions Club), Columbus, Ohio (OSU Golf Club), Corvallis, Oregon (Trysting Tree Golf Club), and Marana, Arizona (The Gallery Golf Club).

The low five teams and low individual from each region will compete in the NCAA Championships from Friday, May 29, to Wednesday, June 3, at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.

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