The Arkansas Razorbacks men’s golf team will begin its 2025-26 season at the Carmel Cup, held this year at Spyglass Hill Golf Course in Pebble Beach, California, from August 29 to 31. This marks the 20th season for head coach Brad McMakin with the program.
The Carmel Cup returns after a three-year break on the men’s side. The event previously opened Arkansas’ season seven times between 2014 and 2021. However, this is the first time it will be played at Spyglass Hill rather than Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Eight teams are set to compete: Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt. The tournament uses a six-count-five format—teams play six golfers each day and count their best five scores toward the team total.
Arkansas’ lineup features four returning players and two newcomers. Senior John Daly II leads the group after a summer that included a win at the Southern Amateur and reaching the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur. Daly currently ranks 89th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking after climbing more than 300 places since June.
Other returners include junior Thomas Curry and sophomores Erich Fortlage and Gerardo Gomez. All three competed in every round for Arkansas last season. Curry was second on the team in scoring average; he and Gomez both had five top-20 finishes last year. Fortlage led with 14 rounds of par or better and eight rounds in the 60s.
Newcomers Niilo Maki-Petaja (a transfer from Louisiana Tech) and Cam Smith (a transfer from Georgia) round out the roster. Maki-Petaja led Louisiana Tech in scoring both seasons there and was named all-conference twice, recording 43 rounds at par or better out of 75 career rounds. Smith played two years at Georgia where he earned SEC All-Freshman honors in 2024 with a career scoring average of 71.70.
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