Don’t look now, but Texas is getting on a spring roll.
The Longhorns, No. 4 in the latest Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings, began the final round of The Hayt Monday in fourth place, 10 shots behind Alabama.
With morning rains delaying the start of play and ushering in some punishing winds at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Texas, playing out of the Southeastern Conference for the first time, handled the difficult conditions better than any of the other contenders, posting the low team round of the day with a 6-under-par 282 to roll to a six-shot victory over Duke.
Texas also took the individual winner’s trophy back to Austin as Luke Potter, a junior from Encinitas, Calif. and No. 57 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), closed with a 3-under 69 over the 6,966-yard, par-72 Sawgrass layout to earn his first collegiate victory by three shots over North Carolina’s David Ford, a senior from Peachtree Corners, Ga. and No. 10 in the WAGR.
Texas had opened with a 2-over 290 before bouncing back with a sizzling 14-under 274 in Sunday’s second round. The Longhorns’ 6-under finish gave them an 18-under 846 total.
It was the second victory of the second half of the wraparound 2024-2025 season for Texas, which had opened its spring campaign by capturing the team title over a strong field in the Southwestern Invitational at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Coming off an outstanding junior career, Potter was a coveted recruit when he joined the program at Arizona State. He joined the Texas program last fall after transferring.
Potter opened with a 1-under 71 and fueled the Longhorns’ surge in Sunday’s second round with a 6-under 66.
That left him three shots behind Ford, who had added a sizzling 7-under 65 in Sunday’s second round to his opening round of 3-under 75.
Ford, however, struggled in Monday’s windy conditions, closing with a 3-over 75 for a 7-under 209 total that left him three shots behind Potter in second place. Potter’s final-round 69 gave him a 10-under 206 total.
In its farewell appearance in the Big 12 Championship last spring, Texas went out a winner and then captured the team title as a three seed while hosting the Austin Regional in a dominating performance. The Longhorns, however, never got it going in the NCAA Championship at the La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
Had to be a bit of a big-week vibe in Ponte Vedra Beach with The Players Championship coming to the nearby Stadium Course this week. More than a few of the players who teed it up in The Hayt will play in The Players Championship in the next 10 years or so.
Duke, an Atlantic Coast Conference representative and No. 28 in the Scoreboard rankings, had opened with a 5-under 283 and added a solid 8-under 280 in Sunday’s second round before closing with a 2-over 290 in the final round that left the Blue Devils in second place with an 11-under 853 total.
The Dookies failed to advance to last spring’s NCAA Championship as a five seed in the Baton Rouge Regional.
After the first two days, it looked like Alabama, with freshman Nick Gross, whose outstanding scholastic career at Downingtown West included the 2021 PIAA Class AAA individual title, in the lineup, was going to run away with the team title.
The Crimson Tide, an SEC power and No. 18 in the Scoreboard rankings, jumped in front with a solid 9-under 279 and then unfurled a sparkling 13-under 275 in Sunday’s second round to take a seven-shot lead over Virginia, another ACC entry and No. 9 in the Scoreboard rankings, into the final round.
Alabama struggled mightily in the final round with a 304, although the Crimson Tide held on for a third-place finish with a 6-under 858 total.
Alabama failed to advance to last spring’s NCAA Championship as a two seed in the Chapel Hill Regional.
Two of the four ACC teams that earned spots in the match-play bracket in the NCAA Championship at La Costa a year ago, North Carolina, No. 8 in the Scoreboard rankings, and Virginia accounted for the next two spots in the team standings in The Hayt.
The Tar Heels, behind Ford’s runnerup finish in the individual standings, finished five shots behind Alabama in fourth place with a 1-under 863 total. After opening with a 2-over 290, North Carolina added a solid 9-under 279 in Sunday’s second round before closing with a 6-over 294 in the difficult conditions of the final round.
The Cavaliers were just seven shots out of the lead after adding a sparkling 13-under 275 in Sunday’s second round to their solid opening round of 2-under 286. Virginia, however, struggled in the final round with a 303 to finish a shot behind its ACC rival North Carolina in fifth place with an even-par 864 total.
North Carolina lost to ACC rival Florida State in the quarterfinals at La Costa last spring while Virginia also fell in the quarterfinals to eventual national champion Auburn.
South Carolina, another SEC entry and No. 14 in the Scoreboard rankings, finished five shots behind Virginia in sixth place in the 15-team field with a 5-over 869 total. The Gamecocks added a 3-under 285 in Sunday’s second round to their opening round of 2-under 286 before closing with a 10-over 298.
South Carolina was led by Nathan Franks, a senior from Roebuck, S.C. who finished a shot behind North Carolina’s Ford in third place in the individual standings with a 6-under 210 total.
Franks opened with a solid 4-under 68 and added a 2-under 70 in Sunday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72, a solid score given the conditions.
South Carolina failed to advance to last spring’s NCAA Championship as a 10 seed in the Baton Rouge Regional.
Backing up Potter for Texas was Christiaan Maas, a junior from South Africa and No. 12 in the WAGR who finished in a tie for fourth place with Alabama’s Jonathan Griz, a junior from Hilton Head, S.C. and No. 72 in the WAGR, each ending up a shot behind Franks with a 5-under 211 total.
Maas, who captured the individual title in last spring’s Austin Regional, added a sparkling 5-under 67 in Sunday’s second round to his opening round of 1-over 73 before contributing a 1-under 71 to the Longhorns’ final-round push to the team title.
Another South African, freshman Daniel Bennett, finished in a tie for 16th place for Texas with an even-par 216 total. After a pair of 1-over 73s, Bennett came up big for the Longhorns in the final round with a 2-under 70 in the gusty winds.
Tommy Morrison, a junior from Dallas, Texas and No. 6 in the WAGR, finished among the group tied for 18th place with a 1-over 217 for the Longhorns. After struggling in the opening round with a 3-over 75, Morrison recorded a 2-under 70 in Sunday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72.
Morrison was coming off an individual title with a 21-under total in the birdie-fest that is the Amer Ari Invitational at the Mauna Lani Resort on Hawaii’s Kohala Coast that led Texas to a third-place finish a month ago.
Rounding out the Texas lineup was Jack Gilbert, a sophomore from Houston, Texas who finished in the group tied for 22nd place with a 2-over 218 total. Gilbert added a solid 1-under 71 in Sunday’s second round to his opening round of 1-over 73 before closing with a 2-over 74.
Alabama’s Griz was only a shot behind Ford going into the final round as he added a 4-under 68 in Sunday’s second round to his sparkling opening round of 5-under 67. Griz struggled a little in the final round with a 4-over 76, but still ended up in a tie for fourth place with Texas’ Maas at 5-under.
Griz’s teammate, Jones Free, a senior from Selma, Ala., headed a group of four players tied for sixth place at 4-under 212, a shot behind Maas and Griz.
After opening with a 1-over 73, Free contributed a sparkling 6-under 66 to the Crimson Tide’s surge in Sunday’s second round before closing with another 1-over 73.
Rounding out the group at 4-under were Virginia’s Bryan Lee, a junior from Fairfax, Va. and No. 18 in the WAGR, Duke’s Luke Sample, a senior from New York, N.Y., and Liberty’s Ike Joy, a redshirt junior from Denver, N.C.
Lee added a 2-under 70 in Sunday’s second round to his solid opening round of 3-under 69 before closing with a 1-over 73. Sample opened with a solid 4-under 68 and fell back a little with a 2-over 74 in Sunday’s second round before finishing up with a 2-under 70.
After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Joy registered a solid 3-under 69 in Sunday’s second round before closing with a 1-under 71.
Rounding out the top 10 in the individual standings was Sample’s Duke teammate, William Love, a junior from Atlanta, Ga. who finished alone in 10th place with a 3-under 213 total. Love was only three shots out of the lead going into the final round after adding a 2-under 70 in Sunday’s second round to his solid opening round of 4-under 68. Love stumbled a little with a 3-over 75 in the difficult conditions in the final round.
Gross contributed a solid 3-under 69 to Alabama’s surge in Sunday’s second round after he had opened with a 3-over 75. But the two-time District One Class AAA champion had trouble in the wind in the final round as he closed with a 79 to finish among the trio tied for 51st place with a 7-over 223 total.
Don’t think for one second that Gross was intimidated by winds that gusted up to 30 mph. The kid made it a point to challenge himself last summer by teeing it up in the Royal & Ancient’s Amateur Championship at Ballyliffin Golf Club in Ireland.
Turned out the best performance by a former District One standout in The Hayt was that of Liberty junior Josh Ryan, who captured the District One Class AAA crown while representing Norristown High in 2019.
Ryan, who claimed the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship three years in a row, finished in the group tied for 37th place at Sawgrass with a 4-over 220 total. Ryan added a 1-under 71 in Sunday’s second round to his opening round of 1-over 73 before closing with a 4-over 76.
Liberty freshman Michael Lugiano, who capped an outstanding scholastic career at Lake Lehman with a runnerup finish in the PIAA Class AA Championship in 2023, finished in a tie for 78th place with a 232 total. After opening with a 1-over 73, Lugiano struggled with the Sawgrass layout, adding a 3-over 75 in Sunday’s second round before closing with an 84 in the final round’s difficult conditions.
Junior Evan Barbin, the youngest of the golfing Barbin brothers of Elkton, Md., finished alone in 82nd place for the Flames with a 236 total. Barbin struggled with an 81 in the opening round and added a 5-over 77 in Sunday’s second round before closing with a 78.
Liberty, which plays out of the ASUN Conference, struggled in the final round with a 20-over 308 to finish in 14th place with a 24-over 888 total.
Junior Jack Tarzy, a South Jersey guy who played his scholastic golf at The Hun School of Princeton, was in the lineup for Navy and finished among the group tied for 60th place with a 10-over 226 total.
After struggling in the opening round with a 6-over 78, Tarzy added a 4-over 76 in Sunday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 72, a really nice effort on a day when scores soared.
Navy, a Patriot League representative, finished last of the 15 teams in the field with a 54-over 918 total.
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