When Florida’s Zack Swanwick, a freshman from New Zealand, finished off a hard-fought 1-up victory over Texas A&M’s Wheaton Ennis, a freshman from Eagle, Idaho, Sunday at the Sea Island Resort’s Seaside Course on St. Simons Island, Ga., the Gators had clinched the crown in the Southeastern Conference Championship for the 17th time in the storied history of the program.
It capped a 3-0 performance in match play by Swanwick that helped Florida, No. 8 in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings, prevail over a typically loaded SEC Championship field, probably the most talented SEC Championship field ever with the addition of national powers Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 for the wraparound 2024-2025 season.
Florida claimed a 4-1 victory over Texas A&M to cap a week filled with drama, highlighted by the Gators’ 3.5-1.5 takedown of defending SEC and national champion Auburn in Friday afternoon’s semifinals.
The last time Florida won an SEC title in 2023, it went on to claim the fifth national championship in program history with a victory over Atlantic Coast Conference power Georgia Tech in the Final Match at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
I can’t imagine there is better preparation for the rigors of match play in the NCAA Championship than surviving the match-play bracket at the SEC Championship. You just have to get there, be one of the last eight teams standing for match play at the NCAA Championship, which will return to the La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. for the second straight spring.
The victory at Sea Island makes Florida the automatic qualifier from the SEC to the NCAA regionals, but the majority of the teams in the field will hear their name called when the six regional fields are revealed in a broadcast on The Golf Channel Wednesday.
Looks like the Scoreboard rankings were updated Monday in the wake of the conference tournaments all around the country and Auburn, despite falling to Florda in the SEC semifinals, will take the No. 1 ranking into the NCAA regionals.
But the SEC champion will be Florida.
In addition to Swanwick’s victory over Ennis, Florida got full points from Luke Poulter, a sophomore from Orlando, Fla., with a 4 and 3 decision over Jaime Montojo, a junior from Spain, Matthew Kress, a junior from San Jose, Calif., with a 5 and 4 win over Aaron Pounds, a sophomore from The Woodlands, Texas, and Ian Gilligan, a senior from Reno, Nev. and No. 5 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), with a 2-up verdict over Michael Heidelbaugh, a senior from Dallas, Texas.
The lone point for the Aggies, No. 12 in the Scoreboard rankings, came from Phichaksn Maichon, a senior from Thailand and No. 19 in the WAGR, who outlasted Jack Turner, a sophomore from Orlando, Fla. and No. 25 in the WAGR, 2-up in a battle of heavyweights.
Kress was in the lineup as a freshman when Florida knocked off Georgia Tech in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match two years ago.
A day earlier, it was Turner who earned the clinching point in the Gators’ win over defending champion Auburn in the semifinals with a 2 and 1 victory over Jackson Koivun, a sophomore from Chapel Hill, N.C. and No. 2 in the WAGR.
Koivun was the consensus player of the year as a freshman a year ago, winning both the Fred Haskins Award and the Ben Hogan Award. And he had a lot to do with Auburn’s run to the national title last spring at La Costa.
Koivun made his presence felt with a sizzling 6-under 64 over the 7,005-yard, par-70 Seaside Course layout in Thursday’s final round of qualifying for match play to capture the SEC individual crown with a 12-under 198 total.
Koivun had posted back-to-back 3-under 67s in the first two rounds and trailed LSU’s Jay Mandell, a sophomore from Lafayette, La., by three shots going into the final round.
In claiming medalist honors, Koivun also led the Tigers to the top seed in the match-play bracket with a spectacular 38-under 802 total that was nine shots clear of LSU, No. 6 in the Scoreboard rankings.
Auburn was nothing short of sensational in three days of stroke play as the Plains Tigers opened with a 16-under 264 and added a 10-under 270 in Thursday’s second round that left them tied with the Bayou Tigers going into the final round. Auburn, behind Koivun’s heroics, closed with a 12-under 268.
Florida, however, would not be denied in the semifinals.
In addition to Turner’s victory over Koivun, Poulter handed Auburn redshirt junior Carson Bacha, the 2019 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Central York and No. 23 in the WAGR, a 3 and 2 setback, and Swanwick cruised to a 6 and 4 decision over Cayden Pope, a sophomore from Lexington, Ky.
Auburn got a full point from Brendan Valdes, a sophomore from Orlando, Fla. and No. 6 in the WAGR who knocked off Kress, 6 and 4.
The match between Florida’s Gilligan and Auburn’s Josiah Gilbert, a sophomore from Pratville, Ala. and No. 28 in the WAGR, was tied when Turner clinched the outcome with his victory and was declared a draw.
Koivun, Bacha, Valdes and Gilbert were all in the lineup for Auburn in its 3-2 victory over Florida State, an ACC power, in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match last spring at La Costa.
Bacha wasn’t the only former state champion from Pennsylvania competing in the SEC Championship.
Alabama freshman Nick Gross, the 2021 PIAA Class AAA champion as a sophomore at Downingtown West, dropped a hard-fought 2-up decision to Texas A&M’s Pounds as the Crimson Tide, No. 15 in the Scoreboard rankings, fell, 3-2, to the Aggies in the match-play semifinals.
Ennis delivered the clinching point for Texas A&M as he rallied from 3-down early in his match with Jonathan Griz, a junior from Hilton Head, S.C. and No. 72 in the WAGR, to pull out a victory on the 19th hole.
Texas A&M’s other full point came from Heidelbaugh, who claimed a 2 and 1 decision over Connor Brown, a senior from Pinehurst, N.C.
Alabama got a point from Dominic Clemons, a junior from England and No. 41 in the WAGR who rolled to a 5 and 4 victory over Montojo.
The other point for the Crimson Tide came courtesy of Jones Free, a senior from Selma, Ala. who took a 2 and 1 decision over Maichon.
Gross also dropped a tough match in the opening round of match play as he suffered a 1-up setback at the hands of another freshman, LSU’s Arni Sveinsson from Iceland and No. 40 in the WAGR.
Alabama, however, pulled off probably the biggest upset of the quarterfinals with its 3-2 victory over the Bayou Tigers.
LSU was the runnerup in qualifying for match play with a 29-under 811 total while Alabama rallied in the final round of stroke play with a 5-under 275 to finish in a tie for seventh place with Texas, No. 4 in the Scoreboard rankings, with a 6-under 834 total.
The seventh-seeded Crimson Tide, however, got a 4 and 3 win from Clemons over Matthew Dodd-Berry, a junior from England, a 1-up verdict from Griz over Algot Kleen, a senior from Sweden and No. 23 in the WAGR, and a 3 and 2 decision from Free over Alfons Bondesson, a junior from Sweden, to earn a spot in the semifinals.
Florida’s road to the SEC title began with a tough assignment as the Gators, seeded fifth, drew new shooter Oklahoma, No. 7 in the WAGR.
Florida pulled out a 3-2 victory as Poulter claimed a 4 and 3 win over Matthew Troutman, a junior from Louisville, Ky. and No. 97 in the WAGR, Gilligan rolled to a 5 and 4 decision over Clark Van Gaalen, a freshman from Turlock, Calif. and Swanwick earned a 4 and 3 triumph over Ryder Cowan, a sophomore from Edmond, Okla.
The feature match pitted Florida’s Turner against Oklahoma veteran Drew Goodman, a senior home boy from Norman, Okla. and No. 35 in the WAGR. Goodman, the runnerup to Koivun in stroke play with an 11-under 199 total, pulled out a 2-up victory.
Auburn’s “reward” for taking the top seed in match play was a quarterfinal match with a formidable Texas team.
Bacha suffered a 5 and 4 setback at the hands of Daniel Bennett, a freshman from South Africa and No. 62 in the WAGR.
But the rest of the Plains Tigers responded in a 4-1 victory as Koivun knocked off Luke Potter, a junior from Encinitas, Calif. and No. 39 in the WAGR, 4 and 3, Pope claimed a 4 and 3 decision over Tommy Morrison, a junior from Dallas, Texas and No. 8 in the WAGR, Josiah Gilbert pulled out a 1-up thriller over Christiaan Maas, a junior from South Africa and No. 10 in the WAGR, and Valdes edged Jack Gilbert, a sophomore from Houston, Texas, 1-up.
The last of the quarterfinals saw Texas A&M, which was seeded third, claim a 4-1 victory over Georgia, No. 23 in the Scoreboard rankings.
Montojo pulled out a hard-fought 1-up decision over George Langham, a graduate student from Peachtree City, Ga., but none of the other three match wins for the Aggies reached the 18th hole.
Heidelbaugh earned a 3 and 2 decision over Carter Loflin, a junior from Duluth, Ga., Ennis rolled to a 6 and 5 victory over Grayson Wood, a sophomore from Fredericksburg, Va., and Maichon claimed a 4 and 3 verdict over Buck Brumlow, a senior from Cartersville, Ga. and No. 54 in the WAGR.
James Earle, a freshman from Jupiter, Fla., got the lone point for the Bulldogs as he edged Pounds, 1-up.
LSU had opened qualifying for match play with a solid 9-under 271 and caught Auburn with a sizzling 17-under 263, the low team round of the tournament, in the second round that gave the Bayou Tigers a share of the lead going into the final round.
LSU closed with a 3-under 277 to finish nine shots behind Auburn in second place with a 29-under total.
Mendell had fueled LSU’s strong showing in the first two rounds as he added a 5-under 65 in the second round to his opening-round 66 to take the lead in the individual chase.
He could only match par in the final round with a 70 and finished among a quartet of players tied for third place at 9-under 201 that included Auburn’s Bacha, Texas A&M’s Maichon and Texas’ Maas.
Texas A&M, behind Maichon, finished six shots behind LSU in third place with a 23-under 817 total as the Aggies were solid throughout, opening with a 9-under 271 and adding a 6-over 274 in Thursday’s second round before closing with an 8-over 272.
After opening with a 1-under 69, Maichon ripped off back-to-back 4-under 66s to get his share of third place in the individual chase.
Oklahoma, behind Goodman’s runnerup finish individually, finished two shots behind Texas A&M in the team standings in fourth place with a 21-under 819 total. After opening with a 6-under 274, the Sooners erupted with a 12-under 268 in Thursday’s second round before closing with a 3-under 277.
Goodman recorded back-to-back 4-under 66s in the first two rounds and was only a shot behind Mendell in the individual chase going into the final round. Goodman closed with a 3-under 67 to finish a shot behind Koivun in second place at 11-under.
Gilligan closed with a 5-under 65 to finish in seventh place in the individual standings and lead eventual champion Florida to a fifth-place finish in the team standings with 16-under 824 total that left them five shots behind Oklahoma.
After opening with a 5-under 275, Florida struggled a little in Thursday’s second round with a 1-under 279 before closing with a 10-under 270 to grab one of the coveted match-play berths.
After opening with a 4-under 66, Gilligan backed off with a 1-over 71 in Thursday’s second before fueling the Gators’ final-round surge with his 5-under finish.
Georgia sandwiched a 3-under 277 in Thursday’s second round with a pair of 4-under 276s to finish five shots behind Florida in sixth place with an 11-under 829 total.
Alabama and Texas grabbed the final two spots in the match-play bracket as they finished in a tie for seventh place, each ending up five shots behind Georgia with a 6-under 834 total.
Gross, the Downingtown West product, had his best round in stroke play with a 2-under 68 in the opening round to help the Crimson Tide start off with a 1-under 279. Alabama matched par in Thursday’s second round with a 280 before closing with a 5-under 275 to earn a spot in the match-play bracket.
After struggling to a 6-over 286 in the opening round, Texas bounced back with a 5-under 275 in Thursday’s second round before closing with a solid 7-under 273.
Maas, the talented South African, led the way for the Longhorns as he added a 3-under 67 in Thursday’s second round to his opening round of 4-under 66 that left him just two shots out of the lead. He closed with a 2-under 68 to join the quartet tied for third place at 9-under.
Bacha backed up his teammate Koivun with a really solid performance in three rounds of stroke play. After opening with a 1-under 69, Bacha posted a sizzling 5-under 65 in Thursday’s second round before closing with a 3-under 67 that enabled him to join Texas A&M’s Maichon, Texas’ Maas and LSU’s Mendell in the tie for third place at 9-under.
Valdes gave Auburn a third finisher among the top eight as he finished in a tie for eighth place with LSU’s Bondesson and Georgia’s Brumlow, each landing on 7-under 203.
Valdes registered back-to-back 2-under 68s in the first two rounds before closing with a 3-under 67.
Josiah Gilbert was solid for Auburn as well as he fueled the fast start for the Plains Tigers with a sizzling 6-under 64 in the opening round before matching par in the final two rounds with back-to-back 70s to finish in a tie for 11th place with a 6-under 204 total.
Rounding out the Auburn lineup in qualifying for match play was Pope as he finished among the group tied for 16th place with a 4-under 206 total. Like Josiah Gilbert, Pope got off to a great start, contributing a 5-under 65 to Auburn’s opening-round surge. He cooled off with a 1-over 71 in Thursday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 70.
Bondesson gave LSU a second finisher among the top eight as he opened with a 1-under 69 before adding back-to-back 3-under 67s in the final two rounds to join the trio tied for eighth place at 7-under.
Georgia’s Brumlow led the way for the Bulldogs as he opened with a sparkling 4-under 66, added a 1-under 69 in Thursday’s second round and closed with a 2-under 68 to finish in the tie for eighth place at 7-under.
After a nice start, Alabama’s Gross struggled a little in the final two rounds with a 3-over 73 in Thursday’s second round and a 4-over 74 in the final round that left him among the trio tied for 63rd place with a 5-over 215 total.
It’s easy to forget sometimes that the kid is a freshman. He’s been in the starting lineup for Alabama all season and the Crimson Tide will head for a regional with a really good shot at making a run to the NCAA Championship at La Costa.
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