It seems like there’s hardly a weekend of watching PGA Tour golf that the announcer isn’t pointing out that one of the contenders played his college golf at Georgia.
The Bulldogs, a perennial Southeastern Conference power, reached the NCAA Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa last spring, advancing out of the Tallahassee Regional as a four seed.
Georgia didn’t make much noise at La Costa, never really getting into the mix for a chance to reach the match-play bracket. By Georgia’s standards, not a great season.
The Bulldogs looked a little more like themselves over the weekend as they rolled to a 21-shot victory over SEC rival Alabama with a 48-under-par total at the Great Waters Course at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Eatonton, Ga. that gave them the team crown in the Linger Longer Invitational, which wrapped up Sunday.
Georgia was led by individual champion Carter Loflin, a senior from Duluth, Ga. and No. 86 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) who closed with a sizzling 8-under 64 over the 7,436-yard, par-72 Great Waters layout to cruise to the second victory of his collegiate career with an 18-under 198 total.
Georgia entered the Linger Longer at No. 35 in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings, but its performance at Reynolds Lake Oconee should give it a boost in the rankings.
The Bulldogs took control of the team chase right from the outset with a spectacular opening round of 21-under 267. They added a 10-under 278 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 17-under 271 for an 816 total.
Loflin led the way as he carded back-to-back 5-under 67s in the first two rounds before that 8-under masterpiece in the final round that included six birdies and an eagle with nary a bogey on his scorecard. Loflin’s 18-under total was five shots clear of runnerup William Jennings, a sophomore at Alabama from Greenville, S.C. and No. 79 in the WAGR.
Georgia had two other players finish in the top 10 as Grayson Wood, a junior from Fredericksburg, Va. and No. 84 in the WAGR, finished among a trio of players tied for sixth place at 7-under 209 and James Earle, a sophomore from Jupiter, Fla., ended up in a group of four players tied for ninth at 6-under 210.
Wood was the low Bulldog in the opening round with a sizzling 7-under 65 and added a 68 in Saturday’s second round that actually left him a shot ahead of his teammate Loflin going into the final round.
Wood struggled a little in the final round with a 4-over 76 that left him with a share of sixth place with Vanderbilt’s Wells Williams, a senior from West Point, Miss. and No. 17 in the WAGR, and Charlotte’s Justin Matthews, a senior from Canada, at 7-under.
After struggling a little in the opening round with a 2-over 74, Earle contributed back-to-back 4-under 68s as Georgia maintained its big lead in the final two rounds.
Earle shared ninth place with a pair of Alabama players, Jonathan Griz, a senior from Hilton Head, S.C. and No. 76 in the WAGR, and Connor Brown, a graduate student from Pinehurst, N.C., and Elon’s Dylan Lewis, a freshman from Wilmington, N.C., as they all ended up at 6-under.
Behind Jennings, Alabama, which couldn’t catch up to Georgia, was still a solid runnerup with a 27-under 837 total.
The Crimson Tide, No. 16 in the Scoreboard rankings, opened with a 10-under 278 and added a 3-under 285 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 14-under 274.
Jennings was just a shot out of the lead going into the final round as he added a sparkling 6-under 66 in Saturday’s second round to his opening-round 68. He closed with a 3-under 69 for a 13-under 203 total that left him five shots behind Loflin in second place.
Griz and Brown gave Alabama two other top-10 finishers as they were in the foursome tied for ninth place at 6-under.
Griz recorded back-to-back solid 1-under 71s in the first two rounds before finishing up with a 4-under 68. Brown opened with a 3-under 70 and struggled a little with a 2-over 74 in Saturday’s second round, but came on strong with a sparkling 6-under 66 in the final round.
Sophomore Nick Gross, the Pennsylvania Class AAA champion in 2021 as a junior at Downingtown West, was in the lineup for the Crimson Tide and finished among the group tied for 45th place with a 4-over 220 total. I’ll delve into the details of Gross’ weekend at Reynolds Lake Oconee a little later in this post.
Alabama, as I chronicled last spring, failed to advance to the NCAA Championship at La Costa after getting a tough weather draw as a three seed in the Reno Regional.
Vanderbilt, the highest-ranked team in the Scoreboard rankings at No. 11 and another perennial power in the SEC, finished seven shots behind Alabama in third place with a 20-under 844 total.
The Commodores opened with a solid 10-under 278, struggled a little in Saturday’s second round with a 1-over 289 and closed with an 11-under 277.
Vanderbilt was led by Jon Ed Steed, a freshman from Enterprise, Ala. who finished alone in fourth place in the individual standings with a 9-under 207 total. Steed added a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s second round to his opening-round 69 before closing with his best round of the weekend, a 4-under 68.
Willliams was the steady veteran senior for Vanderbilt as he tallied back-to-back 1-under 71s in the first two rounds before closing with a 5-under 67 to get his share of sixth place at 7-under.
Vanderbilt advanced to the NCAA Championship last spring with a runnerup finish as a three seed in the Amherst Regional. The Commodores went into the final round of stroke-play qualifying with a shot at a berth in the match-play bracket at La Costa, but couldn’t quite get it done.
Reigning American Athletic Conference champion Charlotte, No. 18 in the Scoreboard rankings, South Florida, which lost to the 49ers in a playoff for the AAC crown last spring, and reigning Coastal Athletic Association champion Elon each finished four shots behind Vanderbilt in fourth place in the 18-team field with a 16-under 848 total.
The 49ers registered back-to-back 3-under 285s in the first two rounds before closing with a solid 10-under 278.
Charlotte was led by Matthews, who sandwiched a 1-under 71 in Saturday’s second round with a pair of 3-under 69s to join Georgia’s Wood and Vanderbilt’s Williams in the tie for sixth place at 7-under.
Charlotte was unable to advance to the NCAA Championship last spring as a seven seed in the Bremerton Regional.
USF, No. 50 in the Scoreboard rankings, closed with a sparkling 14-under 274 to get its share of fourth place in the team standings. The Bulls had opened with a 1-over 289 and added a 3-under 285 in Saturday’s second round.
Wilhelm Ryding, a junior from Sweden and No. 98 in the WAGR, led the way for USF as he finished in fifth place in the individual standings with an 8-under 208 total. After opening with a 2-under 70, Ryding added a 71 in Saturday’s second round before finishing with a flourish, posting a 5-under 67 in the final round.
The Bulls also got shipped to the Bremerton Regional last spring along with its AAC rival Charlotte, but USF gave the AAC a team in the NCAA Championship at La Costa as it finished in fourth place as a five seed.
Pretty nice effort in the Linger Longer for Elon as the Phoenix, outperforming their No. 73 spot in the Scoreboard rankings, opened with a 9-under 279 and added a 2-under 286 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 5-under 283.
A pair of Elon players had top-10 finishes, led by Jack Wieler, a junior from Bluffton, S.C. who finished three shots behind Alabama’s Jennings in third place with a 10-under 206 total. Wieler opened with a sparkling 6-under 66 and added a 3-under 69 in Saturday’s second round before closing with a 71.
Elon’s Lewis opened with a 5-under 67, but struggled a little in Saturday’s second round with a 2-over 74 before closing with a solid 69 that enabled him to climb into the quartet tied for ninth place at 6-under.
Elon was also in the field in last spring’s Bremerton Regional, but failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as an 11 seed.
The last two players in the Georgia lineup, Matt Moloney, a sophomore from Daniel Island, S.C., and J.D. Culbreth, a freshman from Thomasville, Ga., landed inside the top 20 in the Linger Longer Invitational.
Moloney helped Georgia get off to its blazing start with a sparkling 6-under 66 in the opening round, but struggled a little in Saturday’s second round with a 3-over 75 before closing with a 2-under 70 as he finished among a trio tied for 13th place with a 5-under 211 total.
Culbreth sandwiched a 3-over 75 in Saturday’s second round with a pair of 3-under 69s as he finished in the group tied for 19th place with a 3-under 213 total.
Will Guthrie, a freshman from Charlotte, N.C., competed as an individual for the Bulldogs and finished in the group tied for 45th place with a 4-over 220 total. Guthrie added a 3-over 75 in Saturday’s second round to his opening-round 74 before finishing up with a solid 1-under 71.
Alabama’s Gross, who reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur last summer at a sweltering Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Texas, was also in that group at 4-over.
After making the starting lineup for the Crimson Tide in every tournament of his freshman season, Gross was out of the lineup for the last few tournaments of the fall portion of the wraparound 2025-2026.
Gross was back in the Alabama lineup for The Hayt earlier this month at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. and finished in a tie for 36th place with a 1-under 215 total.
Gross opened with a 3-over 75 at the Great Waters Course at Reynolds Lake Oconee and added a 2-over 74 in Saturday’s second round before contributing a counting 1-under 71 to the Crimson Tide’s strong final round in the Linger Longer.
Gross’ final round displayed some of the inconsistency that has plagued him at times this season. He had had six birdies, five of them in his first 11 holes. But a bogey at the second hole, a double bogey at seven and bogeys at 12 and 18 prevented him from going lower.
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