#8 Razorback MGolf Closes Fall at Stephens Cup
FAYETTEVILLE – The #8 Arkansas men’s golf program will headline an impressive field at the third annual Jackson T. Stephens Cup, played Oct. 9-11 at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas. The tournament will be broadcast each afternoon live on GOLF Channel.
The event will be the Razorbacks’ fourth and final event of the fall season as well as their third in three weeks, placing third at the SEC Match Play (Sept. 25-27) and winning the Blessings Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 2-3).
Arkansas will be playing in its third Stephens Cup, joining Florida State as the only men’s program to play in all three of the selective fields. The Razorbacks were runner-up in the inaugural Stephens Cup, falling to Notre Dame at the Alotian Club outside of Little Rock and tying Notre Dame for fifth last year at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla. Arkansas’ Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira was the inaugural Stephens Cup individual medalist.
The tournament is named in honor of the late Jackson (Jack) T. Stephens, who was the former Chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club. Today, the Jackson T. Stephens Cup annually hosts one of the strongest competitions in NCAA golf. In fact, last year’s men’s field at the Stephens Cup ranked as the third-toughest strength of field in the nation while ranking eight-toughest in year one of the event. (Note, those rankings include all events played for the year including conference tournaments, NCAA Regionals and the NCAA Championship.)
This year’s field again features seven NCAA Division 1 men’s and women’s teams, as well as individuals from the leading U.S. Military Service Academies and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The men’s field features seven teams ranked among the nation’s top 50 including #8 Arkansas, #23 Arizona, #24 LSU, #28 Florida State, #29 SMU, #25 San Diego State and #49 Stanford.
The teams are scheduled to play 36 holes on Monday and 18 on Tuesday. The top four teams after 54 holes will advance to Wednesday’s match play, in which will be played by seeds. Should the Razorbacks reach match play, history is in their favor. Since winning the SEC Championship in the spring of 2019, Arkansas has been 13-2 match play competition.
The Razorbacks have started the 2023-24 with a pair of third-place finishes and coming off a win in the rain-shortened Blessings Collegiate Invitational.
John Driscoll III led Arkansas to the team win at the Blessings with his first collegiate win, firing a pair of 68’s. He has shot par or better in six of his eight rounds, leads the team with a 69.63 scoring average and finished among the top 11 in all three events. Jacob Skov Olesen is second on the team in scoring 70.75 and led the team with a sixth-place finish at the SEC Match Play. Manuel Lozada is coming off a career-best fourth-place finish.
John Daly III has finished among the top 20 in each event this season and he is tied with Driscoll by having six rounds at par of better this season. Thomas Curry has a season stroke average of 71.0.
Jackson T. Stephens Cup
Oct. 9 – 36 Holes of Stroke Play
Oct. 10 – 18 Holes of Stroke Play
Oct. 11 – Match Play (top 4 after stroke play)
Trinity Forest Golf Club || Dallas, Texas
7,447 yards || Par 72
Field:
#23 Arizona
#8 Arkansas
#28 Florida State
#24 LSU
#35 San Diego State
#29 SMU
#49 Stanford
Plus individuals from Air Force, Army West Point, Navy, Howard, Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern
Razorback Lineup:
John Driscoll III (1)
Jacob Skov Olesen (2)
Manuel Lozada (3)
John Daly II (4)
Thomas Curry (5)
For more information on Arkansas Men’s Golf, follow @RazorbackMGolf on Twitter.
