Fortlage Leads #5 Arkansas in Rd1 of SEC Golf Championships
ST SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Erich Fortlage fired an opening-round 66 to lead #5 Arkansas after 18 holes at the 2026 SEC Championship, played at the Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course (par 70). Gerardo Gomez was also under par with a 69, and the Razorbacks are in 12th with a 3-under-par 277.
Fortlage, who is tied for 12th, tied his career-best round at the SEC Championship with a 66, and the sophomore now has three rounds in the 60s in four career rounds at the SEC Championship, posting a 68 and a 66 in the first two rounds last year. The 66 is the third-best total by a Razorback at the Championship, trailing three players with 64 and six players with a 67, and Fortlage has 2 of the 10 rounds of 66 at the Championship.
Fortlage is one of six players tied for 12th at -4. Oklahoma’s Ryder Cowan leads after a 7-under 63. Seven players are tied for second (-6) and three players are tied for ninth (-5).
Fortlage opened his round with a bogey on the par-4, 1st. From that point, the sophomore was bogey-free. He bounced back with a birdie on 3 and added a birdie on 7 to make the turn at 1-under. He started the back nine with a birdie and added birdies on holes 15 and 16.
Gomez is T-31st with his 1-under 69. He carded pars on his first 12 holes before getting a birdie on the par-4, 13th. The sophomore dropped a shot on 14 only to answer with a birdie on 15 before closing with three pars. Gomez, after a 74 in the opening round of the Championships last year, has shot 69-68-69 in his last three rounds at Sea Island.
Fortlage and Gomez are the fourth and fifth Razorbacks ever to post three rounds in the 60s at the SEC Championship with just six Hogs having a school-record four rounds in the 60s at the Championship.
Despite the Razorbacks standing in 12th, the 277 team total is the best opening-round score by Arkansas at the SEC Championship. The 3-under score in relation to par ties the second-best day 1 score as the 1992 team was 4-under after round one playing the par-72 The Bluffs Golf Course in St. Francisville, La., in the program’s first year in the SEC.
#12 Ole Miss leads after day 1 of 3 with a 15-under 265.
Arkansas will look to climb into the top 8 the two days to reach match play. Currently, there are three teams tied for seventh at -7, including #17 Alabama and #39 South Carolina.
Razorbacks Niilo Maki-Petaja and Thomas Curry each shot 71 in round one and are tied for 52nd. Cam Smith shot 72 on Wednesday and he is tied for 61st.
2026 SEC Championships
STROKE: April 22-24
MATCH: April 25-26
St. Simons Island, Ga.
Sea Island Golf Club – Seaside Course (70)
Format:
– 5 count 4
– Stroke Play: 18 holes each day
– Match Play: Quarterfinals and Semifinals Saturday; Championship Sunday
Results Thru Rd1:
1 #12 Ole Miss 265 / -15
2 #16 Oklahoma 2666 / -14
T3 #1 Auburn 269 / -11
T3 #3 Texas 269 / -11
T3 #4 Florida 269 / -11
6 #41 Mississippi State 271 / -9
T7 #39 South Carolina 272 / -8
T7 #17 Alabama 272 / -8
9 #30 Texas A&M 274 / -6
T10 #8 LSU 275 / -5
T10 #89 Missouri 275 / -5
12 #5 Arkansas 277 / -3
T13 #11 Vanderbilt 278 / -2
T13 #14 Tennessee 278 / -2
15 #25 Georgia 280 / E
16 #54 Kentucky 285 / +5
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