Razorback MGolf Opens 2025-26 Season at the Carmel Cup
FAYETTEVILLE – The 20th year of head coach Brad McMakin’s tenure at Arkansas will start in familiar fashion as his Razorbacks open the 2025-26 season this weekend (Aug. 29-31) at the Carmel Cup, played this year at Spyglass Hill Golf Course at Pebble Beach, Calif.
The Carmel Cup is coming off a three-year hiatus (2022-24 on the men’s side), but the event started Arkansas’ season seven times from 2014 until 2021. However, this will be the first time the men’s Carmel Cup will be contested at Spyglass Hill instead of the neighboring Pebble Beach Golf Links.
This year’s field will incorporate the accustomed eight teams, including Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt. (Ohio State was part of the field instead of Miss State in the first five Carmel Cups.).
The Carmel Cup implements a rare format in that teams play six players with the best five scores each day counting towards the team total as opposed to the normal five-count-four format.
Arkansas will send four returners and two newcomers to the Carmel Cup.
Senior John Daly II headlines the group. He is coming off an impressive summer that included a win at the Southern Amateur and a quarterfinal finish at the U.S. Amateur. He is 89th on the World Amateur Golf Ranking, a jump of 346 places since June 3. Daly led the Hogs with a 72.21 scoring average last season.
Junior Thomas Curry will join sophomores Erich Fortlage and Gerardo Gomez as the other returning Razorbacks. The trio played all 35 rounds Arkansas competed in last season. Curry ranked second on the team in scoring last year, while he and Gomez tied for the team lead with five top 20 finishes. Fortlage led the team with 14 rounds of par or better, including a team-best eight rounds in the 60s.
Newcomers include transfer juniors Niilo Maki-Petaja (Louisiana Tech) and Cam Smith (Georgia). Maki-Petaja led the La. Tech in scoring each of his two seasons in Ruston and he earned all-conference honors twice. In 75 career rounds, Maki-Petaja has produced 43 rounds at par or better. Smith played two seasons at Georgia, earned SEC All-Freshman team honors in 2024 and sports a career scoring average of 71.70.
Carmel Cup
Aug. 29-31, 2025
Spyglass Hill Golf Course
Pebble Beach, Calif.
Par: 72 • 7,026 yards
Format: 6 count 5
FIELD:
Arkansas
Georgia
Mississippi State
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
TCU
Texas Tech
Vanderbilt
ARKANSAS LINEUP:
John Daly II (1)
Erich Fortlage (2)
Thomas Curry (3)
Niilo Mäki-Petäjä (4)
Gerardo Gómez (5)
Cam Smith (6)
For more information on Arkansas Men’s Golf, X and Instagram.
