Razorbacks Gear up for SEC Championships
FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas men’s golf team will compete in the 2025 SEC Championships this week, with stroke play being held April 23-25 and the top eight advancing to match play April 26-27. For the 16th consecutive year, 25th overall, the Championships will be played in St. Simons Island, Ga., at Sea Island Golf Club – Seaside Course (70).
This year’s Championships may be the most competitive in league history as the field features six of the nation’s top eight teams and 10 of the nation’s top 20. Individually, the SEC has 24 of the nation’s top 50 players.
Last season, Arkansas tied for fourth after stroke play and reached the match play semifinals. However, just one Razorback has SEC Championship experience as sophomore Thomas Curry tied for 11th last year shooting 71-71-65.
Joining Curry at this year’s Championships will be junior Johnn Daly II, freshman Gerardo Gomez, freshman Erich Fortlage and sophomore Mark Stockdale.
Arkansas enters as the #14 seed but has been coming on strong since the spring season began.
In the fall, the Razorbacks’ stroke average was 295.92, but this spring, it has improved to 284.71, an 11.1 stroke improvement.
Once the calendar turned to 2025, Arkansas won the Palmas del Mar Collegiate, was runner-up at the Columbia Spring Invitational and placed fourth in a stacked CABO Collegiate with wins over #1 Ole Miss, #18 Vanderbilt, #22 Arizona, #26 Tennessee, #40 Stanford and #41 Houston. Also, while Arkansas finished 10th in the 17-team Valspar Collegiate Invitational – an event with 14 of the nation’s top 42 teams, the Razorbacks had wins over #10 North Carolina, #26 Tennessee, #33 Texas Tech, #41 Houston and #46 Wake Forest.
Individually, three Razorbacks have picked up weekly SEC honors this spring. Fortlage was named SEC Freshman of the Week after winning the Palmas del Mar Collegiate, Curry was named co-Golfer of the Week for his fifth-place finish at the CABO Collegiate and Daly was co-Golfer of the Week after winning the Columbia Spring Invitational.
Daly, Curry, Fortlage, Gomez and Stockdale have shown improvement on the course this spring. Daly leads the team with a 71.06 scoring average (a 4.61 stroke improvement over the fall). Stockdale has a 2.37 stroke improvement this spring, going from 75.50 to 73.13, while Curry and Fortlage both have stroke improvements over two strokes. (Curry +2.31 to 71.76 this spring and Fortlage +2.28 for 71.88 this spring.) Gomez went from a 73.75 scoring average in the fall, which led the team, to 71.94 scoring average in the spring.
Since match play began at the SEC Championship in 2017, Arkansas has “reached the 8” in four of the seven Championships held with a win in 2019, a runner-up finish in 2021 a semifinal appearance in 2024 and a quarterfinal berth in 2018. The three years Arkansas missed match play at the SEC Championships, the Razorbacks still earned an NCAA Regional bid.
2025 SEC Championships
STROKE: April 23-25
MATCH: April 26-27
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
Field:
#1 Ole Miss
#2 Auburn
#5 Texas
#6 Oklahoma
#7 LSU
#8 Florida
#15 Alabama
#17 Texas A&M
#18 Vanderbilt
#20 South Carolina
#26 Tennessee
#29 Mississippi State
#31 Georgia
#59 Arkansas
#69 Kentucky
#91 Missouri
Razorback Lineup:
John Daly II
Erich Fortlage
Gerardo Gomez
Thomas Curry
Mark Stockdale
Pablo Garcia Terol (Alternate)
For more information on Arkansas Men’s Golf, X and Instagram.
