Razorbacks Preseason #8; Grinberg Honored

FAYETTEVILLE – The 2026-27 edition of the Arkansas men’s golf team is expected to pick up where it left off last season as the Golf Channel has the Razorbacks at #8 in its Preseason Top 30. Individually, Lev Grinberg was named to the Golf Channel’s preseason All-American and All-Freshmen teams.

Grinberg was tabbed second team preseason All-American and first team All-Freshmen. He is one of just three freshmen to be recognized on the 40-person preseason All-American first, second, third and honorable mention teams.

Arkansas was eighth in the final 2026 NCAA rankings. The 2026-27 squad returns six players from last season and adds three freshmen.

Headlining the returners are juniors Gerardo Gomez and Erich Fortlage. Each was named All-SEC, All-Region and honorable mention All-American last season. Gomez, ranked #73 in WAGR, led the team with a 70.67 scoring average last season, while Fortlage, ranked #44 in WAGR, came in a 70.81.

Also back are seniors Niilo Maki-Petaja, Thomas Curry and Cam Smith. Maki-Petaja had a scoring average of 71.55 with five top-20 finishes and Curry had a 71.93 scoring average last season with four top 10 finishes. Smith, who had two top-10 finishes last season, turned in a 72.23 scoring average and carries a career scoring average of 71.95. Hot Springs product and sophomore Willie Gordon rounds out the list of returners.

Grinberg starts his Razorback career as the highest-rated player on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) at #37. He is a two-time member of Team Europe at the Junior Ryder Cup and won the 2026 St. Andrews Links Trophy, which helped him earn a berth to the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale after being crowned winner of The Open Amateur Series. In his junior career, Grinberg made 10 starts on DP World Tour events and made the cut three times – one at the age of 14 (2022 Soudal Open) to be the youngest player to make the cut at a DP World Tour event.

Neo Berg and Guus Lafeber, along with Grinberg, helped Arkansas produce the #9 recruiting class in the country. Berg played a total of 10 professional events in 20025 and 2026 and has represented Team Europe and Team Sweden in numerous international competitions. In fact, he teamed with Grinberg for Team Europe to win the 2024 Jacques Léglise Trophy. Lafeber won the 2025 R&A Boy’s Amateur Championship and, in 2026, reached the Rd of 16 at The Amateur Championship. Like Berg, Lafeber has represented Team Europe and his Dutch National Team. Also, Lafeber, who earned starts at the 2025 and 206 KLM Open on the DP World Tour, joined Grinberg to win the 2025 Jacques Léglise Trophy.

The Razorbacks open the 2026-27 season at the Vuori Invitational in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., Sept. 14-15. Arkansas will host the seventh annual Blessings Collegiate Invitational – presented by Tyson Foods – Oct. 3-5 at the Blessings Golf Club.

GOLF CHANNEL’S PRESEASON TOP 30
1.  Florida
2. Oklahoma State
3. Auburn
4. Arizona State
5. Texas Tech
6. Vanderbilt
7. Tennessee
8. Arkansas
9. North Carolina
10. LSU
11. Illinois
12. Texas
13. Georgia
14. Pepperdine
15. Oklahoma
16. Texas A&M
17. UCLA
18. BYU
19. Ole Miss
20. Charlotte
21. Arizona
22. USC
23. Virginia
24. Stanford
25. Florida State
26. Georgia Tech
27. Alabama
28. Cal
29. Wake Forest
30. Utah
Next 10: 31. TCU, 32. Clemson, 33. Purdue, 34. Houston, 35. North Carolina State, 36. Washington, 37. New Mexico, 38. South Florida, 39. Notre Dame, 40. Kentucky

GOLF CHANNEL’S PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS

FIRST TEAM
Preston Stout, Sr., Oklahoma State
Tyler Watts, Fr., Tennessee
Kihei Akina, Soph., BYU
Ryder Cowan, Sr., Oklahoma
Daniel Bennett, Jr., Texas
William Jennings, Jr., Alabama
Josiah Gilbert, Sr., Auburn
Jack Turner, Sr., Florida
Logan Reilly, Soph., Auburn
Jay Leng Jr., Jr., Stanford

SECOND TEAM
Carson Bertagnole, Soph., North Carolina
Luke Poulter, Sr., Florida
Adam Bresnu, Sr., Texas Tech
Max Herendeen, Sr., Illinois
Tyler Weaver, Sr., Florida State
Eric Lee, Sr., Oklahoma State
Tim Wiedemeyer, Sr., Texas Tech
Zack Swanwick, Jr., Florida
Lev Grinberg, Fr., Arkansas

THIRD TEAM
Niall Sheils Donegan, Sr., North Carolina
Nguyen Anh Minh, Soph., Arizona State
Wheaton Ennis, Jr., Texas A&M
Tyler Mawhinney, Fr., Vanderbilt
Jacob Modleski, Sr., Notre Dame
Ethan Fang, Sr., Oklahoma State
Connor Williams, Sr., Arizona State
Willy Walsh, Jr., Pepperdine
Matthew Comegys, Sr., Texas
Connor Graham, Jr., Texas Tech

HONORABLE MENTION
Ziqin Zhou, Soph., Cal
Baylor Larrabee, Jr., UCLA
Harry Takis, Jr., San Diego State
Taishi Moto, Jr., Arizona
Arni Sveinsson, Jr., LSU
Will Hartman, Jr., Vanderbilt
Jaden Dumdumaya, Jr., USC
Boston Bracken, Soph., Arizona State
Jack Whaley, Sr., Florida State
Josh Duangmanee, Sr., Virginia

GOLF CHANNEL’S PRESEASON ALL-FRESHMEN TEAMS

FIRST TEAM
Tyler Watts, Tennessee
Tyler Mawhinney, Vanderbilt
Lev Grinberg, Arkansas
Oscar Couilleau, Arizona State
Luke Colton, Vanderbilt

SECOND TEAM
Mason Howell, Georgia
Hugo Le Goff, Virginia
Preston Hage, North Carolina
John Doyle, LSU
Luke Ringkamp, Pepperdine

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