FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas men’s golf team’s starting lineup for the fall-opening Carmel Cup held at Pebble Beach Golf Links beginning on Friday will be a combination of experience and youth, as ninth-year head coach Brad McMakin announced the six-man traveling roster on Wednesday.
Arkansas’ lineup will feature three returners in juniors Taylor Moore, Nicolas Echavarria and Kolton Crawford who have a combined 71 collegiate tournaments of experience between them. All three were part of the Razorbacks’ second place finish at the NCAA Columbia Regional last spring and the program’s third NCAA Championships appearance in the last four years. The other half of the Razorbacks’ lineup will be made up of North Texas transfer Gonzalo Rubio along with freshmen Alvaro Ortiz and Emil Soegaard who will all see their first action as a Razorback.
Unlike traditional collegiate tournaments, the Carmel Cup format features six players per team with the top five counting scores contributing to each round’s total. The Carmel Cup is the first collegiate tournament of the entire fall and live stats will be available at www.Golfstat.com or via the Golfstat Live app.
A full preview of the Carmel Cup will be available on Thursday. For the most up-to-date information on Arkansas men’s golf, visiting www.ArkansasRazorbacks.com and follow @RazorbackMGolf on Twitter.
@RazorbackMGolf Starting Lineup
Taylor Moore (Jr.)
• Will make 27th straight appearance in the Arkansas lineup.
• Co-medalist at the 114th U.S. Amateur in early August.
• PING All-Central Region selection as a sophomore.
• Finished in the top 20 in half of his 26 career events.
• Owns a career stroke average of 72.9.
Nicolas Echavarria (Jr.)
• Won the Mexican Amateur by 12 strokes during the summer, earning an exemption in to the U.S. Amateur.
• Closed his sophomore campaign with 10 straight counting scores.
• Set a program 36-hole record at the SEC Championships last spring with rounds of 66 and 68.
• Finished under-par in four of nine postseason rounds in 2014 (SEC Championships, NCAA Regional, NCAA Championships).
• Sported a 73.7 stroke average over 11 starts in 2013-14.
Kolton Crawford (R-Jr.)
• Tied for 10th at the Texas Amateur while finishing stroke play at the 2014 Cotton States as the No. 3 seed and the No. 7 seed at the U.S. Amateur Public Links.
• Started all 13 events in 2013-14 and produced a 73.5 stroke average.
• Team’s top finisher at the NCAA Columbia Regional in a tie for fifth overall at eight-under par.
• All three top 20 finishes last year came in the spring.
• Carded 34 birdies in the postseason (SEC Championships, NCAA Regional, NCAA Championships) with a 71.2 stroke average.
Emil Soegaard (Fr.)
• Part of first freshmen duo to start a season opener since Echavarria and Moore did so in 2012.
• No. 7 ranked player in Denmark despite playing just four qualifying events towards the ranking.
• Put together three straight top 10s before arriving at Arkansas; Danish International Amateur, Hovborg Open and Biarritz Cup (France).
• Tied for second at the 2012 European Boys Team Championship.
• Older brother Mads played at Duke and is now a professional.
Alvaro Ortiz (Fr.)
• Part of first freshmen duo to start a season opener since Echavarria and Moore did so in 2012.
• No. 22 ranked play by Golfweek in the class of 2014.
• Tied for sixth and was Mexico’s low-man in three of four rounds at the 2014 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup.
• In 2014, he produced a fourth place finish at the AJGA CB&I Boys Championship and a top 20 at the Thunderbird International Junior.
• Older brother Carlos currently leads the money list on the Web.com Tour and recently earned his PGA Tour Card for 2014-15.
Gonzalo Rubio (Jr.)
• Transfer from North Texas where he played in 15 events over two years.
• Won the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate last fall with an eight-under 208, good for the lowest 54-hole score by a Mean Green golfer since 1998.
• Held a 74.2 stroke average in 2013-14 over 23 rounds.
• Finished under-par six times last season, while seven of nine rounds in the fall were even-par or lower.
• Finished 28th overall at the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Championship to help lead North Texas to the title.