NORMAN, Okla. – For the second time in his career, Arkansas men’s golf coach Brad McMakin has been the NCAA Division I Golf Pride Grips Central Region Coach of the Year, the Golf Coaches Association of America announced today. McMakin was additionally 1 of 5 finalists for the NCAA Division I Dave Williams National Coach of the Year Award.
Arkansas had a record-setting season in 2025-26 as the Razorbacks reached their 18th-straight NCAA Regional and the program’s 27th NCAA Championship. The team’s success also landed associate head coach Gustavo Morantes as 1 of 5 finalists for the Jan Strickland Outstanding Division I Assistant Coach Award.
Highlights for Arkansas in 2025-26:
- was 6th in the final GCAA poll and 8th in the final NCAA/Scoreboard rankings.
- entered the NCAA Championships as the #6 seed, which is the program’s highest ranking entering the NCAA Championships.
- earned a #1 seed to an NCAA Regional for the first time in program history.
- finished 19th at the NCAA Championship – the program's 23rd top 20 finish at nationals.
- posted a record of 128-43-3 (.744). It is the most wins since getting 135 (135-57-6) in 2017-18 and the best winning percentage since 2011-12 (.885 / 131-17-0)
- won three times, the most since 2011-12 (7), including the Blessings Collegiate Invitational by 17 strokes, the 12-team Watersound Invitational – beating eight teams that advanced to the NCAA Championship, and the All-American Intercollegiate by 12 strokes.
- in 12 events, had seven top-3 finishes, including five top-five finishes.
- posted a stroke average of 281.20, the best by nearly three strokes over the previous UA record (282.97 in 2023-24), and finished a school-record 107 strokes below par, beating the previous mark of -65 in 2023-24.
- tied a school-record for low total scored (819) at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational and also had the third-best, 54-hole total; 821 in winning the Watersound Invitational. In addition, Arkansas was 33-under at the Valspar ranks 3rd-best in program history for best 54-hole score.
- Erich Fortlage and Gerardo Gomez were each named Golfweek honorable mention All-American, PING/GCAA All-Central Region and second team All-SEC.
- Fortlage set a school season record with 26 rounds at par or better.
- Fortlage and Gomez had 13 rounds in the 60s to tie for third on the school’s season list.
- Gomez ranks fourth on the school’s season stroke average list at 70.67 and Fortlage ranks sixth at 70.81.
- is a two-time finalist for the NCAA Division I Dave Williams National Coach of the Year Award (2011, 2026).
- is a two-time winner of the NCAA Division I Central Region Coach of the Year (2006, 2026).
- is a six-time conference Coach of the Year (Southland: 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006 – SEC: 2009).
2026 NCAA Division I Dave Williams National Coach of the Year Award presented by Golf Pride Grips:
- Bowen Sargent, Virginia
- Northeast - Rob Schutte, Rutgers
- East - Bowen Sargent, Virginia
- Southeast - Nick Clinard, Auburn
- Midwest - Ryan Blagg, Louisville
- Central - Brad McMakin, Arkansas
- West - Jim Anderson, Arizona
For more information on Arkansas Men’s Golf, follow @RazorbackMGolf on Twitter.