FAYETTEVILLE – Five Razorbacks, four playing for Team “A” and an individual from Team “B”, are inside the top eight and #11 Arkansas men’s golf team leads by nine strokes with a 9-under-par 279 after 18 holes at the fourth annual Blessings Collegiate Invitational. Arkansas’ John Driscoll III fired a 4-under 68 and leads by one stroke over teammate Manuel Lozada, who drained a hole-in-one in firing a 69.
Jacob Skov Olesen is tied for third, shooting a 2-under 70, with teammate Matthis Lefevre and Kentucky’s Alex Goff. Lefevre, playing as an individual, is making his debut in a Razorback uniform after a standout junior college career and Goff was the 2020 BCI champion.
John Daly II birdied his final hole to shoot even par (72) and he is tied for eighth. Team “A” fivesome was rounded out by Thomas Curry’s 2-over-par round of 74 to tie for 19th.
The Razorbacks and #20 Mississippi State were even through nine holes but Arkansas pulled away over the final nine holes, playing the front nine last. Driscoll was 3-under over his final nine holes, including a bogey on his final hole, while Olesen and Lozada were 2-under. Daly and Thomas Curry were both even down the stretch. Miss State on the other hand played the back nine last and were +5 over its final nine holes.
Kentucky is third after 18 holes at +5 with Arkansas’ B team – five individuals that will not compete for the team title – posted a +8 round to tie #3 Washington for fourth.
In addition to Team B’s Lefevre being tied for third, Christian Castillo is tied for 19th (+2) while Mateo Pulcini and Matthew Griggs are tied for 29th (+4).
Driscoll’s day started with a bogey on the par-5, 10th hole but he posted birdies on holes 12 and 17 to make the turn at -1. He then ran off birdies on holes 3, 4, 6, and 7 before dropping a shot on his final hole, the par-4, 9th.
Lozada opened his day with three pars before electrifying the crowd with a hole-in-one on the par-3, 13th. He used a 6 iron on the hole that was playing 209 yards. It was his fifth career hole-in-one – the first in a Razorback uniform – and the third at the BCI – second by a Razorback joining Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira in 2021. All three holes-in-one have come on the 13th hole. Lozada would suffer a bogey on the 15th hole but was bogey-free with two birdies over his final 12 holes to shoot 69 and stand in second place.
Olesen was 1-over after 13 holes with a birdie and two bogeys. However, the graduate senior birdies three of his final five holes to post his 2-under round of 70. Lefevre had two birdies and a bogey on each nine to card his 70.
Round two of three is set for Tuesday. Arkansas’ “A” team will tee off at 11:45 am off hole 10. The team of individuals – Arkansas “B” – will tee off at 9:30 am off hole 10.
BLESSINGS COLLEGIATE INVITATIONAL
Oct. 2-4 • 18 holes each day
Blessings Golf Club
Fayetteville, Ark.
Par 72 || 7,720 yards (M)
Team Results Thru Rd1:
1 #11 Arkansas 279 (-9)
2 #20 Mississippi State 288 (E)
3 Kentucky 293 (+5)
4 #3 Washington 296 (+8)
5 Clemson 297 (+9)
T6 Minnesota 299 (+11)
T6 NC State 299 (+11)
8 South Carolina. 302 (+14)
9 North Texas 317 (+29)
For more information, follow on Twitter @RazorbackMGolf
How Arkansas addressed receiver position in transfer portal
Arkansas offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino lost plenty of production in the passing game to the transfer portal and NFL Draft following the 2024 season.
With starting quarterback Taylen Green set to return for a second season in Fayetteville, the Hogs had to find the 6-foot-6 passer some new weapons. Star receiver Andrew Armstrong is on his way to the NFL, veterans Isaac TeSlaa and Tyrone Broden are out of eligibility, and speedster Isaiah Sategna transferred to Oklahoma.
Along with those departures, younger prospects Dazmin James and Davion Dozier also elected to hit the portal, which left plenty of recruiting for Petrino, receivers coach Ronnie Fouch and head coach Sam Pittman.
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Armstrong led all Southeastern Conference players with 78 receptions for 1,140 receiving yards in the regular season, but it was really a one-man show with him all season.
TeSlaa added 545 receiving yards and Sategna was second on the team with 37 catches. At 6-foot-7, Broden could never break through as a true difference maker, as he caught just 15 passes for 197 yards and barely played late in the year.
Of the players the Hogs are set to return at wide receiver — Jordan Anthony, CJ Brown, Krosse Johnson, Bryce Stephens, Monte Harrison and Shamar Easter (moved from tight end to receiver for Liberty Bowl) — the production from 2024 only combined for a total 18 receptions, 243 yards and one touchdown.
Incoming freshmen such as Warren (Ark.) product Antonio Jordan and Missouri City (Tx.) four-star Ja’Kayden Ferguson are intriguing prospects, but it was clear the Hogs needed to add talent in the transfer portal.
So far, the Razorbacks have signed five transfer portal wide receivers. Three of them put together very solid seasons in 2024 for their respective programs, while one — former four-star and Pine Bluff native Courtney Crutchfield — redshirted and the fifth, Ismael Cisse, was a contributor at Stanford.
Arkansas Wide Receiver Production
Note: Courtney Crutchfield is not part of the table, as he did not record any statistics in 2024.
O’Mega Blake (6-foot-2, 180 lbs) began his career at South Carolina, where he spent three seasons and caught 20 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns. At Charlotte in 2024, Blake caught five passes for 205 yards and three scores in the Nov. 23 win over Florida Atlantic.
Hailing from Fresno State, Raylen Sharpe (5-foot-9, 165 lbs) is very familiar with Petrino. Sharpe spent 2022-23 at Missouri State, where Petrino was head coach from 2020-22. Sharpe caught 73 passes for 991 yards and seven touchdowns at Missouri State in 2023.
Kam Shanks (5-foot-8, 180 lbs) will more-than-likely be the favorite to return punts after leading the nation with 329 punt return yards and two punt return touchdowns this season. Shanks caught five passes for 31 yards and one score in the Sept. 14 loss at Arkansas.
After being committed to Arkansas for nearly seven months out of high school, Courtney Crutchfield signed with Missouri and redshirted after appearing in just two games in 2024. He was rated by Rivals as the No. 2 overall recruit and No. 1 wide receiver in the state of Arkansas in the 2024 recruiting class.
The latest addition to the class, Cisse signed with the Razorbacks on Monday evening following a visit over the weekend. He logged 381 snaps as a freshman in 2024, per Pro Football Focus. Cisse is a former three-star recruit out of Cherry Creek High School in Englewood, Colorado.
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Overshadowed by Arkansas’ 52-point offensive performance was the difficulties the Razorbacks had stopping Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier, who scored 29 points on 10-for-20 shooting, including five threes in a 24-point loss against the No. 1 Volunteers.
Now, the Hogs must deal with a quartet of guards against No. 23 Ole Miss. All four can score in the “randomness” of coach Chris Beard’s system. The Rebels’ top four scorers, Sean Pedulla, Jaylen Murray, Matthew Murrell and Dre Davis are all listed as guards and average double figures.
“These guys run motion,” assistant coach Chin Coleman said. “It’s all random and it’s all different and so, while they’re moving and cutting and screening, you’re going to have to guard every kind of screen there is in the game of basketball. That motion is unpredictable. The freedom of movement, cutting, screening. It’s hard to scheme against. It’s hard to scout.”
Arkansas also must contend with an Ole Miss team that wins the turnover battle on both ends of the floor. The Rebels commit the ninth-fewest turnovers in the country (9.3) and are third-best in turnover margin (+7.0).
“We want to stay on the attack and make plays for one another and not have a lot of live-ball turnovers,” Coleman said. “Those are the ones that we can’t defend against. We want to make teams play against our set defense, which is one of the best in the country. If we can do that and not have live ball turnovers, we’ll be fine.”
Tennessee forced the Razorbacks to commit 15 turnovers, picked up 10 steals and turned it into 13 points. Ole Miss ranks fourth in the SEC at 10.2 steals a game.
Tipoff between Ole Miss and Arkansas is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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