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 programs 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.
McMakin earned his first Central Region Coach of the Year award in 2005-06, his final year at Lamar before coming to Arkansas. That year, the Cardinals won an NCA-best seven tournaments, including the Southland Conference title, and finished T-9th at the NCAA Championship. For his career, McMkain:
• 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
2026 NCAA Division I Golf Pride Grips Region Coaches of the Year:
• 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.
