Event named in honor of the late Jackson T. Stephens has hosted one of the strongest fields in NCAA Division I golf annually since its inception in 2021
FRISCO, TEXAS – University of Texas won the men’s team title, and South Carolina secured the women’s team championship Wednesday in the Jackson T. Stephens Cup at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco.
Named in honor of the late Jackson (Jack) T. Stephens, the former Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, The Jackson T. Stephens Cup has hosted one of the strongest fields in NCAA Division I golf annually since 2021.
The tournament was held Monday through Wednesday. Individual champions were crowned following 54 holes of stroke play Monday and Tuesday, with four men’s and four women’s teams advancing based on their team scores to an 18-hole match play tournament Wednesday to determine the team champions. All three days featured live television coverage on GOLF Channel.
The Longhorns men’s team beat Texas A&M, 3-1, in Wednesday’s match play team championship. Eduardo Derbez earned a 4&2 win over Kris Kuvaas, Daniel Bennett secured a 1UP victory over Aaron Pounds, and Brooks Harper defeated Wheaton Ennis, 4&3. Matt Comegys held a 2UP lead over Shiv Parmar through 15 holes when Harper’s birdie putt closed out the match. The Aggies got a 6&4 win from Landon Ashcraft over Adam Villanueva.
Tuesday, Bennett and Comegys were crowned the men’s individual co-champions, and a day later, Bennett kept things rolling for the Longhorns. He won the 595-yard par-5 first hole with a birdie and stayed in control until Pounds evened the match with a birdie on the seventh. Pounds, a senior from The Woodlands, Texas, took a 1UP lead when Bennett faltered with a bogey on the 10th.
The Longhorns junior, ranked 14th in the men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, regained a one-hole advantage after a Pounds bogey and his own birdie on the 11th and 12th holes, respectively. Another Pounds birdie on the 16th brought the match to all square, but Bennett delivered under pressure when he hit his approach shot on 18 to four feet and then drained the putt for a match-clinching birdie.
“It was really cool to finish it off like that,” Bennett said. “I have been really close the last couple years and have finished second a lot. To see that I can pull through meant a lot.
Nobody was really expecting us to be anything special this year, but our group is really tight, and we have a really strong squad with some freshmen who are doing their part nicely. We’re just going to keep building and get stronger from here.”
South Carolina beat Wake Forest, 3-1, for the women’s team title. Vairana Heck rolled past Havanna Torstensson, 6&4. Amelia Harris beat individual co-champion Macy Pate, 1UP, and Molly McLean bested Benedicte Brent-Petersen, 3&1. Wake Forest’s lone match victory came from Chloe Kovelesky, who secured a 6&5 triumph over Eila Galitsky. The Demon Deacons’ Vidhi Lakhawala led Alicia Olsson, 4UP through 14, when South Carolina closed it out.
“It’s so great to win against a field like this that is so prestigious and stacked with the best teams,” South Carolina women’s coach Kalen Anderson said. “What a championship golf course, and it was really fun to pull this one out.”
While all eyes may have been on Harris and her narrow victory over Pate, McLean’s point was arguably the most important of the day for the Gamecocks. The sophomore from Melbourne, Australia, was 2 down after a double bogey-bogey start, but flipped the match by the time she and Brent-Petersen made the turn. She was 2UP after 10 and 3UP after 13. Brent-Petersen won the next two holes, but McLean’s 16th hole birdie put the pressure on, and her par on the 17thsealed it.
“Molly played exceptionally well in stroke play and match play this week,” Anderson said, noting that McLean led the stroke play competition after 36 holes before slipping to eighth place Tuesday. “She had an emotional back nine yesterday, and then she came out and won that match today. She’s spent a lot of energy, and that was a big win.”
Utah and Rice tied the third-place match in the men’s team competition. In women’s team match play, Texas took bronze over Oregon, 4-1.
Tuesday afternoon, University of Texas teammates Bennett and Comegys were crowned co-men’s champions in the individual competition, while Farah O’Keefe of Texas and Pate split the women’s crown.
The men’s field for the sixth annual Jackson T. Stephens Cup included Texas, Texas A&M, Houston, Rice, SMU, and Utah. The women’s field featured 2026 NCAA champion Stanford, defending JTS Cup champion Wake Forest, Florida State, Oregon, South Carolina, and Texas.
Invitations were also extended to 12 individual golfers from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and U.S. military service academies. Competing in the men’s stroke play division were Sascha Robinson (Florida A&M University), Bear Huff (Howard University), Francisco Perez (Howard University), Danny Auffant (United States Naval Academy), Eli Huntington (United States Air Force Academy), and Tyson Sparks (United States Military Academy). The individuals featured in the women’s stroke play competition were Emma Tang (United States Naval Academy), Nevaeh Figueroa (Prairie View A&M University), Micaiah Joubert (Jackson State University), Lena Durette (Howard University), Alexis Goboy (Howard University), and Vivian Cressman (United States Naval Academy).
About The Jackson T. Stephens Cup
The Jackson T. Stephens Cup (JTS Cup) is an annual collegiate golf tournament honoring the legacy of the late Jackson (Jack) T. Stephens, former Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and a lifelong advocate for the game of golf. Established in 2021 by Warren A. Stephens, Jack’s son, the premier three-day event features a combination of stroke play and match play, showcasing NCAA Division I men’s and women’s teams that contend for national championships, along with standout individuals from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and U.S. military service academies.
The Alotian Club in Roland, Arkansas, serves as the tournament’s home course, with the event also rotating among other prestigious venues across the country.
For more information, visit www.jacksontstephenscup.com or follow the tournament on Instagram, X, TikTok, and Facebook.
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