Men’s Golf Place Second in the Hal Williams Collegiate

Tuesday, February 17

Mobile, Ala.

Southern Miss

The Hal Williams Collegiate (RTJ Magnolia Grove)

Men’s Golf Place Second in the Hal Williams Collegiate

2/17/2026 4:07:00 PM | Men's Golf

SEMMES, Ala. –- Southern Miss men's golf jumps two spots to finish on the podium in second place, behind No. 13 Illinois, at the Hal Williams Collegiate with 16-under on the scorecard.

"Our team has been competing at this course for years. Which is an advantage for our returning players knowing the course well," said coach Brescher. "But you have to execute. Our guys did just that. I saw so much positive progress from our guys this week. Since returning back from the winter break, we have done a lot of quality practice around our facilities."

Junior Benjamin Fernandez, following a 3-under round one and 4-under round two, set a career best going low with a 5-under 65 picking up six birdies, four coming from the front nine, and 11 pars with six coming from the back nine. With the Paraguay native consistently going one-lower, he finds himself third overall in the event just two strokes behind the first-place tie from Illinois' No. 112 Ryan Voois and Nebraska's Rudy Sautron. Fernandez led the contest, hand-in-hand with Voois, picking up 18 birdies through 56 rounds.

"Ben is an amazing player with a ton of talent. He hit multiple long irons this week that were on a string. I'm very proud of how he fought for his teammates and put together a great tournament. He has a very bright future ahead."

Ben Hoagan November/December Award winner, Jake Moffitt jumped 12 places with his 3-under performance through the final 18 holes settling in at a tie for ninth. The freshman showed grit on the course, leading the field on par 5s with an average of 4.17 scoring 5-under. Moffitt also was among the top five in birdies collected with 14 on the trip.

Supakorn Amornchaichan and Matthew Javier collected even 70's through the final day of the event, helping the Golden Eagles usurp two spots landing them in second place, trailing No. 13 Illinois, just in front of UAB who is in third place. Amornchaichan stayed consistent with a 2-under front nine and finishing the back nine 2-over picking up 14 pars through 18 holes.

Junior Tommy Latter closed out his season debut facing adversity on par 3's and par 4's but showed promise picking up 10 pars and two birdies through the final 18 with a strong 2-under showing from round one of the event. Latter placed tied-for 39th through 56 holes with Javier concluding the Hal Williams Collegiate tied-for 57th.

"We still have some work to do to clean up some stuff and get prepared for postseason. But we have a very talented and deep roster filled with world class players. This week was a testament of that, how good of a team effort it was."

The Golden Eagles continue the spring leg at the Dorado Beach Collegiate in Dorado, Puerto Rico at the TPC Dorado Beach East Golf Course on Sunday, Feb. 22-24.
Follow the Golden Eagles on Instagram (@southernmissmg) for the latest information.

Southern Miss Individual Results
3. Benjamin Fernandez | 67 (-3), 66 (-4), 65 (-5)
T9. Jake Moffitt | 70 (E), 68 (-2), 67 (-3)
T35. Supakorn Amornchaichan | 73 (+3), 69 (-1), 70 (E)
T39. Tommy Latter | 68 (-2), 71 (+1), 74 (+4)
T57. Matthew Javier | 73 (+3), 73 (+3), 70 (E)

Team Leaderboard
1. No. 13 Illinois
2. Southern Miss
3. UAB
4. Eastern Michigan
T5. Memphis
T5. Nebraska
7. Louisiana Tech
8. Texas State
9. Southern Illinois
10. South Alabama
11. Rice
12. Abilene Christian
13. Kent State
14. Davidson