University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Monday, April 27
Madison, Miss.
TBA
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
at
SBC Championships
Louisiana Golf Preview: at Sun Belt Conference Championships
4/26/2026 8:00:00 PM | Golf
Louisiana leans on veteran leadership, standout senior Malan Potgieter in bid for return to NCAA postseason
MADISON, Miss. – UL's golf team will look to recapture the "Spirit of '23" this week when the Ragin' Cajuns take part in the Sun Belt Conference Men's Golf Championships.
The 14-team tournament begins Monday at Annandale Golf Club just north of Jackson, Miss., with three rounds of stroke play on the first three days. The top four teams from stroke play will pair up in match play on Thursday with two morning semifinals and the championship match that afternoon to determine who gets the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Championships.
Three years ago, when the Sun Belt tournament was first played at Annandale, the Cajuns played their way into the top four as the number three seed after the stroke play rounds, and then pulled off two upsets. Jake Marler's win over South Alabama's Will Skipp on the 20th hole gave UL a 3-2 semifinal win over the second-seeded Jaguars, and Charlie Flynn rolled in a birdie putt on the par-five 18th hole against Georgia Southern's Brantley Baker to beat the heavily favored No. 1 seed Eagles 3-2.
"We've obviously had some success there," said Cajun coach Theo Sliman, "so that gives you a little more confidence. We're looking to lean on our senior leadership, but we want even more to see the back of our lineup. We need the younger guys to step up and show a little more consistency."
Going by the national rankings, UL is seeded sixth in the 14-team field with a No. 116 national ranking and will pair up with fifth-seeded South Alabama (No. 77 nationally) and sixth-seeded Coastal Carolina (No. 82 nationally) in Monday's first round that begins at 8:30 a.m. Coastal is the defending champion, having won the stroke play segment with a 14-under 850 score and then beating Troy and Arkansas State in the match play semifinals and finals.
Arkansas State, the 2024 winner, is ranked 45th nationally and is the top seed, pairing with No. 53 Georgia Southern and No. 66 Southern Miss in the leadoff threesome over the Annandale layout that will play at just under 7,000 yards for the championship. The rest of the field includes, in seeded order Texas State, James Madison, Troy, Georgia State, App State, ULM, Old Dominion and Marshall
"It's a demanding tee shot course," Sliman said of the Annandale layout, "and we're a very good tee shot team. These guys have a lot of confidence off the tee, so I'm hoping for a productive practice round and then just let go, be aggressive, and just play."
UL does have one national rankings leader, with senior Malan Potgieter the top-ranked Sun Belt player in the Scoreboard national rankings at No. 37. The fourth-year senior from Kirkwood, South Africa, is the lone player still on the Cajun squad from the 2023 championship team.
Potgieter has fashioned one of the best seasons, if not the best, in UL history. He's well under the school record for stroke average with his 69.30 mark, and he is one of only two players nationally with six top-three finishes. He finished in the top four in eight of the Cajuns' 10 tournaments with two individual wins, including becoming the first-ever back-to-back champion at UL's own Louisiana Classics.
"Malan has become a much more verbal leader for us," Sliman said. "He's so process-oriented in his preparations and he passes that on to the younger guys."
The Cajun lineup will include two other returnees from last year's Sun Belt squad in senior Jean Louis du Plessis of Graff-Reinet, South Africa, and junior Carter Schmitt of Baton Rouge. Freshmen James Holtsclaw of Shreveport and Drew Sliman of Lafayette round out the lineup with sophomore Jay Brooks of Boca Raton, Fla., the alternate.
UL finished seventh in last year's Sun Belt event with an even-par 864 total, six strokes away from the top four that qualify for match play. Potgieter made last year's NCAA field as an individual and came close to advancing to the national tournament.
"Our guys like this golf course, so that's a big plus," Sliman said. "It's the most important tournament of the year for lot of these guys because this tournament can get us to the postseason. Malan's already in the field, but we're hoping that we're all at the regionals together."
The 14-team tournament begins Monday at Annandale Golf Club just north of Jackson, Miss., with three rounds of stroke play on the first three days. The top four teams from stroke play will pair up in match play on Thursday with two morning semifinals and the championship match that afternoon to determine who gets the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Championships.
Three years ago, when the Sun Belt tournament was first played at Annandale, the Cajuns played their way into the top four as the number three seed after the stroke play rounds, and then pulled off two upsets. Jake Marler's win over South Alabama's Will Skipp on the 20th hole gave UL a 3-2 semifinal win over the second-seeded Jaguars, and Charlie Flynn rolled in a birdie putt on the par-five 18th hole against Georgia Southern's Brantley Baker to beat the heavily favored No. 1 seed Eagles 3-2.
"We've obviously had some success there," said Cajun coach Theo Sliman, "so that gives you a little more confidence. We're looking to lean on our senior leadership, but we want even more to see the back of our lineup. We need the younger guys to step up and show a little more consistency."
Going by the national rankings, UL is seeded sixth in the 14-team field with a No. 116 national ranking and will pair up with fifth-seeded South Alabama (No. 77 nationally) and sixth-seeded Coastal Carolina (No. 82 nationally) in Monday's first round that begins at 8:30 a.m. Coastal is the defending champion, having won the stroke play segment with a 14-under 850 score and then beating Troy and Arkansas State in the match play semifinals and finals.
Arkansas State, the 2024 winner, is ranked 45th nationally and is the top seed, pairing with No. 53 Georgia Southern and No. 66 Southern Miss in the leadoff threesome over the Annandale layout that will play at just under 7,000 yards for the championship. The rest of the field includes, in seeded order Texas State, James Madison, Troy, Georgia State, App State, ULM, Old Dominion and Marshall
"It's a demanding tee shot course," Sliman said of the Annandale layout, "and we're a very good tee shot team. These guys have a lot of confidence off the tee, so I'm hoping for a productive practice round and then just let go, be aggressive, and just play."
UL does have one national rankings leader, with senior Malan Potgieter the top-ranked Sun Belt player in the Scoreboard national rankings at No. 37. The fourth-year senior from Kirkwood, South Africa, is the lone player still on the Cajun squad from the 2023 championship team.
Potgieter has fashioned one of the best seasons, if not the best, in UL history. He's well under the school record for stroke average with his 69.30 mark, and he is one of only two players nationally with six top-three finishes. He finished in the top four in eight of the Cajuns' 10 tournaments with two individual wins, including becoming the first-ever back-to-back champion at UL's own Louisiana Classics.
"Malan has become a much more verbal leader for us," Sliman said. "He's so process-oriented in his preparations and he passes that on to the younger guys."
The Cajun lineup will include two other returnees from last year's Sun Belt squad in senior Jean Louis du Plessis of Graff-Reinet, South Africa, and junior Carter Schmitt of Baton Rouge. Freshmen James Holtsclaw of Shreveport and Drew Sliman of Lafayette round out the lineup with sophomore Jay Brooks of Boca Raton, Fla., the alternate.
UL finished seventh in last year's Sun Belt event with an even-par 864 total, six strokes away from the top four that qualify for match play. Potgieter made last year's NCAA field as an individual and came close to advancing to the national tournament.
"Our guys like this golf course, so that's a big plus," Sliman said. "It's the most important tournament of the year for lot of these guys because this tournament can get us to the postseason. Malan's already in the field, but we're hoping that we're all at the regionals together."
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