University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Monday, September 14
Destin, Fla.
9:00 a.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
at
Sandestin Collegiate Classic
Louisiana Opens 2026-27 Season at Sandestin Collegitate
9/13/2026 7:42:00 PM | Golf
Cajuns open 11-event schedule with three-day event on Florida Gulf Coast
MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – UL's golf team will be facing a couple of challenges here beginning Monday when the Ragin' Cajuns open their 2026-27 fall season in the Sandestin Collegiate hosted by Texas State.
The Cajuns are part of a 14-team field for the three-day event being played at the Sandestin Resort's difficult Raven Course (7,000 yards, par 72). Teams will play three 18-hole rounds Monday-Wednesday.
The first challenge for UL will be playing a tournament without Malan Potgieter for the first time in four seasons. The Kirkwood, South Africa, native finished his collegiate career in May with the greatest single-season performance in Cajun history – two All-America honors, three individual wins including the NCAA Athens Regional, a school record for scoring average and a national collegiate record for most consecutive bogey-free holes.
"Last year was a remarkable year with Malan," said UL coach Theo Sliman, entering his 19th season as head coach. "But sometimes you had the sense that he was doing something so special that the other guys, they didn't feel they could do what Malan was doing every day. Not that they gave up, but there was a separation.
"This year and this group, they're all equal among each other and they're competing hard against each other, and the neat thing is we'll return the same nine guys with the new five-year rule. I've never had that happen before."
The Cajuns will open an 11-tournament schedule and a five-event fall slate in the Sandestin event that includes host Texas State, Sun Belt Conference rivals ULM and South Alabama, LSU New Orleans, Mercer, Lamar, Houston Christian, High Point, UT Arlington, Nicholls, West Florida, East Texas A&M and Central Arkansas.
UL's roster includes six returnees, three of whom – Carter Schmitt of Baton Rouge, Jay Brooks of Boca Raton, Fla., and Ellis Bright of Bath, England – are in their fourth collegiate season.
Sophomores James Holtsclaw of Shreveport, Drew Sliman of Lafayette and Nathan Schuldt of Pretoria, South Africa are the other returnees, with Schmitt finishing second (73.97) and Holtsclaw third (74.15) on the team in stroke average. Bright missed the entire spring season with an injury.
They will join first-year players Jack Carter of Baton Rouge, Kye Hanks of Lake Charles and Skuli Agustosson of Akureyri, Iceland – the 12th Icelandic player on the UL roster in program history – in making up a roster that has posted consistently solid scores in two weeks of qualifying over its Oakbourne Country Club home course.
In the Monday and Tuesday qualifying rounds, seven of the nine Cajuns had sub-par scores each day. The results of that qualifying gave lineup slots to returnees Schmitt, Holtsclaw and Bright and freshmen Carter and Hanks for the opener, with Sliman playing as an individual.
"The freshmen have been very mature," Sliman said. "They've handled their business without having to be told to do things. And our returnees, they've put in a good bit of work over the summer. The lineup's going to change a lot, but everybody's going to get some opportunities. It'll be imperative that they take what they've been doing at home and do it on the road because they've put up some wonderful scores at home."
Play begins Monday with a 9 a.m. shotgun start after Sunday's practice round. Pairings and live scoring are available at Scoreboard.clippd.com.
Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (@RaginCajunsGolf) or check RaginCajuns.com for Louisiana golf updates.
The Cajuns are part of a 14-team field for the three-day event being played at the Sandestin Resort's difficult Raven Course (7,000 yards, par 72). Teams will play three 18-hole rounds Monday-Wednesday.
The first challenge for UL will be playing a tournament without Malan Potgieter for the first time in four seasons. The Kirkwood, South Africa, native finished his collegiate career in May with the greatest single-season performance in Cajun history – two All-America honors, three individual wins including the NCAA Athens Regional, a school record for scoring average and a national collegiate record for most consecutive bogey-free holes.
"Last year was a remarkable year with Malan," said UL coach Theo Sliman, entering his 19th season as head coach. "But sometimes you had the sense that he was doing something so special that the other guys, they didn't feel they could do what Malan was doing every day. Not that they gave up, but there was a separation.
"This year and this group, they're all equal among each other and they're competing hard against each other, and the neat thing is we'll return the same nine guys with the new five-year rule. I've never had that happen before."
The Cajuns will open an 11-tournament schedule and a five-event fall slate in the Sandestin event that includes host Texas State, Sun Belt Conference rivals ULM and South Alabama, LSU New Orleans, Mercer, Lamar, Houston Christian, High Point, UT Arlington, Nicholls, West Florida, East Texas A&M and Central Arkansas.
UL's roster includes six returnees, three of whom – Carter Schmitt of Baton Rouge, Jay Brooks of Boca Raton, Fla., and Ellis Bright of Bath, England – are in their fourth collegiate season.
Sophomores James Holtsclaw of Shreveport, Drew Sliman of Lafayette and Nathan Schuldt of Pretoria, South Africa are the other returnees, with Schmitt finishing second (73.97) and Holtsclaw third (74.15) on the team in stroke average. Bright missed the entire spring season with an injury.
They will join first-year players Jack Carter of Baton Rouge, Kye Hanks of Lake Charles and Skuli Agustosson of Akureyri, Iceland – the 12th Icelandic player on the UL roster in program history – in making up a roster that has posted consistently solid scores in two weeks of qualifying over its Oakbourne Country Club home course.
In the Monday and Tuesday qualifying rounds, seven of the nine Cajuns had sub-par scores each day. The results of that qualifying gave lineup slots to returnees Schmitt, Holtsclaw and Bright and freshmen Carter and Hanks for the opener, with Sliman playing as an individual.
"The freshmen have been very mature," Sliman said. "They've handled their business without having to be told to do things. And our returnees, they've put in a good bit of work over the summer. The lineup's going to change a lot, but everybody's going to get some opportunities. It'll be imperative that they take what they've been doing at home and do it on the road because they've put up some wonderful scores at home."
Play begins Monday with a 9 a.m. shotgun start after Sunday's practice round. Pairings and live scoring are available at Scoreboard.clippd.com.
Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (@RaginCajunsGolf) or check RaginCajuns.com for Louisiana golf updates.
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