The NCAA reached a historic settlement with the Power 5 conferences that will let schools directly pay their amateur student-athletes for the first time in more than a century of college athletics.
The $2.8 billion deal, which addresses a series of antitrust claims made by current and former collegians against college athletics’ governing body, sets the stage for a revenue-sharing model that could begin in fall 2025. The agreement, which still needs judicial approval and leaves open the question of how it might be funded, all but erases the traditional lines between amateur and professional sports. It largely will benefit athletes from the revenue-generating sports of football and basketball, but a trickle-down effect could reach the so-called Olympic sports such as men’s and women’s golf.
Some top college golfers already are being paid through name, image and likeness deals.
When contacted by Global Golf Post, the USGA declined to comment on what effect the agreement might have on the rules of amateur golf. READ MORE
The individual champion and the eight teams that advance to match play will be decided today at the NCAA Division I men’s championship at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California. Stanford senior Michael Thorbjornsen has all but clinched a PGA Tour exemption via the PGA Tour University Ranking, which will be finalized today, after No. 2 Christo Lamprecht of Georgia Tech pulled out of the NCAAs with an ailing back. The NCAA match-play final will be played Wednesday and determine the team champion. Scoring: TEAM / INDIVIDUAL
Auburn’s Jackson Koivun won the Ben Hogan Award, becoming only the second freshman to claim the honor. Koivun, 19, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was named the Southeastern Conference player of the year after his six-stroke victory led the Tigers to the SEC title. He joins Rickie Fowler, the 2008 Hogan Award winner from Oklahoma State, as the only freshmen to win the Hogan Award, which recognizes the top college golfer based on all collegiate, amateur and professional results during the past 12 months. READ MORE
Ingrid Lindblad, a Louisiana State fifth-year senior from Halmstad, Sweden, received the Annika Award as the top player in women’s college golf. Lindblad, 24, won 15 tournaments at LSU, including four times this year, to establish the Southeastern Conference career victory mark. She was the top-ranked female in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. With the Annika Award, Lindblad, who is expected to turn professional after next week’s U.S. Women’s Open, earned an exemption into the LPGA’s Amundi Evian Championship on July 11-14 in France. READ MORE
Delta Airlines apologized to East Tennessee State’s men’s team after a video showed the Buccaneers’ golf bags being hurled by workers on the tarmac upon arrival in San Diego, California, for the NCAA tournament in nearby Carlsbad. READ MORE and WATCH
The Keiser family, whose creative vision for a pure golf experience in a remote setting launched the highly acclaimed Bandon Dunes Resort in coastal Oregon, will take their talent to Texas.
Wild Spring Dunes, a 2,400-acre site in rural east Texas, will feature two 18-hole courses – to be designed by Tom Doak and the team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw – a short course, practice center, clubhouse and guest cabins, Dream Golf announced.
In addition to Bandon Dunes, the Keisers – father Mike and sons Michael and Chris – operate Sand Valley in Wisconsin and are developing Rodeo Dunes in Colorado, which is scheduled to debut early next year. READ MORE
TAP-INS
Richard Globensky, 39, of Augusta, Georgia, and a former Augusta National Golf Club employee, pleaded guilty in a Chicago federal court in the theft of millions of dollars’ worth of Masters merchandise and memorabilia that he sold to online brokers. The 25-page plea agreement listed a treasure trove of artifacts in the caper. Globensky faces up to 10 years in federal prison, fines and restitution at sentencing in October. READ MORE
U.S. rounds played increased 0.8 percent in April from the same month in 2023, bumping the increase for the first four months of the year to 4.2 percent, according to the National Rounds Played Report compiled by Golf Datatech and released by the National Golf Foundation. READ MORE
Golf has surged in Canada in the years since the pandemic, with rounds played totaling 74 million in 2023, according to the latest Canadian Golf Economic Impact Study. READ MORE
The U.S. national junior team will host Australia’s top juniors in the first competition for the nascent U.S. National Development Program, the USGA announced. The matches will be played July 2-3, with morning four-balls and afternoon foursomes on Tuesday and singles matches on Wednesday. READ MORE
The International Turfgrass Research Initiative launched with a goal of advancing sustainable approaches to golf course and turfgrass management. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon