MILTON, Ga. – Entering the final round with just a two-stroke lead, Coastal Carolina University ultimately cruised to a 10-shot victory to successfully defend its title at the 2025 PGA University Championship.
Coastal carded a final round 7-over 295 for a two-day total of 21-over 597 at Atlanta National Golf Club in Milton, Georgia. Florida Gulf Coast University finished in second place at 31-over 607 followed by the University of Central Oklahoma (32-over 608) in third, Campbell University (35-over 611) in fourth and the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (38-over 614) in fifth.
The competing teams consisted of five players from the 17 PGA Golf Management University programs, with the four lowest scores counting toward each team’s total each round.
“Winning back-to-back, it’s a great feeling because this is a full field event,” said Coastal Carolina PGA Golf Management Program Director Gil Feagin, PGA. “This is the second time we’ve gone back-to-back, but the first time in a full field event. So we’re very excited. The guys have played hard this week and were prepared for this tournament. I’m really, really pleased with their performance.”
Coastal previously went back-to-back a decade ago in 2004 and 2005, and is the first school to win consecutive Jones Cup Trophies since New Mexico State in 2015 and 2016. Mississippi State also went back-to-back, winning the first two editions of the PGA University Championship in 2002 and 2003.
“We had a mission that we were going to try to get out to a better start on holes 1 and 2 today,” said Feagin after his team battled the elements in a cold opening round. “We played holes 1 and 2 as a team nine shots better than the first day. So, that was our goal, to get off to a good start, and we did that today.”
Leading the charge for Coastal was Jones Saylor, the team’s sole returning player from last year’s championship team. The junior claimed the Bill Cioffoletti Trophy as the medalist of the championship, finishing as the only player under par at 1-under 143.
“It’s surreal,” said Saylor. “I mean, we’ve all put in a lot of hard work this past year. I’m sitting outside, I’m looking at the guys inside right now, and I just see the bond that we have. Not only just this group, but as a program in itself. We’re one big family and knowing that we all put in the work that we had to do to get to this point and seeing the payoff is just surreal.”
Saylor carded the lowest round of the championship on Wednesday, posting a near flawless 3-under 69, one of just three sub-par scores on the day. After opening with a birdie on the par-4, 1st, he added three more birdies along the way.
“It just kind of got me into a good little groove and helped me kind of be able to own my game and trust what I was doing from the get-go,” he said. “Starting off on a good note is always a fun thing to do. I kind of ran one into the back of the cup on 3 to make birdie too, otherwise I would have probably had about a 20-footer for par.”
A late bogey on 17 was the only blemish on his scorecard, leading to a pivotal 18th hole to win the Bill Cioffoletti Trophy. It was a situation all too familiar for the 20-year-old Saylor.
While Coastal won the Jones Cup Trophy last year, Saylor finished one shot short of a playoff for medalist honors after a missed three-footer on his last hole led to a bogey. This year, he was able to make the putt on 18 and come out on top.
“That’s been kind of my motivation all this past year just to come back here and finally get the job done and close it out,” said Saylor. “It really hasn’t fully sunk in yet. It’s bittersweet for me, I just lost a really close family member this past year. All I could really think about down the stretch was just my granddad, and knowing that he was smiling up in heaven and that all the hard work finally paid off.”
Sophomore Wyatt Kos (1-over 73), junior Jacob Mann (2-over 74) and sophomore Wade Sorrells (7-over 79) joined Saylor as Coastal’s four lowest scores in the final round. Senior Colin McAuliffe shot 11-over 83 on Wednesday.
“It gives us bragging rights for another year,” Feagin reflected on the win. “Our students are very proud of their playing ability and our school. We have a very young team, so I’m pleased with the playing ability of my young players. They’re going to be here for a good couple of years and I anticipate our team being very strong next year also.”
Central Oklahoma senior Bennett Baldwin finished one-stroke behind Saylor on the individual leaderboard at even-par 144. University of Nebraska senior Joey Konz (4-over 148) finished in third ahead of four players tied for fourth at 5-over 149: Coastal’s Kos, Central Oklahoma’s Caleb Kimmel, Nebraska’s Evan Schofield and University of Colorado Colorado Springs’ Carson Kidd.
The Jones Cup Trophy is named after the first PGA Golf Management University Program Director at Mississippi State, Dr. S. Roland Jones, who held the position from 1985 until his passing in 1997.