SEC Golfers of the Week: February 15

Photo: Southeastern Conference

MEN

GOLFER OF THE WEEK

Rafe Reynolds, South Carolina

Notched his best performance in college, finishing T-2nd at the Puerto Rico Classic (Feb. 12-14) in the team's spring opener.
Shot a career-low, 54-hole score of 206 (-10) and fired a career-low, 18-hole score with a bogey free 67 (-5) in the final round on Tuesday.
Finished second in the field in par-3 scoring average and also finished second in the field with a team-high 16 birdies during the event.
The top-five finish was the second of his career and also marked his second-straight top-20 to start the spring ; he finished T-17th at the Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate (Feb. 5-6).

Ricky Castillo, Florida

Mateo Fernández de Oliveira, Arkansas

Had rounds of 65-68-65 for a total of 198 (-15).
Won the Hal Williams Collegiate for his second career collegiate win.
Won by five strokes.
Beat runner-up and #17 Tommy Kuhl (Illinois), also defeated #17 Adrien Dumont de Chassart (Illinois) who tied for 6th. There were five top 100 players in the 84-player field.
He was in second place by one stroke after both rounds one (with a 65) and two (with a 68) before firing another 65 - the low round for Tuesday - to pull away for the win.
His 54-hole total of 198 was his best by seven strokes and the second-best in school history behind Julian Perico's 197.
His 54-hole score of 15-under in relation to par was his best by seven strokes and second-best in school history behind Sebastian Cappelen's -17.
Also, his two 65's this week tied his career-low, 18-hole rounds.
He led the field with 18 birdies over his 54 holes.
Helped Arkansas finish second - its best result of the year - while the team scores were among the best in school history. The 271 in the opening round ties for the seventh-best, 18-hole score, the 551 for the rounds one and two ties for the fourth-best, 36-hole score in a 54-hole event, the 829 total ties for the fourth-best, 54-hole total and the 23-under score in relation to par ties for the eighth-best, 54-hole score.

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

Cameron Tankersley, Ole Miss

Ole Miss men's golf freshman Cameron Tankersley grabbed his fourth top-20 finish in his Rebel debut at the Puerto Rico Classic.
Tankersley finished tied for 20th at 5-under overall. Tankersley's second-round performance launched him up the leaderboard as he went bogey-free for 17 holes while carding five birdies throughout the day to end with a 68 (-4) round score.
Overall, Tankersley maintained par or below in all three of his rounds.
The freshman played steady golf throughout his 54-holes as he shot par for 40 holes while chipping in eight birdies and an eagle to give him his top-20 finish. The freshman currently leads for Ole Miss with a 70.21 stroke average.

WOMEN

GOLFER OF THE WEEK

Caterina Don, Georgia

Captured medalist honors at the San Diego State Classic, her second collegiate victory.
Shot even-par 216 to top the field at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Sante Fe, Calif.
Made four birdies on the back nine of the final round to surge to victory.
Led Georgia to a season-best second-place showing in the team field.
Shot 2-under 70 in the final round, equaling the low effort by any of the 63 golfers in the field over three rounds.
Recorded her third top-10 finish in three spring events this season.

Jensen Castle, Kentucky

Castle, who didn't compete in the first tournament of the spring last week due to an illness, paced the Kentucky lineup for the fourth straight tournament at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge. Competing in an NCAA-caliber field, which included 16 teams, featuring 10 Golfstat Top 25 teams and three top-five teams, Castle improved by two strokes after each round, stringing together a 73, 71 and 69 on an even-par 213 to tie for fifth place.
Castle's 2-under-par 69 in the final round marked her fifth round in the 60s and her 10th round of par-or-better this season. Her T5 finish helped her defeat seven Golfstat Top 25 players in the country, while she is just No. 38 herself. It also marked her third straight top-five finish in 2022-23.
The Wildcat got off to as good of a start as you could hope for in the final round, teeing off No. 10 in the shotgun start at Palos Verdes Golf Club. Starting on the back nine, she recorded two birdies, an eagle and six pars to find -4 through nine holes to sit in a share of fifth place. The senior then recorded a bogey-par-double stretch over her next three holes after the turn, but it wouldn't get her too off track, finding a birdie and five pars down the stretch.

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

N/A

SEC Rankings on GolfStat: