Fall is quickly approaching, which means college golf is right around the corner.
The 2023-24 season is almost upon us, as plenty of the best amateurs in the game will tee it up in search of a national championship. This season, the NCAA Championship moves to Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, California, after three years in Scottsdale, Arizona.
With the new season also means new PGA Tour University rankings for the Class of 2024.
On Wednesday, PGA Tour U announced its preseason rankings for the Class of 2024. This will be the fourth year of PGA Tour U, with Ludvig Aberg finishing in the top spot last year and earning a PGA Tour card.
Stanford, Florida State and Vanderbilt each have three players in the top 25, and North Carolina has two. In all, the preseason top 25 includes players representing nine different countries: Australia, China, Denmark, England, Germany, Ireland, Norway, South Africa and the United States.
In partnership with the World Amateur Golf Ranking, PGA Tour U ranks players based on the last two years of their collegiate careers. Eligible tournaments include NCAA Division I men’s team competitions, official PGA Tour tournaments and select DP World Tour events. The ranking period for the Class of 2024 began Week 23/2022 and concludes May 27, 2024, following the final round of stroke play at the NCAA D-I men’s national championship.
The No. 1 player in the final PGA Tour U ranking next May will earn Tour membership, while Nos. 2-5 (fully exempt) and Nos. 6-10 (conditional) will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership. Additionally, players Nos. 6-20 will earn fully exempt membership for the North America Swing of PGA Tour Americas.
Here’s a look at the preseason rankings for the Class of 2024.
1. Michael Thorbjornsen, Stanford
Last season, Thorbjornsen posted victories at the Fighting Illini Invitational and the Pac-12 Championship en route to earning Golfweek first-team All-American honors and being named the Pac-12 Golfer of the Year. He has qualified for the U.S. Open three times (2019, 2022, 2023) and has made the cut three times on the PGA Tour, including a fourth-place finish at the 2022 Travelers Championship. Currently No. 2 in WAGR, Thorbjornsen has been selected to represent the United States at the Walker Cup in September.
2. Christo Lamprecht, Georgia Tech
Lamprecht won The Amateur in June to earn entry into The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, where he earned Low Amateur honors after holding a share of the first-round lead and became the first player since 2010 to win the Silver Medal and Amateur Championship in the same year. He recorded eight top-10s and one victory in 2022-23 to earn Golfweek first-team All-American honors, and he helped the Yellow Jackets finish as national runners-up. Currently No. 3 in WAGR, Lamprecht is a two-time member of the Palmer Cup International Team, and this fall, he will represent South Africa at the World Amateur Team Championship for the second time.
3. William Moll, Vanderbilt
A fifth-year senior, Moll’s 2022-23 campaign included five top-10s and a victory at the Frederica Cup. He is a three-time Golfweek All-American and was first-team All-SEC in 2023 and 2021. This summer, Moll has posted top-10s at the Sunnehanna Amateur (T4) and Trans-Mississippi Amateur (T8).
4. Nick Gabrelcik, North Florida
Last weekend, Gabrelcik closed with a course record-tying 64 at The Honors Course to win the Southern Amateur by one over North Carolina’s Dylan Menante (preseason No. 13). Through three seasons at North Florida, Gabrelcik has set program records for wins (7), top-five finishes (19), rounds in the 60s (48) and single-season scoring average (69.00 in 2022-23). He is a three-time Golfweek All-American and has represented the United States at the Palmer Cup the last three years. In March, he made the cut in his PGA Tour debut at the Valspar Championship (T69).
5. Ben Lorenz, Oklahoma
Lorenz broke out with six top 10s in spring 2023, including a win at The Goodwin and a third-place finish at NCAA Regionals. Last season, he paced the Sooners with a 69.68 scoring average and posted the second-most rounds in the 60s (12). In 2022, Lorenz survived playoffs through local and sectional qualifying and earned entry into the U.S. Open at The Country Club.
Nos. 6-25
6. Maxwell Moldovan, Ohio State
7. Austin Greaser, North Carolina
8. Matthew Riedel, Vanderbilt
9. Michael Brennan, Wake Forest
10. Jonas Baumgartner, Oklahoma State
11. Cole Anderson, Florida State
12. Frederik Kjettrup, Florida State
13. Dylan Menante, North Carolina
14. Canon Claycomb, Alabama
15. Owen Avrit, Oregno
16. Brett Roberts, Florida State
17. Herman Wibe Sekne, Purdue
18. Sampson Zheng, Cal
19. Barclay Brown, Stanford
20. Max Kennedy, Louisville
21. Cole Sherwood, Vanderbilt
22. Brian Stark, Texas
23. Mats Ege, East Tennessee State
24. Karl Vilips, Stanford
25. Bryce Lewis, Tennessee
