The first Golfweek/Sagarin college teams rankings are out and there are no surprises with who the top men’s and top women’s teams are right out of the box.

North Carolina, which lost in the semifinals of the 2023 NCAA Championships in May, will start the new campaign in the No. 1 spot.

The Stanford Cardinal, which also reached the final four last spring before getting knocked out, is the top team in the women’s game.

The Golfweek/Sagarin rankings were released on Sept. 28 and will be updated every Friday throughout the season.

Defending men’s champion Florida is No. 16.

The top 10 in men’s golf looks like this:

1. North Carolina
2. Auburn
3. Washington
4. Georgia Tech
5. Tennessee
6. Ole Miss
7. Vanderbilt
8. Arizona State
9. Texas
10. Illinois

North Carolina’s roster is highlighted by David Ford, Maxwell Ford, Austin Greaser, Dylan Menante and Kenan Poole. The Tar Heels already won their first tournament, taking first in the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational.

In the women’s rankings, Wake Forest, which won it all last season, is No. 2 to start this year.

Here’s the women’s top 10:

1. Stanford
2. Wake Forest
3. Arkansas
4. USC
5. South Carolina
6. Oregon
7. Auburn
8. Ole Miss
9. Clemson
10. Texas A&M

Stanford has started its season with a win in the 2023 Carmel Cup at Pebble Beach with Megha Ganne winning the individual championship. The Cardinal roster also features Rachel Heck, Kelly Xu, Paula Martin Sampedro, Sadie Engleman and Caroline Sturdza.

This season, the men’s and women’s championships will be held at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, the first of a three-year commitment. Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, hosted the previous three seasons, except for 2020, when the championships were canceled due to the COVID pandemic.

A sub-60 round has never happened in college golf.

Nick Dunlap was a lip-out birdie putt from being the first.

Playing with his Alabama Crimson Tide teammates in the Hamptons Intercollegiate at Maidstone Golf Club in East Hampton, New York, Dunlap was on his 36th hole of the day.

He had already posted a 69 and he was 12 under through 17 on his second 18 when he faced a putt of about eight feet for a closing birdie. Had it dropped, he would’ve notched a 59 and become the first to reach that hallowed ground in the college game.

But – if we haven’t spoiled the video yet – it wasn’t meant to be.

Nick Dunlap @AlabamaMGolf joins #Club60 with a near birdie for 59 at the Hamptons Intercollegiate! pic.twitter.com/TddV87vzTc

— Lance Ringler (@GolfweekRingler) October 2, 2023

Dunlap opened par-eagle-birdie to get things going and made the turn in 5-under 30. He then birdied the 10th, parred the 11th and then ripped off six straight birdies. He had 10 birdies in all but couldn’t quite get that last one to drop.

Nonetheless, Dunlap signed for a 60 to become the 18th golfer in the men’s college game to do so.

Is it 2025 yet?

For golf fans across the globe the countdown to the 45th Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York, has already started despite the fact the 44th playing of the biennial bash between the United States and Europe is just one day in the rearview mirror.

For American fans, they want to wash away the embarrassing performance at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy last week. As for the European supporters, they want to ride the momentum of another win at home and avenge the historic loss at Whistling Straits in 2021.

A lot can happen over two years, especially in golf, but don’t let that get in the way of a fun thought exercise. Here are some way, way too early predictions for the 2025 Ryder Cup.

MORE: Changes afoot for USA | How players fared in ’23 | Future sites

The deadliest wildfire in recent U.S. history displaced thousands of residents in Maui back in August, killing more than 100, swallowing the historic Lahaina town in flames and closing many of the area’s golf courses.

Officials are unsure what started the blazes that prompted some locals to bolt into the ocean to escape marauding flames, but some experts said they suspect human development on the island is at least partly to blame for the destruction.

Wildfires have quadrupled in Hawaii in recent decades, and many scientists say the culprit is unmanaged, nonnative grasslands planted by plantations and ranchers and others unfamiliar with the island’s native ecosystems. The grass is dry and prone to fires.

Kapalua Golf’s Bay Course re-opened on Sept. 20, and its Plantation Course is set to do so on Oct. 18. Both golf courses had been closed since the Maui wildfires on Aug. 8. Located in West Maui, the golf courses and facilities at Kapalua Golf were spared from the fires, which devastated Lahaina, about 10 miles away.

According to a story on mauinow.com, another major resort on the island is also nearly back up to full speed.

Kā‘anapali reopened its driving range and Royal Kā‘anapali Golf Course on Sept. 18 and will reopen the Kā‘anapali Kai Golf Course on Nov. 20.

Kapalua Golf ‘s Bay Course’s practice range reopened on Aug. 28. Wailea Golf Club remained open after the fires with Wailea’s Gold, Blue and Emerald Courses continuing to welcome guests.

The fires impacted associates at all three golf resort properties with many losing their homes and possessions. As the Maui community heals, the properties continue to welcome back team members to work as they are ready to return.

All three properties have focused efforts to support team members who lost their homes or loved ones, while also continuing to help the larger Maui community recover through donations and fundraisers.

“As part of Mauiʻs recovery process, we need our visitors to help keep our community employed,” said Sherry Duong, executive director of the Maui Visitors and Convention Bureau. “We welcome respectful, responsible and compassionate travel to all accessible parts of Maui. We encourage our visitors to buy local, dine at local restaurants, enjoy Mauiʻs incredible activities and attractions including our beautiful golf courses, and most of all visit our island with patience and grace.”

“Our team truly appreciates the outpouring of support from around the globe over the past six weeks,” said Kapalua Golf & Tennis General Manager Alex Nakajima. “Our staff was deeply impacted by the fires, with nearly a third losing their homes and possessions. As associates and the community work to heal, we continue to support them; welcoming back team members to work as they are ready. As we continue the recovery process, we are reopening our two golf courses for Kamaʻāina (local residents) on island and for those planning their return to Maui. As millions discovered during the pandemic, a round of golf can be good medicine for the mind, body and soul.”

Kapalua Golf’s Plantation Course and Bay Course are open to resort guests and daily-fee play. Arnold Palmer designed The Bay Course first, in 1975, which is more forgiving than the Plantation, a Coore-Crenshaw design that the duo built in 1991 and renovated in 2019. The Sentry is played annually at the Plantation Course, which ranks No. 17 in Golfweek’s Best Resort Courses list.

Xander Schauffele compiled a 1-3-0 record at last week’s Ryder Cup, but according to a report in The Times, his status on Team USA was up in the air until just a few weeks before the event.

Stefan Schauffele, Xander’s father, told The Times that his son’s place on Zach Johnson’s squad was in doubt due to a dispute over an agreement granting Netflix access to the team room for its Full Swing docuseries. The issue reportedly wasn’t resolved until just weeks before a team scouting trip to Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome. Stefan also claimed the PGA of America used “strong-arming tactics.”

A report from Sky Sports during the Ryder Cup claimed there was friction in the U.S. team room, and that Patrick Cantlay was at the center of the conflict due to his beliefs that players who play in the Ryder Cup should be paid. The reporter, Jamie Weir, also shared that “Before the Ryder Cup it was widely reported that (Schauffele and Cantlay) were the ones refusing to allow Netflix cameras access to the team room.”

Before the Ryder Cup it was widely reported that the same pair were the ones refusing to allow Netflix cameras access to the team room.

— Jamie Weir (@jamiecweir) September 30, 2023

Cantlay, who played twice alongside his good friend Schauffele, refuted the report all weekend.

Stefan claimed the “ink-smear” about a fractured team room may have developed Xander and Cantlay asking for a “player participation and benefit agreement,” which he said was sent in July, to be amended in three different places, one of which regarded the Netflix access. The U.S. went on to deny access to the team room to preserve the “sanctity and sacredness of Team USA” after a unanimous vote by Johnson and his players.

From the Times report:

“The PGA of America were not willing to even talk to us about (the three amendments),” Stefan Schauffele told The Times. “It was very late in the schedule right before the team came here [to Rome] to practice because they had moved the deadline and they said, ‘If you don’t sign it by then, you’re off the team’, but they never gave us the contact information of their legal counsel.”

“Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend (Sept. 2), finally, the head of the PGA of America got wind of this, because it was not him that was blocking it, and put our lawyers in contact with the PGA of America’s general counsel, and then it took a few hours to hash it out and it was fine. Then I received a message that Xander was back on the team. That you can quote. That’s the extent of this and I think it’s shameful.”

Stefan confirmed the issue of players not being paid is a point of contention, but told the Times it wasn’t discussed in Rome “because it’s the wrong venue and time,” but does think a conversation needs to be had and sides need to come to the table to negotiate.

“The PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe need to be more transparent and disclose how this money from the Ryder Cup is being distributed,” he said.

“They are using players’ intellectual properties to make money and the American players don’t get paid,” he added. “More importantly, this would become a non-issue if all proceeds, net proceeds, from the Ryder Cup were to be donated to common charitable causes. Right now, the American players are asked to donate their time pro-bono in the name of patriotism so these organizations can benefit from the profits.”

“The PGA (of America) uses this money, and the PGA Tour gets 20 percent that goes into the retirement of every member. The 12 players supposedly need to eat it and their intellectual property gets abused for the benefit of 200 other people. That’s not right.”

But Stefan didn’t stop there. He also gave some interesting quotes to No Laying Up’s Kevin Van Valkenburg.

“If the PGA of America is a for-profit organization, they need to have the players share in that profit instead of being so damned intransparent about it with intent,” Stefan said. “They should reveal the numbers, and then we should go to the table and talk. Alternatively, they can donate all proceeds after opening the books to a charity of our joint choice, and then we will happily play for free. Please print that.”

“I think it’s absolutely non-controversial,” he continued. “Imagine if the winners got $2 million and the losers get nothing. How good of a competition would we have now? I think it could be made so much better because of that. I don’t see a negative there. I think we need to talk about it without bringing up the issue of patriotism, which I think is a really, really cheap shot. Because they’re so wrong, especially these (PGA of America members) are not owning any mirrors in their houses because they’re the ones that are not patriotic. Hopefully the conversation, in seriousness, leads to talks about it that make sense. And then everyone can be happy.”

The discussion around the Sky Sports report was never going to end with Cantlay’s denial, and Stefan Schauffele throwing gas on the sizzling fire has only ensured the discussion of players being paid will continue long after the 2023 Ryder Cup post-mortem ends.

As if being a three-time NBA champion, 13-time All-Star and one of the greatest shooting guards of all time wasn’t enough, Dwyane Wade had to go and get good at golf, too.

Showoff.

That may sound harsh, but as a lifetime golfer I’m still without a legitimate hole-in-one. The 41-year-old Wade, who had a 16-year Hall of Fame career on the court, already has me beat on the course after his recent trip to Pebble Beach.

Wade made a hole-in-one on the picturesque and far-from-easy par-3 7th hole at Pebble Beach this weekend and is now “locked in for life” when it comes to golf. We don’t blame him!

CELEBRITY HANDICAPS: Just how good are your favorite actors and athletes?

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Wade played 14 of his 16 seasons in the NBA with the Miami Heat, where he won three titles in 2006, 2012 and 2013. He also won a gold medal at the Olympics in 2008 and was selected as a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.

Beloved knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield died on Sunday at age 57 from brain cancer, the Boston Red Sox announced.

A two-time World Series champion, Wakefield spent 17 years of his MLB career at Boston and retired in 2012. His 186 wins in Boston ranks third on the all-time Red Sox list behind Roger Clemens and Cy Young, who both had 192.

Known for his generous spirit, Wakefield was given the Roberto Clemente Award in 2010.

Our hearts are broken with the loss of Tim Wakefield.

Wake embodied true goodness; a devoted husband, father, and teammate, beloved broadcaster, and the ultimate community leader. He gave so much to the game and all of Red Sox Nation.

Our deepest love and thoughts are with… pic.twitter.com/ah5kV2Yt8j

— Red Sox (@RedSox) October 1, 2023

In retirement, Wakefield, who carried a single-digit handicap, was a regular at celebrity and charity golf outings. Many in the entertainment industry took to social media to express their sadness.

He is survived by his wife Stacy, and their children, Trevor and Brianna.

Former Boston Red Sox left pitcher Tim Wakefield is introduced during a ceremony for the retirement of the jersey number of David Ortiz before a game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on June 23, 2017 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Adam Renfroe keeps wondering if the novelty will ever wear off.

But if it hasn’t by now, the Constellation Furyk & Friends may well have become a First Coast staple for years in the future.

The PGA Tour Champions event at the historic Timuquana Country Club, hosted by the Jim and Tabitha Furyk Foundation, will be played for the third time Oct. 6-8, with the same trappings it has enjoyed since its inaugural year on the schedule in 2021.

Defending champion Steve Stricker will have to hold off a field loaded with World Golf Hall of Fame members, major champions and Players Champions, at a Donald Ross course that fits a veteran’s game: well-placed drives, strategic approach shots below the hole of the small, push-up greens and creative short games and putting.

Packed field: Furyk & Friends will include six Hall of Fame members, 14 major champions

It’s how Phil Mickelson and Stricker won the first two years and it likely will remain the same strategy for any winner.

At stake is a $315,000 first prize from a total purse of $2.1 million. Golf Channel will air the first and second rounds from 2-4 p.m. and the final round on a tape-delay basis on Oct. 8 from 9:30-11:30 p.m.

Joining Stricker, who is running away from the pack in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, will be players such as Furyk, a 17-time PGA Tour winner and the 2003 U.S. Open champion, Hall of Fame members such as Vijay Singh, Davis Love III, Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer and Ernie Els, and major champions David Duval, Mike Weir, Tom Lehman and Mark Calcavecchia.

“We love the golf course,” Furyk said during the tournament’s media day on Aug. 28. “I think we’re fortunate to be here at Timuquana … the course plays a big part. The players love it. They say it’s fair but difficult, which separates a field very quickly.”

Strong field brings in fans

Renfroe, the tournament’s executive director, said the course attracts the players. The loaded list of players attracts the fans. Then it’s up to the tournament to keep the fans engaged with what they’re seeing inside the ropes and what they can enjoy outside the ropes.

“Sometimes the newness wears off a tournament but that hasn’t happened here,” he said. “And this tournament has become a point of pride for Jacksonville and Duval County. Yes, The Players Championship is wonderful for the area, but it’s in Ponte Vedra Beach, in St. Johns County. They have the beach. In this tournament, we can focus on downtown, on the [St. Johns] River and show another side to the First Coast.”

Renfroe’s staff must be doing something right. The PGA Tour Champions players voted the Furyk & Friends “The Players Award,” given annually to the event they believe is the best on their tour.

“We don’t do this for accolades, but it was very humbling to be recognized by the players,” Renfroe said.

Private hospitality sold out weeks ago, two of the three pro-ams sold out and the Monday pro-am is nearly sold out and a limited number of tickets for venues such as Club 58 (in honor of Furyk’s record 18-hole score on the PGA Tour) remain. Grounds tickets are still available by visiting constellationfurykandfriends.com.

Vijay Singh of Fiji plays his shot from the 17th tee during the second round of the Constellation FurykK & Friends at Timuquana Country Club on October 08, 2022, in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

Golf only part of the week

Away from the field of play is the Kids Zone, which includes a petting zoo sponsored by the Jacksonville Zoo, the Baptist Family Lounge and the Publix Tailgate Village, which will have college and the NFL on two videoboards — including the Jaguars game vs. Buffalo in London on the morning of Oct. 8, for early birds who want to watch the Jags in the morning and golf in the afternoon.

“We pride ourselves on having an event where we have something for everyone, especially our families,” said Tabitha Furyk.

Children 17 years and younger are admitted free with a ticketed adult, with no limit to how many accompany the adult. The tournament also admits the Military and their families free.

Tournament helps a variety of charities

Also giving the tournament luster is more than $2 million donated to charity in the first two years, going to organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Hope for the Holidays, the St. Johns Riverkeeper, the First Tee-North Florida, the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation, Blessings in a Backpack and Wolfson Children’s Hospital.

“This tournament really highlights the thing we’re proud of, impacting a community in a positive way,” said Constellation executive vice president Jim McHugh. “Giving back is a value that’s shared by Constellation and Jim and Tabitha.”

The first day for the public will be Friday’s first round. Gates open Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m.

Tournament week also includes a concert with multi-platinum artist Dustin Lynch at Daily’s Place near EverBank Stadium at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Some ticket and hospitality packages include concert tickets but they also can be purchased separately at the Furyk & Friends website.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day. But it was conquered in three.”

That was one of many posts on the Ryder Cup Europe social media accounts to celebrate the team’s 16½-11½ win over the United States in the 44^th playing of the biennial bash, held this year at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome, Italy.

The team celebrations with the Cup in the hours and days that follow are always fun to see, and European captain Luke Donald foreshadowed what would be a fun night in his interview with Golf Channel’s Cara Banks just minutes after Europe secured the Cup.

“We always do it right in Europe, we do it right,” said Donald with a smile. “We’ll have a few drinks.”

Did they ever.

The chants started with “Two more years!” for the captain and transitioned to cheers of “Ole! Ole! Ole!” and songs of victory on the team bus. Check out the highlights from Team Europe’s epic Ryder Cup celebrations.

MORE: Changes afoot for USA | How each player fared | Future sites

Hae Ran Ryu took home $345,000 for her first victory on the LPGA thanks to a back-nine 29 on Sunday at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.

The total purse for the longtime LPGA event was $2,300,000.

Former Arizona standout Bianca Pagdanganan came into the event with $65,512 in season earnings and nearly doubled that with a $112,775 payday for a share of third. The long-hitting player made two eagles on the back nine at Pinnacle Country Club in her closing 29.

Former No. 1 Lydia Ko turned heads with her opening 65 but then dropped down to a share of 48th after rounds of 72-70. Ko came into the week 84th on the money list with $209,776. She made over $4 million last season.

Check out the prize money payouts at the 2023 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.