TicketsCINCINNATI – The Cincinnati men’s golf team continues its spring schedule when it travels to Georgia for The Johnnie-O at the Plantation Course at Sea Island Resort in St. Simons Island. The 15-team event includes 36 holes of play with a shotgun start Monday, followed by 18 holes Tuesday.
Cincinnati’s lineup will consist of Ryan Ford, Leo Wessel, Connor McNeely, Rylan Wotherspoon and Brayden Miller.
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The tournament is the second of five spring tournaments for the Bearcats before the Big 12 Championship April 27-29 at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan. Cincinnati, which was receiving votes in the final Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Poll of the fall, placed in the top five in four of its five fall tournaments, including a victory at the Bearcat Invitational Sept. 16, before a tie for eighth last week at the Colleton River Collegiate.
NOTEWORTHY
Tournament History: This week will mark the fourth edition of the event hosted by Rutgers. The Bearcats won the inclement weather-shortened event last season on the Seaside Course, batting back from and 8-over-par first round to go 9-under in the second for the 36-hole victory. Cincinnati finished sixth in the event in 2024 and second in the inaugural edition in 2023.
The Course: The 6,999-yard, par-72 Plantation Course at Sea Island Golf Club, was built in 1928 but redesigned by Davis and Mark Love in 2019. The course is a classic design that features bulkheads, railroad ties and chocolate drop mounds.
The Field: Along with Cincinnati, the 15-team field includes host Rutgers, Florida Gulf Coast, Georgia Southern, Kansas, Kennesaw State, Memphis, Nebraska, NC State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Princeton, UNC Greensboro and West Virginia.
BEARCATS IN 2025-26
Through six tournaments, senior Ryan Ford leads the Bearcats with a 69.82 scoring average and four top-10 finishes, while sophomore Leo Wessel sits second with a 71.18 average and a pair of top-10s. Seniors Connor McNeely and Rylan Wotherspoon also have participated in all six events in the Bearcat lineup, with McNeely averaging 72.24 and Wotherspoon tallying a 72.29 scoring average.
Ford has played 10 of his 17 rounds under par, while Wessel has played eight of 17 under par.
FORD CLIMBING UP PGA TOUR U RANKINGS
Ryan Ford has moved to 40th in the latest PGA TOUR University rankings released March 4.
In partnership with the World Amateur Golf Ranking, PGA TOUR University 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 2026 began Week 23/2024 and concludes June 1, 2026, following the final round of stroke play at the NCAA D-I Men’s National Championship. At the conclusion of stroke play at the NCAA D-I Men’s National Championship, the top 25 eligible players in the final PGA TOUR University Ranking will earn status on the PGA TOUR, Korn Ferry Tour, or PGA TOUR Americas.
CINCINNATI RUNS AWAY WITH BEARCAT INVITATIONAL
Three Bearcats finished in the top 10 and Cincinnati tallied three-consecutive rounds at 6-under par en route to an 11-stroke victory over an 18-team field at the Bearcat Invitational at Coldstream Country Club Sept. 16.
The host Bearcats, who won the event for the second time in four years, were paced by McNeely and Wessel, who tied for sixth at 4-under, and Ford, who finished a stroke back in a tie for ninth. All five Bearcats finished in the top 14 of the event.