Yellow Jackets, Jayhawks Lead After Two Rounds of 2026 Folds of Honor Collegiate
GRAND HAVEN, Mich. – The Georgia Tech men and Kansas women lead the fifth annual Folds of Honor Collegiate after 36 holes at the Jack Nicklaus-designed American Dunes Golf Club.
Georgia Tech, who led by seven strokes after Monday’s opening round, now leads by one over Notre Dame and Texas after an even-par 284 on Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets were paced by a two-under 69 from junior Albert Hansson. Hansson, a Fiskebäckskil, Sweden, native, carded a 33 on the back nine and had birdie-or-better results on three of his final five holes, including an eagle on the Par-5 18th hole.
“I believe that we hung tough, because we didn’t play very good today,” Georgia Tech Head Coach Ryan Hybl said. “On the leaderboard, it’s going to look like these guys couldn’t get it going, but to be honest with you, I thought that we did a really good job. We had a guy that got to five-over really quick and got all the way back to one-over and we had a guy that was four-over and got it back to two-over. We did some really nice stuff for where we’re at right now, not knowing who some of our guys are. I’m seeing some digging, which is huge.”
“I told the guys that I want every one of them to want that opportunity to have a five-footer on the last hole to win a golf tournament,” continued Hybl. “We don’t get a chance to win very much in our sport, but you can in team golf. I’m looking forward to seeing if we can get a chance tomorrow on 18 with a chance to win.”
After a bogey-free front nine, Yellow Jackets freshman and 18-hole leader Max Emberson weathered a quadruple bogey on the back nine with birdie-or-better finishes in two of his last three holes to secure a one-stroke individual lead over Ohio State’s Vaughn Harber, Notre Dame’s Jacob Modleski, and Texas’ Daniel Bennett.
“I felt like I was putting pretty well,” Emberson said. “I got off to a little bit of a shaky start with some bad swings but was able to come back and make some good putts, especially on my back nine. I made a lot of good par saves as well as some long birdie putts.”
On his 21st birthday, Bennett carded Tuesday’s lowest round with a bogey-free five-under 66, guiding his No. 15 Longhorns to the lowest team round of the day (12-under 272).
“It was nice to play fairly decent on my birthday,” the junior from Pretoria, South Africa, said. “It’s nice to be here at this golf course. It’s a cool venue, so I’ve been taking it all in.”
“I wouldn’t say I played amazing, but I did everything I was supposed to do,” Bennett continued. “I made a few nice putts and just kept it together. Had a couple good par saves too, so that was important to keep the momentum going.”
Kansas maintained their women’s lead Tuesday with a one-under 287, bringing them to five-under par and extending their lead over 2024 Collegiate Champion Arizona to six strokes.
All four Jayhawk counting rounds sit within the top 20, including fifth-year senior Anna Wallin (-2; 142; T3), freshman Hannah Hall (-1; 143; T7), senior Lyla Louderbaugh (E; 144; T11) and junior Ebba Nordstedt (+1; 145; T17).
Fresh talent shone brightly in Arizona freshman Olivia Hung and Duke freshman Mia Hammond, who climbed the leaderboard with rounds of 69 (-3) and 71 (-1) respectively. Hung leads the individual leaderboard while Hammond follows in solo second heading into Wednesday’s final round.
“My driver was kind of off today,” said Hung. “I made some stupid mistakes. I was slicing the ball like the whole round. I was pretty smart by using 3 Woods and 7 Woods on some holes that are pretty narrow. My irons were okay, but my putting was really good.”
“I would say I’ve hit it pretty well,” Hammond said. “I made up shots when I needed to. I had myself in a couple pretty difficult situations and seemed to recover pretty well. One of my tendencies is coming down the stretch, I’ll fall back a few shots, which happened today in the middle of my back nine, but I ended up paring out which was good, not letting it get to me.”
“It’s been great to watch our two freshmen play really well this week,” Arizona Head Coach Giovana Maymon said. “Olivia, we haven’t been with her that much. She’s like, ‘Coach, I got it.’ She’s one of those players where, when she hits one bad shot, she doesn’t let it affect her round or even the next shot. I think that that’s a great mentality to build for tomorrow.”
“I was trying to go out there and play and enjoy the moment,” continued Hung. “I’m used to being by myself and being independent on the course. We talked about my game and course strategies after the round, which was really good.”
With the possibility of inclement weather, the women are slated to tee off for the Final Round of the 2026 Folds of Honor Collegiate at 7:30 a.m. ET and the men at 12:05 p.m. ET. Follow this men’s link and women’s link for live scoring and Golf Channel’s live coverage will run 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-7:30 p.m. ET.
About Folds of Honor
Folds of Honor is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of US military service members and first responders who have fallen or been disabled while serving our country and communities. Our educational scholarships support private school tuition or tutoring in grades K-12, tuition for college, technical or trade school and post-graduate work, including a master’s degree, doctorate, or professional program. Funds for a second bachelor’s degree or trade/technical program certification are also available. Since its inception in 2007, Folds of Honor has awarded nearly 73,000 scholarships totaling over $340 million in all 50 states. Among the students served, 43 percent are minorities and 57 percent female. A total of 91 percent of expenses fund our mission of providing educational scholarships to the families of our nation’s heroes. It is rated a four-star charity by Charity Navigator and Platinum on Candid. It was founded by Lt Col Dan Rooney, the only-ever F-16 fighter pilot (with three combat tours in Iraq) and PGA Professional. He is serving as Commander of Recruiting for the Oklahoma Air Guard. For more information or to donate in support of a Folds of Honor scholarship visit foldsofhonor.org.
About American Dunes
In 2006, the Grand Haven Golf Club hosted a small golf tournament that would inspire the founding of Folds of Honor. The Grand Haven Golf Club closed in 2018 and a limited group of patriots joined together with Jack Nicklaus to create American Dunes. Nicklaus led the project by donating his design fee, a group of 18 individuals sponsored one hole each, and five private investors joined together to preserve the birthplace of Folds of Honor. The mission of American Dunes is unwavering; to raise awareness and funds for the families of fallen or disabled military service members and first responders. Since the facility opened in May 2021, over $9.4 million have been donated back to Folds of Honor to provide life-changing educational scholarships.
In 2022, the annual Folds of Honor Collegiate was first contested with 18 men’s teams. In 2024, the Collegiate welcomed a women’s field to better reflect the mission at Folds of Honor.
“American Dunes represents a collaboration of countless likeminded patriots, who want this golf course to forever stand as a tribute to the birthplace of Folds of Honor, a safe haven for veterans who find rehabilitation through the recreation of the game, and a backdrop to celebrate our country and those who fought for its freedom,” Lt Col Rooney said. “A significant legacy such as this is born out of the effort of selfless individuals and companies who have donated their time and resources.”
About HNS Sports Group
HNS Sports Group is a Dublin, Ohio-based LLC founded in 2000. The company offers over 125-plus years of collective experience and is committed to providing professional, efficient and effective client representation in the categories of sponsorship consultation, event management, hospitality management, sales representation and tournament operations within the golf market. To learn more about HNS Sports Group, visit www.hnssports.com.
About Golf Coaches Association of America
Established in 1958, the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) is the professional organization of men's collegiate golf coaches. The GCAA's mission is to support its member coaches from six divisions, including the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA, by creating educational opportunities, providing resources, and promoting its members with the purpose of enhancing their overall performance as coaches, mentors, and teachers. The GCAA also recognizes the excellence and achievements of its members and their student-athletes in academic, athletic and civic endeavors. For more information, please visit gcaa.coach.