FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas men’s golf program signed the #4 recruiting class in the country according to Brentley Romine of GOLF Channel. The class includes two of the top 40 signees for the Class of 2024-25 in #14 Gerardo Gomez (Mexico) and #22 Erich Fortlage (Paraguay) as well as Jackson McLaughlin (Little Rock Episcopal) and Pablo Garcia Terol (Spain).
The class was also ranked ninth nationally by CollegeGolfCommits.com
“We have been waiting a couple of years for this class to officially become Razorbacks,” said head coach Brad McMakin. “I believe it’s one of if not our best class we have signed in my tenure. They bring a ton of experience worldwide from junior golf events as well as major amateur events. They are a dynamic group and each have their unique abilities that will benefit our program. This group, being the fourth-ranked class in the country, gives us to opportunity to continue the success our former players have provided to the Razorbacks golf program.”
The last time Arkansas had a top-five class was the top-ranked 2016-17 freshman group that included the likes of Mason Overstreet, who was the 2017 NCAA runner-up as a freshman, as well as future All-American William Buhl and Luis Garza.
The top five recruiting class included #1 Stanford, #2 Alabama, #3 Auburn, #4 Arkansas and #5 Arizona State. Also making the top 15 for the class of 2024-25 were SEC schools #7 Texas A&M, #8 LSU, #10 Florida, #11 Vanderbilt, #12 Oklahoma, #13 Texas and #15 Tennessee.
Gerardo Gomez
San Luis Potosí, Mexico || (Montverde (Fla.) Academy – Bishops Gate Golf Academy
Gomez on Instagram
• 2023 Rolex Junior All-America Team (honorable mention)
• 2022 Rolex Junior All-America Team (second team)
• #14 on the GOLF Channel list of top 40 signees for the Class of 2024-25
• #21 in the Golfweek Junior Rankings
• #33 in the country (and highest ranked from Mexico) on the AJGA Junior Ranking
• #8-ranked amateur from Mexico according to the WAGR
• Joins an impressive list of Razorbacks that attended IMG/Bishops Gate including the likes of Nicolas Echavarria, Luis Garza, Julian Perico and John Daly II.
• In 2023, tied for 7th at the AJGA PING Invitational and tied for 13th at the Mayakoba Invitational
– Won the 2023 XII Central Mexico Zone Cup (70-70-69)
– Won the 2023 Junior America’s Cup (67-66-69)
– Won the I Sureste Cup / XV Yucatan Cup (70-69-67)
– Was T9 after stroke play at the 2023 US Junior Amateur (69-70) and reached the Round of 32 in match play
– Was seventh IJGT Elite Series #1
– Tied for 17th at the 2023 US Junior Amateur and at the Polo Golf Junior Classic
– Tied for 21st in back-to-back events – Dustin Johnson World Junior and AJGA Simplify Boys Championship
• In 2022, posted 12 top-20 finishes in 2022, including eight top-5’s
– Champion at the 2022 IJGT Elite Series #2 (73-68-68)
– Was co-medalist at the 2022 PING Invitational (75-70-71)
– Was co-medalist at the 2022 Mexico Junior National Championship (75-67-65)
– Was co-medalist at the 2022 Chile Junior National Championship (69-67-68)
– Runner-up at the 2022 IJGT Elite Series #1 (68-68-73)
– Placed third at the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational Junior (71-74-72)
– Was fourth at the Rolex Tournament of Champions (69-71-68-71)
– Finished fourth at the 2022 XII Central Mexico Zone Cup (68-73-73)
– Tied for 13th at the Toyota Junior World Cup (70-70-72)
Erich Fortlage
Asunción, Paraguay || Centro para el Desarrollo para la Inteligencia
Fortlage on Instagram
• Top-ranked amateur from Paraguay by WAGR and #288 in the world
• #22 on the GOLF Channel list of top 40 signees for the Class of 2024-25
• Placed T-12 (74-68-70-69) at the 2023 Latin America Amateur Championship
• Won the 2023 Nico Open (67-70-71), played in May 2023 in Colombia, South America … Event is named after #ProHog Nicolas Echavarria
• Represented Paraguay at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, with teammate Fabrizio Zanotti, who won the 2019 PanAm Games … Finished 23rd (73-70-73-74) and played against the likes of Joaquin Niemann (Chile), Abraham Acer and Carlos Ortiz (Mexico), Sebastian Munoz (Colombia) and Dylan Menante (USA)
• In his last 50 events played, had 12 wins – including six in 2023 – and 35 top 10 finishes
• In November 2023, placed second (65-74-70-70) at the National Championship for Knight Blows in the Argentina Golf Association
• T-11 (70-72-72) at the 2023 AJGA Mayakoba Invitational (April 2023)
• T-25 (72-71-73-72) at the 2023 Toyota Junior World Cup
• In 2023, played in five all-age Paraguay National Open tournaments … Won one (#6 in August; 71-68-71), was runner-up once (#2 in March; 77-69-69) and added three top 10 finishes (third, fourth and eighth).
• Won the Internacional de Menores de Lima Golf Club (January 2023) by shooting 67-70-72.
• T-33 at the 2022 US Junior Amateur to reach match play
• In 2022, also played in five all-age Paraguay National Open tournaments … Finished in the top 10 each time with two wins … #6 in September (76-69-76) and #3 in June (76-71-72).
Jackson McLaughlin
Little Rock, Ark. || Episcopal Collegiate School
McLaughlin on Instagram
• Two-time (2020 and 2023) Arkansas 3A Boys State Champion
• In 2023, won the 3A state title (67) by six strokes and led Episcopal Collegiate School to the team title as well.
• Was in a three-way playoff for 2023 Arkansas Overall State Championship, shooting 68, before ultimately finishing runner-up on the second playoff hole
• Tied for 11th at the AJGA Junior at Hot Springs (73-73-75) and tied for 17th at the AJGA NW Arkansas Junior (76-73-73)
• Was runner-up twice on the Arkansas State Golf Association (ASGA) tour, shooting 74-69 at the Bruce Jenkins Memorial (winning his age group) and at the Arkansas Junior Match Play … Added a third-place finish at the Arkansas Junior Amateur (68-80)
• In 2022, was 3A state runner-up to lead Episcopal to a third-place team finish
• As a sophomore at Notre Dame (Scottsdale, Ariz.) Prep, helped his team to a third-place finish at the 2021 Arizona Division II State Tournament thanks to a T-24 finish … For the season, competed in 31 rounds with a scoring average of 37.7 (13th among all Arizona DII high school players … Named to the 2021 Sports360AZ All-Academic golf team (honorable mention)
• As a freshman, was the 2020 3A Arkansas Boys State championship where he posted a 70 (-2)
Pablo Garcia Terol
Barcelona, Spain || Centre d’Alt Rendiment Sant Cugat
Garcia Terol on Instagram
• Ranked 384th in the European Amateur Golf Rankings
• Won the 2023 Catalunya Boys U18 Championship (66-71-70) and the 2022 PGA Catalunya Stadium Cup (69-78-69)
• Overall, has 10 top 10 finishes this year, including a runner up at the Mediterranean Golf Championship, third place at the Golf D’Aro International Cup, a third at Grand Prix Lleida Ponet and a fourth at the Copa de la Comunidad Valenciana
MediterraneanAdded a third-place finish at the Grand Prix Lleida Ponet in Spain and was seventh at the Campeonato de Madrid Absoluto Masculino
• Placed 33rd at the 2022 R&A Boys Amateur Championship
• Was fifth at the 2022 U18 Spanish International Stroke Play Championship (71-72-72-70) and 25th at the 2023 Spanish U18 Men’s Championship
• Helped Spain finish third at the 2022 European Boys Team Championship
For more information on Arkansas Men’s Golf, follow @RazorbackMGolf on Twitter.
