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PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mex. – The Bellarmine men’s golf team returns from their winter hiatus to begin the spring season south of the border.
Event: Compadres Collegiate
Host: Texas Rio Grande Valley and Louisiana Monroe
Dates: Sunday, February 1 through Tuesday, February 3
Time: TBD, shotgun start each day
Course: Iberostar Playa Paraíso Golf Club
Location: Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Schedule of Play: 3 rounds
Par: 72
Yardage: 6,701
Course Rating: 72.4 (via BlueGolf.com)
Slope Rating: 136 (via BlueGolf.com)
Participants (9): Bellarmine, Drake, Louisiana Monroe, Morehead State, Northern Colorado, North Texas, Texas Rio Grande Valley, Texas San Antonio, Western Carolina
Bellarmine Starters: Riley Jude Bender (senior), Peyton Bonny (senior), Ben Wulkopf (sophomore), Kash Albarado (senior) and Ben Davenport (sophomore) plus Landon Stillwell (freshman) as an individual.
About the Knights: Bender tied for fourth in a field of 63 in the Knights’ final fall event, The Scrappy at Cobblestone. It was the Knights’ only top-10 finish in the fall and Bender’s first career start after competing as an individual in four prior events. This will be Bonny’s second start as a Knight. He carded a low round of +2 (74) in his first event, the Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate. Wulkopf registered scores of +3, +1 and +3 in the first three events of the fall season. Albarado finished at even par his last time out at the Grover Page Classic. Davenport was the Knights’ top finisher in the first three events of the fall season, finishing below par just once (+1 at the Bubba Barnett). Stillwell carded a 69 (-2) in the third round of his collegiate debut at the Joe Feaganes Invitational in his only action of the fall season. It is tied for the seventh-lowest round by a Knight during the 2025-26 season.
About the Course: “Imagine a beautiful postcard landscape surrounded by nature, exotic wildlife, and ancient ruins. Playa Paraíso is an extraordinary location where the gentle sea breeze, the warm sun, the lush jungle vegetation, and world-renowned archeological landmarks are very real. … The eminent golf course architect P.B. Dye designed this wonderful place, turning it into one of his finest creations. The majestic rolling fairways of perfectly manicured Paspalum grass stretch out as far as the eyes can see, and the stunning natural surrounding enhances the beauty of the carpet-like putting greens. This fantastic layout features memorable holes, soft sand bunkers and deep traps, cleverly domed greens, and narrow fairways, which make it a challenging but fair track.” –chronogolf.ma
Last Time Out: The Knights placed ninth out of 11 teams at The Scrappy at Cobblestone in Acworth, Ga. Bellarmine carded a low score of 293 (+9) in the first round.
Last Time at Event: This is Bellarmine’s first time at this event and their first international trip during their Division I era.
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