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AUGUSTA, GA — The University of South Carolina Beaufort men’s golf team made school history on Sunday as they became the first program in any sport to capture a PBC Championship. The Sand Sharks led wire-to-wire at the 2025 Peach Belt Championships, finishing 13-under par at 851 at the Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta. USCB was eight strokes clear of USC Aiken and 11 ahead of North Georgia.
In addition to the team achievement, USCB’s Erik Rengardt became the first Sand Shark to win the Individual Championship, shooting a final-round 71 to finish at nine-under-par 207 for the event, holding off USC Aiken’s Erik Olin by three strokes and Georgia Southwestern’s Nicolas Escobar by five.
USC Beaufort captures the title in their third year with the Peach Belt Conference as they near completion of the three-year transition period from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. Given that, they are not eligible to receive the NCAA automatic bid that comes with winning the PBC Tournament; instead that will be given to USC Aiken for their second-place finish.
USCB’s three-round score of 851 is the third-lowest total score for a PBC Champion in league history. The Sand Sharks placed all five of their players in the top 21 of the leaderboard. In addition to Rengardt, Aaron Williams and Nicolas Normand both finished in a tie for 10th at even par 216. Nikolai Holme was tied for 15th at 218 and Ellis Bright tied for 21st at 220.
Rengardt began his final round with a one-stroke lead over Escobar. Starting his round off the 10th tee, he bogeyed his first hole, but then settled with seven straight pars before a birdie on the 18th, making the turn at even. He followed that up with a birdie at one and had another at the fourth and again at the sixth, playing his second nine in 35. The PBC Freshman of the Year led the field in par-3 and par-4 scoring and had more birdies – 17 – than any other player.
USC Aiken’s Erik Olin fired a final-round 68 to climb four spots and finish in second place with a six-under 210. GSW’s Felipe Gomez was the big mover on Sunday, jumping 11 spots into a tie for fourth with a five-under 67, tied for the low round of the tournament.
The NCAA South/Southeast Super Regional begins on May 8 in Florida. The NCAA tournament selections will be announced on April 25.
