North Florida senior Nick Gabrelcik starts a third season in a row on the Haskins Watch List
University of North Florida senior Nick Gabrelcik is coming a splendid summer and began his final college season on Friday when the Ospreys opened their fall season at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate.
He's entering the season ranked among the top college players in two categories: he's fourth in the first PGA Tour University rankings, which computes results in college tournaments, the top amateur events and any professional events for which the player receives an exemption or Monday-qualified.
The No. 1 player at the end of the spring season earns a PGA Tour card for the rest of the year. Nos. 2-5 are exempt on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Back for a fourth year: UNF's Nick Gabrelcik returning for his senior season and PGA Tour U is playing a big part
Gabrelcik has also been named to the preseason watch list for the Haskins Award, which is given to the nation's top college player. Gabrelcik is one of three players has made the watch list three seasons in a row.
"Nick is one of the best in the country and we know that," said UNF coach Scott Schroeder. "This shows that others believe the same thing."
Gabrelcik, a Trinity native, went 1-3 as the U.S. rallied to win the Walker Cup over Great Britain/Ireland at St. Andrews last week. He also won the Southern Amateur and qualified for match play in the U.S. Amateur.
He will be trying to build on a college career that already includes a record three ASUN player of the year awards and program records for victories (seven), top-five finishes (19) and rounds in the 60s (48).
Also on the Haskins watch list are Cole Anderson and Luke Clanton of Florida State and Ian Gilligan of Florida.
JAGA Fall events open
Two Jacksonville Area Golf Association fall events are now open for registration, the Fall Four-Ball on Oct. 16 at Deercreek and the JAGA Scholarship Trust Benefit on Nov. 20 at Deerwood.
Registration for the JAGA Family Championship on Dec. 16 at Jacksonville Beach will open on Oct. 2.
To enter or for more information visit jaxareagolf.org.
JAGA has also announced it has converted its tournament platform to Golf Genius. All JAGA tournament contestants (past and future) are encouraged to join the “JAGA Master Roster” on Golf Genius to accommodate future entries. To do so, visit golfgenius.com.
Back to Amelia
The JAGA First Coast Amateur had a rousing start in 2017 when Brandon Mancheno shot three rounds in the 60s to win at 13-under-par 203, still a tournament record.
The tournament will be going back to the Tom Fazio-designed course on Jan. 13-15 for its eighth playing.
Mancheno shot 66 in the final round and won by six shots. The players in the top 10 all broke par that week.
Registration and eligibility information will be released at a later date.
College teams open seasons
In addition to the UNF men heading for Knoxville, the other three NCAA Division I programs open their fall seasons in short order.
The Jacksonville University men's team starts Sept. 10-12 at the Golfweek Fall Challenge on Pawley's Island, S.C. The UNF women's team opens Sept. 17-19 at the Badger Invitational at the University of Wisconsin and the JU women's team gets out of the gates at the Hoover Invitational in Hoover, Ala., on the same dates.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Nick Gabrelcik of UNF one of three to make Haskins watch list three times
