After a difficult 15th-place showing at the Bearcat Invitational, UCF quickly rebounded with its best finish of the year at the Ironwood Collegiate, placing second thanks to a fourth-place individual finish from Risvaer and a top-10 scorecard from Haygood.
The Knights continued to show their upside throughout the fall, with Cam Goldknopf turning in one of the best individual performances of the season at the West Bay Collegiate. He fired an 8-under-par, while Risvaer remained a steady presence near the top of the leaderboard. UCF then closed the fall at the abbreviated FAU Invitational, where Risvaer again led the lineup.
The spring season featured several of UCF’s strongest performances.
Haygood delivered the highlight of the year at the Sea Best Invitational, capturing the individual title with a 7-under-par finish. His victory helped power the Knights to a fourth-place team finish and quickly established him as one of UCF’s most dependable spring contributors.
UCF faced a challenging stretch against stronger competition at the Gators Invitational and The Hayt Collegiate, but a few individual performances helped the Knights build confidence heading into the final stretch of the season
At the ECU Intercollegiate, the Knights followed up their 2025 title defense attempt with a fourth-place finish, fueled by another top-10 outing from Haygood. UCF later added a sixth-place showing at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate before closing the regular season with one of its most encouraging performances of the spring.
At the Tar Heel Intercollegiate, Lucas Dutartre put up arguably the best tournament of his young career, posting a 3-under-par to finish 10th and lead UCF to an eighth-place finish against a field that included multiple ranked teams.
The postseason provided another milestone. At the Big 12 Championship in Hutchinson, Kansas, UCF recorded its best finish in program history at the event, placing 10th with a team score of 1,143. The Knights opened the tournament in strong form, briefly holding an early team lead behind birdie-filled rounds from Haygood and Risvaer.
UCF remained competitive in a stacked conference field, averaging 3.21 strokes to rank third overall. Risvaer and Haygood again led the way, both finishing inside the top 30 to cap standout seasons.
