Connecticut Mens Golf Team Secures Augusta Spot After Playoff Win

As Brad Sawka sank his three-footer for par on the 18th hole at True Blue Golf Club in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, Connecticut head coach Dave Pezzino reached for his phone to share the news with Sawka parents. The moment capped a tournament victory that carried far more weight than a standard spring college event.

Connecticut final-round score of 7-under 281 was the lowest of any team in the final round across the 16-team field. It lifted the Huskies two spots up the leaderboard over the closing stretch, and at 15 under for 54 holes, they finished two shots clear of Alabama Birmingham.

The win came with more than a trophy. The Golfweek/Stifel Spring Challenge serves as a direct qualifier for the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational — a prestigious amateur event played each spring at Forest Hills Golf Club in the days leading up to the Masters. The Haskins traditionally attracts a deep field of top-ranked college talent from across the country.

My phone blew up — it was like when we won the Big East Conference Championship back in 2021, Pezzino said. The alumni were so proud. That tournament — the people who know college golf know what it means for our program to win a spot at the Haskins.

The victory carried particular satisfaction given how the previous year ended. Connecticut made a significant move in the second round of the 2025 Golfweek/Stifel but ultimately finished five shots short of the title. Pezzino did not let his team forget the feeling.

We were in second last year and that kind of sat not great with me, he said. We had a long talk as a team about some things we needed to do better, and the guys responded well. We hung in there.

Even in what Pezzino described as difficult final-round conditions — with wind blowing 20 miles per hour across the course — the Huskies executed when it mattered most. I asked them to work on being committed — hitting a committed shot, making a decision — and then accepting the outcome, and they really did that, he said. We had great body language the whole way through.

Individually, three Connecticut players finished in the top 10: Kai Jun Huang placed second, Sawka finished fourth, and Connor Goode tied for 10th. It marked the Huskies second team victory of the season, following their UConn Invitational win in September.

Alabama Birmingham Alejandro Fierro took the individual title at 9 under for the week.

Three days after the win, Pezzino noted that recruits were already reacting with excitement. But the draw extends beyond competition — all teams in the Haskins field traditionally receive tickets to attend the Masters Monday practice round, a perk that holds significant appeal.

The ability to play the week before the Masters — at the college level — is massive, Pezzino said. The Haskins is what all of our guys try to win and be a part of.

Brian Stubbs, executive director of the Haskins Foundation, was on site at True Blue to present each Connecticut player with a Masters hat and display the actual Haskins Award trophy. To have the trophy there is pretty sick, Pezzino said. I make sure the guys go over and look at the names — they see some names and they are like, That guy is on the Champions Tour.

The triumph at True Blue represents both a milestone and a stepping stone for a program that has been building toward this kind of moment.