Sides is repeat winner in Jackson T. Stephens Cup
LAKE BLUFF, ILLINOIS (September 16, 2025) – Tulsan William Sides of Southern Methodist won the men’s individual title for the second straight year, and Macy Pate of Wake Forest secured the women’s individual crown Tuesday in the Jackson T. Stephens Cup at Shoreacres.
Named in honor of the late Jackson (Jack) T. Stephens, the former Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, The Jackson T. Stephens Cup has hosted one the strongest fields in NCAA Division I golf annually since 2021. Sides won the event last fall at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club.
Individual champions were crowned following 54 holes of stroke play, with four men’s and four women’s teams advancing based on their team scores to an 18-hole match play tournament Wednesday to determine the team champions. LSU and North Carolina will battle for the men’s championship, with Arizona and Northwestern playing for third place. Wake Forest and Stanford will compete for the women’s championship, with Oregon and Texas playing for bronze.
Sides became the first repeat winner in the five-year history of the Stephens Cup, following his playoff victory last year with a two-stroke win this year. The senior from Tulsa shot 7-under-par 68-66-69—203, making a clutch birdie on his 17thhole Tuesday to lock up the trophy. Gunnlaugur Arni Sveinsson of LSU was second at 5-under par 205.
“It’s not often that you get to play this tournament twice, and to win it twice is awesome,” Sides said. “I’m really thankful to be able to play in this event, and for the Stephens family to host this tournament. It’s a great, well-run event, and Shoreacres is an incredible course, so I’m really lucky.”
Playing in warm and calm conditions on the shores of Lake Michigan, Sides played well enough in the first two rounds Monday to put himself in a good position entering Tuesday’s final round. Starting on the back 9, he made a clutch par save on his opening hole and made the turn at even par for the day. He jumped into the lead thanks to consecutive birdies on holes 1 and 2, and despite bogeys on 3 and 7, he rebounded with a key birdie on his second-to-last hole that helped him seal the win.
“I tried to stay in the present and take one shot at a time,” Sides explained. “It’s easy to get distracted out here with the cameras and the fans on the course. I tried to stay calm and go through my process and tune everything out while still trying to do the best I can.
“I made a bad bogey on 18 and had three-putted 17, so I was kind of frustrated walking off my front nine, but I was able to turn it around pretty quick with those two birdies. I had two great iron shots on 1 and 2, and those two birdies kind of helped me get back in a rhythm.”
On the eighth hole (his 17th), Sides pulled a five-iron to attack the 205-yard par-3 playing into the wind to a back left pin, hit a perfect shot that rolled out to about 25 feet, then got the speed perfect on the long putt for the clinching birdie.
“I was trying to make sure I didn’t come up short of the ridge, but you also don’t want to be long there. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I guess that sealed it, so that was a really big putt for me,” Sides said.
