2026 spring fling preview

The Spring Fling doesn’t just feel like a golf tournament anymore - it’s a family reunion, a yearly rivalry renewal and a chase for local golfing immortality all rolled into one weekend at McMinnville Country Club.

Now entering its 53rd edition, the Spring Fling has grown into one of the signature events on the local sports calendar, bringing together 58 teams this Memorial Day weekend for another two-day sprint through the fairways. And once again, the field is loaded.

The defending champions return with plenty of confidence after Casey Talbert and Mark Hitchcock finally finished the job in 2025. After blowing a Day 1 lead the year before, the duo dominated last year’s event with a blistering 24-under, 120 total, including a 59 on Saturday and 61 Sunday. Hitchcock’s putter turned into a weapon over the weekend while Talbert repeatedly delivered clutch approach shots as the pair pulled away from a stacked championship flight.

But if history has proven anything in the Spring Fling, it’s that nobody stays comfortable for long.

Matt Cotten and John “Willy” Wilson are always lurking. The three-time champions together (2017, 2019, 2022) nearly tracked Talbert and Hitchcock down last year and still may be the most feared Sunday pairing in the field. Their chemistry, length and ability to go nuclear on the back nine has made them the closest thing the tournament has to a modern dynasty.

Hitchcock and Talbert will take on the local 18-hole course paired with Cotten and Wilson Saturday at 11:10 a.m. on a day when the flights are set. Making it into the championship flight - no easy task with over 100 golfers looking for glory - means going low on Day 1.

Jamie Stinson and Pieter van Vuuren - become synonymous with contention at the Spring Fling - know all about being great on Saturdays, but so far a title continues to narrowly evade them. The duo has stacked up runner-up finishes for years, including playoff heartbreak in 2020 against Zack Molloy and Nick Stern and another near miss in 2022 when Cotten and Wilson rallied late to steal the crown. Still, every year they show up and every year they’re somewhere near the top entering Sunday afternoon.

Nick Stern and Bracton Womack also remain major threats after winning the 2024 title and consistently posting some of the lowest rounds in the field. Stern already owns multiple Spring Fling championships and Womack’s aggressive style makes the pair dangerous anytime birdies start falling.

The two young guns will be paired with one of the longest-tenured duos in the tournament - Bill Rogers and Keith Bryson that have built decades of chemistry - at 10:20 a.m. Saturday.

Also hoping to get in the Championship mix is the grouping of Bill Locke and Tommy Sims - legends of the tournament who continue to prove experience matters.

But others have shown through the years that one hot round can change everything. And that’s what makes the Spring Fling different. The stories never really leave. Every playoff putt, every chip-in eagle and every Sunday charge becomes part of the lore waiting to be brought back up the next May.

Weather could be as big of an opponent as the packed field this year. Rain is in the forecast but event officials are hopeful they can navigate the weather to crown another champion this weekend.

Saturday tee times

7:50 a.m. — Ethan Campbell/Phillip Couey and Eli Kuykendall/Noah Kuykendall

8 a.m. — Alex Stinson/Abram Stinson and Jeff Vance/Will Vance

8:10 a.m. — John McNulty/Todd McInerney and Brad Stone/Chris Painter

8:20 a.m. — Zachary Molloy/Brad Womack and Steve Biles/Dwayne Brown

8:30 a.m. — Daniel Benedict/Hank Patton and Ronnie Brown/Will Wrisner

8:40 a.m. — Paul Martin/Jeremy Phillips and Zach Fults/Darrell Moore

8:50 a.m. — Stephen Potter/Wes McMahan and Dwayne Doud/Jordan Turner

9 a.m. — Sean Kelley/Michelle Dodson and Alan West/Jason Denney

9:10 a.m. — Mike Oleksik/Shayne Whiteaker and Todd Dunn/Wes Williams

9:20 a.m. — Darrell Cook/Josh Gilispie and Kevin Miller/Coty Grissom

9:30 a.m. — Barry Medley/Blake Alsbrook and Allan Johnson/Hayden Wood

9:40 a.m. — Dannie Glover/Grant Majors and Jim Carden/Lee Carden

9:50 a.m. — James Mosier/Luigi Lopes and Jimbob Lefevers/Mike Jones

10 a.m. — Brett Simmons/Matt Brown and Tony Pounds/Chris Cochran

10:10 a.m. — Tucker Lynn/Grant Walker and Stan Bullen/Grant Bullen

10:20 a.m. — Nick Stern/Bracton Womack and Bill Rogers/Keith Bryson

10:30 a.m. — Michael Taylor/Ethan Roller and Ronnie Gunter/Marc Pyburn

10:40 a.m. — Pieter Van Vuuren/Jamie Stinson and Bill Locke/Tommy Sims

10:50 a.m. — Zach Minton/Jacob Prater and Rickey Minton/Wesley Minton

11 a.m. — Karl Huff/Mike McEttrick and Bryan Matheny/Jeff Merrill

11:10 a.m. — Matt Cotten/John Wilson and Mark Hitchcock/Casey Talbert

11:20 a.m. — Cole Taylor/Will Stern and Pat Greene/Phillip Powell

11:30 a.m. — Greg Brock/Andrew Brock and William Brock/Liam Brock

11:40 a.m. — Michael Benusches/Bunker Brock and Buck Brock/Delbert Ray

11:50 a.m. — Jonathan Kidd/Andy Crawford and Andrew Crouch/Eric Cantrell

Noon — David Spry/Scott Phips and Brad Hull/Trey Hull

12:10 p.m. — Mark Seymour/Sawyer Seymour and Mickey Heath/Hayden Proffitt

12:20 p.m. — Austin Jakes/Wesley Jennings and Tyler Prater/Sloan Seymour

12:30 p.m. — Tim Newby/Chase Newby and Aiden Miller/Dylan Ward