Former Sunlake High golfer Max Barile is the best men’s player in NCAA Division II — and the honor is opening a path to the pro ranks.
Barile, a senior at Florida Southern College, was named the 2026 recipient of the Jack Nicklaus Award, which recognizes the Division II national player of the year. Jack Nicklaus presented the award June 7 at his Memorial Tournament in Ohio, alongside the winners from Division I, Division III, the NAIA and the NJCAA. Barile joins fellow Florida Southern winners John VanDerLaan (2018) and John Coultas (2016).
The award comes with a foothold in professional golf. As a senior recipient, Barile earns the same benefits as players who finish 11th through 25th in the PGA Tour University ranking: membership in PGA Tour Americas, beginning with the Wichita Open on June 25-28 and running through the end of the current season. He also is exempt into the second stage of this year’s PGA Tour Q-School.
The recognition caps a season in which Barile earned multiple Sunshine State Conference men’s golfer of the week honors and led Florida Southern to its 14th NCAA men’s golf national championship. The Moccasins beat Wingate 3-2 at Boulder Creek Golf Club in May for the school’s 31st national title across all sports — and its first in men’s golf since 2017.
Barile clinched it, beating Cole Rouse by four strokes and carding six birdies in a final round he led wire to wire.
His roots trace to Sunlake, where as a sophomore in 2018 he tied for 43rd at the Class 2A state tournament, shooting a 170 (+26). As a freshman in 2017, he tied for 54th, shooting a 172 (+28).