Ten days ago, Carter Loflin was making an unlikely run to the U.S. Amateur semifinals at Merion. Now the Georgia senior is fighting a very different match, the one against the NCAA itself.
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As Cameron Jourdan reported on X, “Carter Loflin, a U.S. Amateur semifinalist, is suing the NCAA seeking a fifth year of eligibility at Georgia this season. The Bulldogs begin their 2026-27 campaign Sunday.”
The lawsuit challenges the NCAA’s new age-based eligibility framework, commonly called the “five-for-five” rule. It replaces the previous system, which generally gave athletes four seasons of competition within a five-year period, with a five-year window tied to an athlete’s eligibility status.
For Loflin and many athletes in the high school class of 2022, however, the policy arrived too late. Those who entered college after high school, used four consecutive seasons of eligibility and never redshirted are not automatically included in the transition provisions. After four years with the Bulldogs, Loflin is now seeking the opportunity to play one more season at Georgia.
“The 2018, 19, 20, and 21 classes all got COVID waivers,” said Loflin’s attorney Nik Erramilli. “They all got a fifth year and sixth year at times. This five-for-five rule, the NCAA is saying, if you came into the college in 2023 and began competing, you are eligible for it. For some arbitrary reason, just this class is, for some reason, just not allowed.”
What are Loflin’s demands? Well, according to multiple sources, he is seeking a temporary restraining order in the Superior Court of Athens-Clarke County. His attorney, Nik Erramilli, told the Athens Banner-Herald’s Marc Weiszer and was the first to report the filing. That said, according to his attorney, Georgia golf has already kept a roster spot waiting for the amateur if the court rules in his favor.
Loflin’s request comes after a four-year run in Georgia’s program that began once he finished high school in 2022. His final season was his most productive, as he earned individual titles at the Hamptons Intercollegiate and the Linger Longer Invitational while recording more top-10 finishes than any other Bulldog.
His eligibility dispute stems from the NCAA’s shift to a five-year participation framework. Because the policy does not extend the same benefit to athletes who started college in 2022 and used four straight seasons, Loflin is now asking a court to allow him one more year with Georgia.
His attorney also believes another season could create more opportunities for Loflin in the college game. Loflin is seeking a separate injunction that would prevent the NCAA from penalizing him or Georgia if a court later reverses a temporary restraining order or injunction.
For Loflin, the case carries stakes well beyond one more season of college golf. A fifth year would preserve his ability to earn through NIL, keep him in the Georgia program, and give him more time before deciding whether to turn professional.
However, the court rules in his lawsuit adds to the growing pressure surrounding NCAA eligibility policy and the broader fight that the NCAA has urged Congress to address.