Golf Coaches Association of America

Litchfield Park, Ariz. – Cory Whitsett closed with a five-under-par 66 to win the inaugural Patriot All-America Invitational on the Gold Course at The Wigwam in Litchfield Park, Ariz. Whitsett’s three-round total of 14-under 199 was three strokes better than his college roommate at Alabama Bobby Wyatt.

Whitsett entered the round with a two-shot lead but Wyatt applied pressure early by pulling even with an eagle on the first hole. Both players birded the fourth hole. Whitsett would move back into the lead with a birdie at No. 5. Wyatt responded with two-straight birdies before a bogey at eighth hole pulled the pair even at 11-under for the tournament. Whitsett would reclaim the lead for good after a birdie on No. 10 was paired with a Wyatt bogey. Birdies on Nos. 12, 15 and 18 pushed Whitsett’s lead to its final margin of three shots.

“I didn’t get off to the best of starts,” said Whitsett. “I had a par on one. Made good birdies on four and five and got some good momentum going on the back nine. Birdied 10 and bogeyed 11 but played pretty steady from then on in. Had a bunch of good opportunities and converted a few of them. I knew that Bobby (Wyatt) was going to do some good things. He’s been putting too well all week. I felt like any time it was on the green it could have gone in. Sticking to my guns is what I’ve been doing all week and giving myself opportunities and that’s all I needed to do.”

Austin Cook and Julian Suri tied for third at 4-under while Joe David and Paul McConnell shared fifth-place at 3-under 210. Johannes Veerman, Richy Werenski and Andrew Yun finished in a three-way tie for seventh with a total of 211 (-2). Evan Beck, Ben Klaus and Patrick Rodgers completed the top 10 at 1-under for tournament.

Each player in the field received a golf bag at the opening ceremony with the name and branch of service of a fallen or disabled military member whom they represented this week. The respective athletic departments of the student-athletes will auction these golf bags with all proceeds designated for the Folds of Honor Foundation.

“It’s great idea first of all, the event,” stated Whitsett. “Obviously nothing’s been done like this before. It’s awesome. They (United States Armed Forces) do so much for us. They’re the reason we’re here today and could compete. I’m just glad that we could help them anyway that we could.”

For more information, visit www.patriotallamerica.com. See video coverage of the 2011 event from ESPN and HDLN here: http://patriotallamerica.com/index.php/Media/details/C43/525

Sacramento, CA - The First Tee program and the GCAA held the third program of the fall in a series of one-day events with The First Tee of Greater Sacramento Sunday, November 13.  The event was held at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex. This event brought together collegiate players and their coaches with junior golfers from The First Tee in an effort to promote involvement between college golf programs and the next generation of players in the game.

Angie Dixon, The First Tee of Greater Sacramento Executive Director, commented on the day’s activities.  “What a fabulous day for our youth. The college coaches and players were very engaged with our juniors and offered a great deal of thoughtful instruction and guidance.  We very much appreciated them taking the time to inspire and educate our juniors.  We look forward to the opportunity to have another day like this next season.”

College coaches and players from the University of California-Davis, the University of the Pacific, and Sacramento State University conducted golf instructional stations covering long and short game and putting.  The more than 100 junior participants in the event also received guidance on wellness and were able to ask questions in an open session with the players and coaches in attendance.

“On behalf of the GCAA I want to sincerely thank everyone at The First Tee of Greater Sacramento, as well as the players and coaches from UC-Davis, Pacific and Sacramento State for their work in putting on the youth clinic this past weekend,” said GCAA CEO Gregg Grost.  “This was one of the largest groups of participants we have ever had at an event, which is wonderful.”

Future events will be held in Idaho, Florida, and Oregon.  For further information please contact Gregg Grost, GCAA CEO, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

NORMAN, Okla. – Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars for Divisions I, II and the NAIA have been announced by the GCAA. A total of 138 players in Division I, 49 in Division II and three in NAIA earned the honor. Additionally, 20 honorees were added to the previously released Division III Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars. To be eligible for Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar status an individual must be a junior or senior academically, compete in at least two full years at the collegiate level, participate in 70-percent of his team’s competitive rounds or compete in the NCAA Championships, have a stroke-average under 76.0 in Division I, 78.0 in Division II and NAIA and 79.0 in Division III, and maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 in Division I, II and III and 3.5 in NAIA. A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at his college or university. Division I Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars
Derek Adams, Utah
Troy Anderson, Denver
Josh Apple, George Mason
Brendan Barrack, George Washington
Nate Barbee, Kansas
Keith Becker, UALR
Lee Bedford, Wake Forest
Jake Belote, Memphis
Christian Blanchet, South Alabama
Logan Blondell, Georgia Southern
Scott Brace, San Diego
Chris Brant, Iowa
Zahkai Brown, Colorado State
Nicholas Brown, Southern Miss
Max Buckley, SMU
Thomas Buran, Arizona State
Nicholas Carbary, Eastern Michigan
Bud Cauley, Alabama
Colin Chapman, UNC-Greensboro
Sam Chavez, New Mexico
Jeff Clarridge, Detroit Mercy
Eli Cole, TCU
Richard Conlin, Saint Mary’s (Calif.)
Michael Cress, Ohio State
Ian Dahl, Seattle
Chad Day, NC State
Herbert Day, Xavier
Johan de Beer, TCU
Gaston De La Torre, New Mexico State
Matt Deal, Georgia Southern
Trey Del Greco, Vanderbilt
Preston Dembowiak, Liberty
Nicklaus Despain, Weber State
Justin Dorward, Louisville
Brendan Doyle, Columbia
Lloyd du Preez, Arkansas State
Tyler Duncan, Purdue
Josh Dupont, Northwestern
Andres Echavarria, Florida
Anders Engell, Saint Mary’s (Calif.)
Harris English, Georgia
David Erdy, Indiana
Jeff Evans, Southern Utah
Arie Fauzi, Tulsa
Brian Fister, Eastern Kentucky
Kevin Fitzgerald, UC Riverside
Nils Floren, Texas Tech
Alan Fowler, Georgia State
Andrew Frame, Northern Illinois
Dylan Frittelli, Texas
Linus Gillgren, UALR
William Golden, Charlotte
Clark Granum, Columbia
Mitch Gray, Campbell
Austin Gray, Longwood
Tony Grillo, Harvard
Rafael Guerrero, Charlotte
Austin Gutgsell, LSU
Luke Guthrie, Illinois
John Hahn, Kent State
Stephen Hale, California
Hunter Hamrick, Alabama
Ryan Haselden, Vanderbilt
Bo Hoag, Ohio State
Morgan Hoffmann, Oklahoma State
Tom Hoge, TCU
Henrik Holm, Saint Mary’s (Calif.)
Warren Hood, Arkansas State
Brad Hopfinger, Iowa
Mark Hubbard, San Jose State
Mackenzie Hughes, Kent State
Kyle Huus, Gonzaga
Vince India, Iowa
Stephan Jaeger, Chattanooga
Mark Jargren, VCU
Alex Johnson, Pacific
Jeff Karlsson, Kennesaw State
Jake Katz, Binghamton
Jeff Kellen, Illinois State
Devin Komline, East Tennessee State
Kyle Kopsick, Auburn
Scott Landreth, Akron
Scott Langley, Illinois
Olafur Loftsson, Charlotte
Timothy Madigan, New Mexico State
Michael Marks, Oakland
Nyasha Mauchaza, Towson
Thomas McCarthy, Yale
Patrick McCormick, Loyola University Maryland
Eric Meier, Illinois State
C.G. Mercatoris, Robert Morris
Joakim Mikkelsen, Baylor
Jason Millard, Middle Tennessee
Bosten Miller, Marshall
Brad Miller, Richmond
Mat Miller, San Francisco
Kent Monas, Cleveland State
Matt Moot, Campbell
Christopher Mory, Michigan State
Jonnie Motomochi, Oregon State
Lucas Murray, Akron
Henrik Norlander, Augusta State
Paul O’Kane, East Tennessee State
Peter O’Neill, Xavier
Kurt Owen, Weber State
Tomaz Pinheiro, IPFW
Chris Piumelli, South Alabama
Mark Pollak, Harvard
Riley Pumphrey, Oklahoma
Andrew Putnam, Pepperdine
Peter Reilly, Navy
Darren Renwick, Tennessee
Kyle Robbins, Stephen F. Austin
Travis Ross, New Mexico
Scott Roudebush, TCU
Samuel Ryder, Stetson
Michael Sainz, Evansville
Matthew Schovee, SMU
Lorenzo Scotto, Baylor
Cedric Scotto, Southeastern Louisiana
Michael Shrader, Richmond
Scott Smith, Nevada
Brad Smith, Ohio State
Dan Smith, Belmont
Warren Straub, East Carolina
Brian Sunker, Fresno State
Nicholas Tarasiewicz, Utah Valley
Tom Usher, Notre Dame
Felipe Velazquez, UALR
Bank Vongvanij, Florida
David Watkins, East Carolina
Ben Westley, DePaul
James White, Georgia Tech
Michael Whitehead, Rice
Brent Whitehead, Wofford
Scotty Williams, Penn
Peter Wilson, East Tennessee State
Griffin Wood, Evansville
Keaton Woodland, Weber State
Sang Yi, LSU
Michael Young, Longwood
Steve Ziegler, Stanford Division II Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars
Leo Acklin, IUP
Jon Anderson, Upper Iowa
Brian Barhanovich, Western Washington
Chris Becker, St. Mary’s (Texas)
Cyril Bouniol, Abilene Christian
Chris Carlin, Barry
Daniel Castleberry, Barton
Emmanuel Charmat, Concord
Xavier Dailly, Western Washington
Jude Eustaquio, Florida Southern
Eric Frazzetta, Chico State
Luke Fullen, Tusculum
Lawson George, Tusculum
Grant Goforth, Delta State
Jake Greer, North Alabama
Thomas Guste-Pedersen, West Florida
Evan Hanna, Valdosta State
Nick Jarrett, Concordia (Minn.)
Samuel Jernigan, St. Mary’s (Texas)
Matthew Jones, Findlay
Nate Kelly, Saginaw Valley State
Matt Killen, Newberry
Scott Lambert, UNC-Pembroke
Ben Lown, Newberry
Joseph McGeean, Findlay
David McGregor, Post
Eric Meier, Bellarmine
Jeffrey Mocini, Findlay
Brian Morfeld, UCCS
Matt Motes, Armstrong Atlantic State
Riley Piles, Washburn
Zachary Potter, Florida Tech
Casey Pyne, Lewis
Jeff Rein, St. Mary’s (Texas)
Carlos Rodriquez, West Florida
Matthew Rogers, St. Edward’s
Michael Schmitmeyer, Findlay
Teddy Schrier, Cal State Stanislaus
Tyler Shepard, Abilene Christian
Garrett Simons, Ferris State
Austin Smithers, Delta State
Daniel Stapff, Barry
Ryan Terdik, Concord
Matt Vela, St. Mary’s (Texas)
Jordan Walor, UNC-Pembroke
Blair Webb, Indianapolis
Jace Windom, North Alabama
Kyle Wittenbach, Ferris State
Matthew Yonz, Georgia College Additional Division III Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars
Bob Camp, Williams
Nicholas Campbell, Hope
Caleb Chiero, Ohio Wesleyan
Terence Clingman, Trine
Daniel Downey, Wheaton
Cory Henry, Millikin
Brandon Ketron, Roanoke
Jack Killea, Williams
Chase King, DePauw
Alex Klehr, Saint John’s (Minn.)
Andrew Larkin, Occidental
Peter Marsho, Grinnell
Nicholas Mehigan, Texas Lutheran
Jordan Millice, Wittenberg
Steven Moore, Wheaton
Adam Skaff, Roanoke
JB Spillane, Millikin
David Sreiberg, Adrian
Nicholas Szem, Emory
Peter Taylor, Wesleyan
Andrew Thomson, Hope
Jake Wagner, Williams
Ryan Williams, Rochester
Ryan Young, Whitworth NAIA Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars
Johan Andersson, Southern Nazarene
Jeremy Lawson, Lee
Andrew Marco, SCAD Savannah
Sean Metcalf, SCAD Savannah
Matt Milholland, Indiana Wesleyan
Quinn Parker, Malone
Oscar Stark, Oklahoma Christian
Greg Richards, SCAD Savannah

DUBLIN, Ohio – Patrick Cantlay from UCLA, Abilene Christian’s Alex Carpenter, Chris Morris from Centre, Oklahoma Christian’s Oscar Stark and Brandt Garon of Meridian Community College have been named the 2011 Jack Nicklaus Award recipients as the GCAA Collegiate Players of the Year.

Cantlay - The Division I Nicklaus Award recipient - was previously honored with the Phil Mickelson Award presented by the Phil and Amy Mickelson Foundation as the nation’s outstanding freshman and was named a PING First-Team All-America selection. Cantlay recorded four victories during the season. Cantlay also led the Bruins on the year with seven top five finishes and set a new UCLA single season record for stroke-play scoring average at 70.5. He finished the season with the team lead in rounds under par (20), rounds under 70 (17) and top 10 finishes (9). In addition, Cantlay was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, becoming just the second golfer in league history to earn both awards in the same season. He only finished outside the top-10 three times in 12 events this year.

Carpenter won seven tournaments in 2010-11, including six straight. He was a first team All-Lone Star Conference selection as he helped ACU to a third-place finish at the conference championship tournament and placed fourth individually. Four of his wins came in the fall while three tournament titles came during the spring season. Carpenter had three additional top 10 finishes and only placed outside of the top 20 twice in 13 starts. His single-season scoring average of 70.89 in 2010-11 is the lowest single-season scoring average in ACU history. He helped lead the Wildcats to the NCAA Division II South Central/Midwest Region Super Regional championship and a third-place finish at the NCAA Division II national tournament.

A senior from Maysville, Ky., Morris helped lead the Centre men’s golf team to one of their best seasons in school history. He was a team captain for the Colonels and finished the 2011 golf season by winning the NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championship at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, N.C. Morris received the Arnold Palmer Award presented by Callaway for being the national championship medalist and he became a PING First Team All-American for his performance. The victory at the the NCAA Championships was one of eight for Morris in 2010-11. During the season he was also named a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar, a Division III PING All-South Region Team member, and an All-SCAC First-Team member. Additionally, he was selected as the Co-Male Student Athlete of the Year by Centre College.

Stark, a senior for the Eagles and the 2011 NAIA individual national champion, earned the Arnold Palmer Award presented by Callaway and was named a PING First-Team All-America selection for the third straight year. He was also a third-team selection as a freshmen to become a four-time honoree. Additionally, Stark earned his second NAIA Scholar-Athlete award after maintaining a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. He had two other wins - the Texoma Championship and UST Mamiya Championship - in addition to earning NAIA national medalist honors. Stark recorded eight top 10 finishes in 10 events this season. Stark is the only individual champion in the program’s history and one of three athletes in school history to be a member of two national championship teams.

In 2011, Garon won four events - the Wallace State Fall Invitational, Preview at the Point, Arkansas State Red Wolf Intercollegiate and the NJCAA District IV Championship. He posted a team best 72.36 scoring average and had 16 rounds of even par or lower. Garon was named a PING First-Team All-America selection, as well as PING All-Region, for the second consecutive year. In addition to his four victories, Garon also had one runner-up finish and was named to an event’s all-tournament team eight times in 13 events.

Jack Nicklaus, a Big Ten and NCAA Champion at The Ohio State University, helped inspire and create the Jack Nicklaus Award in 1988. Mr. Nicklaus recognized the recipients during the final round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, just outside of Nicklaus’ hometown of Columbus.

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