Mathers, Whitton and Schreyer lead All-Conference team for Hawks
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Huntingdon men's golf team swept the individual honors and had a total of four golfers named All-Conference with the release of the USA South Athletic Conference golf awards on Thursday.
Junior Drew Mathers was named Player of the Year, freshman Carson Whitton was named Rookie of the Year and Dave Schreyer was named Coach of the Year. This is just the third time in the history of the USA South golf awards that one team has swept all three awards.
Mathers and seniors Stephen Shephard and Henry Gee each earned first-team All-Conference honors. Whitton was named second-team All-Conference. Senior Mark Connelly was named to the All-Sportsmanship team.
This is the first time Mathers has earned Player of the Year honors and the second time a Huntingdon golfer has earned the recognition in the past three seasons. Whitton's selection as Rookie of the Year is the second time a Hawk has earned the award.
Former Hawk Addison Lambeth was Huntingdon's first Player of the Year in 2017 and Shephard was Huntingdon's first Rookie of the Year in 2016.
This is the third time Schreyer has been named USA South Coach of the Year. Schreyer was also Coach of the Year in 2016 and 2017. This season, the second-ranked Hawks are averaging 288.7 strokes per round in 24 rounds. In nine tournaments this season, the Hawks have four wins, three second-place finishes and have finished in the top six in every event.
Mathers, an honorable mention All-Conference selection last season, is the second-ranked golfer in Division III this season. He leads the USA South with an average of 71.43 in 21 rounds this season, has six rounds in the 60s and has shot par-or-better 15 times. The 15 rounds are one short of the Hawks' NCAA-era record. His 24 career rounds of par-or-better are the third most for the Hawks during the NCAA era.
Mathers has two tournament wins this season and has finished first or second in his last four tournaments, winning the O'Briant-Jensen Memorial and the Wynlakes Intercollegiate and placing second in the Savannah Harbor Classic and the Jekyll Island Collegiate Invitational. He has finished in the top-six in five of eight tournaments this season.
This is the fourth season Shephard has been recognized by the USA South. After being named Rookie of the Year in 2016, Shephard was an honorable mention selection in 2017 and a first-team selection last season.
Shephard is the third-ranked golfer in Division III and has a scoring average of 71.46 in 24 rounds this season. He has fired eight rounds in the 60s, including a career best 66 in two rounds this season. His 15 rounds of par-or-better are tied with Mathers for the second most in a season by a Hawk during the NCAA era. Shephard's 34 career rounds of par-or-better are the most by a Hawk during the NCAA era.
Shephard has two wins this season, winning the Jekyll Island Collegiate Invitational and the Emory Invitational and has finished in the top-six in six of nine tournaments. His 12-under-par 204 at Jekyll Island set Huntingdon's NCAA-era record for 54 holes.
This is Gee's first All-Conference recognition. The 25th-ranked golfer in Division III, Gee is averaging 72.83 in 24 rounds this season. He has three rounds in the 60s this season and 10 rounds of par-or-better.
Gee placed second in the Rhodes Fall Classic and tied for second in the Wynlakes Intercollegiate. He has finished in the top eight in five of nine tournaments. In the Rhodes Fall Classic, Gee turned in Huntingdon's second best 54-hole total during the NCAA era with an 11-under 205.
In his first season of collegiate golf, Whitton leads USA South freshmen with a 73.48 scoring average in 21 rounds. Whitton has turned in one round in the 60s and has eight rounds of par-or-better. He had his best finish in the Wynlakes Intercollegiate, tying for second.
To view the complete All-Conference awards, click here.