Three Huntingdon golfers named to Ping All-America teams
NORMAN, Okla. – Three Huntingdon golfers were recognized with the release of the Golf Coaches Association of America's Division III Ping All-America teams.
Senior Drew Mathers was named a first-team All-America selection and junior Owen Burt and sophomore Carson Whitton were named honorable mention selections.
This is the second straight season Mathers has earned first-team All-America honors.
The three Hawks helped lead Huntingdon to another successful season and a No. 2 ranking in the final Bushnell Golfweek Coaches Division III Poll and the Golfstat Division Top-25 poll.
In six events during the fall and spring, Huntingdon placed third or better five times with one win, three second-place finishes and one third-place finish. The team's scoring average of 285.65 in 17 rounds was on pace to break the program's NCAA-era season record of 288.61 per round. The 288.61 was set last season in 31 rounds.
This season the team also turned in two of the program's top-three single round performances during the NCAA era, the best round versus par of the NCAA era, three of the top four two-round totals of the NCAA era and the Hawks' best three-round total of the NCAA era.
Mathers, who was ranked No. 1 in the Division III Golfstat rankings for much of the season, was the only Division III golfer named to the initial Ben Hogan Award watch list. During the shortened season, he averaged 69.29 per round in 17 rounds and was on pace to break the program's NCAA-era record of 71.18 (in 28 rounds) that he set as a junior.
In his 17 rounds this season, he turned in 13 rounds of par or better, including eight rounds in the 60s. Four of those rounds ranked in the top-six for Huntingdon during the NCAA era. After setting the program's NCAA-era record for 72 holes as a junior, as a senior he twice tied the program's NCAA-era single-round record of 64 and set the program's NCAA-era record for 36 holes and 54 holes. Huntingdon's NCAA-era career leader in wins (six), he placed in the top-three in 10 of his last 12 tournaments (five wins, four second-place finishes and one third place finish).
In his first season with Huntingdon, Burt averaged 72.29 in 17 rounds, shot eight rounds of par or better, including a season-best 6-under-par 66 in the Savannah Invitational. Burt had two top-10 finishes, including a tie for fifth in the Savannah Invitational and a tie for 10th in the Rhodes College Fall Classic.
Whitton, in his second season with the program, averaged 72.47 in 17 rounds with seven rounds of par or better, three rounds in the 60s and a career-best 4-under 68 in the Gordin Classic. Whitton had two top-10 finishes with a tie for fourth in the Rhodes College Fall Classic and a tie for 10th in the Gordin Classic.
Ten golfers from the USA South Athletic Conference were recognized on the All-America teams.
To view the complete All-America teams, click here.