Gamecocks Honored as GCAA All-Academic Team

July 27, 2016

NORMAN, Okla. — The University of South Carolina men’s golf program was honored as a Golf Coaches Association All-Academic Team, the organization announced today. The Gamecocks were one of 41 programs in all of collegiate golf to earn President’s Special Recognition status.

In order to qualify as an All-Academic Team, a program must post a GPA of 3.0 or higher for the season. The Gamecocks received President’s Special Recognition by ending the season with a cumulative GPA above 3.5. Only three teams from the SEC received the distinguished honor.

Three Gamecocks — graduated seniors Sean Kelly, Matt NeSmith and Will Starke — were honored by the GCAA as Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars last week. The trio was joined by Ben Dietrich, Brendan Gramley, Keenan Huskey and Alex Handy on the SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll. Freshmen Will Miles, Ryan Stachler and Scott Stevens earned spots on the conference’s First-Year Academic Honor Roll.

Led by their seniors, the 2015-16 Gamecocks won four tournaments and finished seventh in the stroke play portion of the 2016 NCAA Championship, a program best. Head Coach Bill McDonald’s team advanced to match play for the first time and ended the season ranked 10th in the nation by Golfstat.