FRISCO, Texas – Southeastern's Charlie Forster was named the Southland Conference Men's Golfer of the Year as the annual men's golf superlative awards and all-Conference teams were announced Thursday.
Joining Forster as award winners were conference medalist Stefan Jacobs of Augusta as Freshman of the Year, UIW's Angel Guerra as newcomer of the Year, and Augusta's Steven Paine as Coach of the Year.
Forster wins Player of the Year honors after leading the Southland in scoring average with a 71.48 stroke average across 25 rounds. He had six top 10 finishes in eight events, including the championship at the SIUE Derek Dolenc Invitational in the fall, and runner-up honors at the Southland Championships in San Antonio last week. He is the sixth Southeastern Lion to win Southland Player of the Year honors and first since 2012 (Grant White in 1998, Jacques Chevalier in 2000, Cedric Scotto in 2009, Alvaro Arizabaleta in 2010, Philipp Westermann in 2012).
Conference medalist Jacobs is the second consecutive Augusta Jaguar to win Southland Freshman of the Year. He ranked second in the conference in scoring average at 72.17 with a win at 13-under par at the SLC Championships threatening the all-time tournament scoring record - winning by six strokes.
Guerra is UIW's first Newcomer of the Year in men's golf, ranking 11th in the conference in scoring average at 73.54 with a low round of 67.
Paine led the Jaguars to a great season with an average of 291.59 and their first Southland Championship to win Coach of the Year honors. The Jags will represent the Southland in the NCAA Tournament as the 12th seed at the Auburn Regional.
Joining Forster and Jacobs on the All-Southland First Team are Augusta's Behn Heyns, Nicholls' Braxton Kuntz, and Lamar's Carl Hardin.
The second team consists of Francis Marion's Grant Sellers, UIW's Joe Buenfeld, Lamar's Hugo Hellman, New Orleans' Ryan Fulton, and Nicholls' Ryan O'Neil.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Charlie Forster, Southeastern
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Stefan Jacobs, Augusta
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Angel Guerra, UIW
COACH OF THE YEAR: Steven Paine, Augusta
FIRST TEAM
| Player |
School |
Yr. |
Hometown |
| Charlie Forster |
Southeastern |
So. |
Winchester, England |
| Stefan Jacobs * |
Augusta |
Fr. |
Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Behn Heyns |
Augusta |
Fr. |
Pretoria, South Africa |
| Braxton Kuntz |
Nicholls |
So. |
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Carl Hardin |
Lamar |
Jr. |
Loddekopinge, Sweden |
SECOND TEAM
| Player |
School |
Yr. |
Hometown |
| Grant Sellers |
Francis Marion |
Sr. |
McBee, S.C. |
| Joe Buenfeld |
UIW |
So. |
Southampton, England |
| Hugo Hellman |
Lamar |
Gr. |
Salem, Sweden |
| Ryan Fulton |
New Orleans |
Jr. |
Crowley, La. |
| Ryan O'Neil |
Nicholls |
Sr. |
Charlotte, N.C. |
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