May 29, 2008

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina senior Mark Anderson and sophomore George Bryan IV earned spots on the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) PING All-Southeast Region team, the organization announced today. It is the second career selection for both players, who also collected All-Southeastern Conference honors earlier this season. It marks the first time the Gamecocks have had two players on the team in the same season since Martin Rominger and Eirik Johansen earned spots in 2004.

“Everyone associated with the men’s golf program is proud of both Mark and George for the great seasons they had,” South Carolina head coach Bill McDonald said. “It speaks highly of our program to have two players named all-region. Both Mark and George have represented the University of South Carolina with class and great performances the entire year. It is rewarding for all of us to see their hard work and dedication pay off with this award.”

Anderson collected seven top-20 finishes this season, including six this spring, and was not out of the top 25 in nine of his 10 tournaments. He cracked the top 10 for the first time this season with a ninth-place showing at the John Hayt Invitational to open spring play and finished a season-best sixth at the Administaff Augusta State Invitational heading into the SEC Championship. In his final conference event, Anderson rallied back from a first-round setback to take 15th place. Anderson finished the season with a career-best 72.00 average to rank sixth in the SEC. He closed his four-year career with a 73.72 stroke average.

An honorable mention All-America last season, Bryan picked up his second all-region award in as many seasons. With a 72.47 average, he finished the season ranked 15th in the SEC. After opening the season in third place at the Carpet Capital Collegiate, Bryan tied for second in the SEC Championship, becoming the best-placed Gamecock at the event since Kyle Thompson finished in the same position in 1999. Bryan picked up his first collegiate victory in the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational in mid-March, earning National Player of the Week honors from both Golfweek and GolfWorld. His total of 208 at the event is among the top 15 tournament scores in school history, as is his second-round 66.

The GCAA selects nine all-region teams, each of which has a minimum of 15 members. All members of the PING All-Region teams are eligible for PING All-America honors.

GCAA PING All-Southeast Region
Mark Anderson, South Carolina
Jonas Blixt, Florida State
Tyler Brown, Florida
George Bryan IV, South Carolina
Jon Curran, Vanderbilt
Harris English, Georgia
Charles Ford, Tennessee
Noah Goldman, Mississippi State
Brian Harman, Georgia
Mark Harrell, Alabama
Russell Henley, Georgia
Billy Herschel, Florida
Matt Hughes, Alabama
Adam Mitchell, Georgia
Jay Moseley, Auburn
Glenn Northcutt, Auburn
Philip Pettit, Tennessee
Matt Savage, Florida State
Tom Sherreard, Georgia State
Joel Sjoholm, Georgia State
Brad Smith, UAB
Zack Sucher, UAB
Hudson Swafford, Georgia
Matthew Swan, Alabama
Joseph Sykora, Alabama
Michael Thompson, Alabama
Jose Toledo, New Orleans
Manuel Villegas, Florida