April 30, 2012

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina’s Caleb Sturgeon has been named to the SEC Men’s Golf All-Freshman Team, the conference announced Monday.

Sturgeon, a native of Laurens, S.C., was second on the team and 23rd in the SEC with a scoring average of 72.58, which ranks second all-time for a freshman at South Carolina.

“We are really happy for Caleb,” South Carolina head coach Bill McDonald said. “It’s a great honor to be named to the SEC All-Freshman Team considering the strength of our conference and the level of play we have from top to bottom. To make the team after playing only one event in the fall speaks volumes to how hard he’s worked and how great he’s been for us this spring.”

Sturgeon was one of the most consistent golfers for the Gamecocks this season as he played in eight events and finished inside the top-20 on four occasions, including one top-five showing and two top-10 finishes. He was the top finisher for Carolina in four of the seven events in the spring. His second-round 67 at the Chris Schenkel Invitational tied for the lowest round by a Gamecock this season, while his 54-hole score of 213 at the Palmetto Intercollegiate ranks third on the team.

Alabama led the way with three first team All-SEC selections while also claiming Coach of the Year (Jay Seawell), Golfer of the Year (Justin Thomas) and Freshman of the Year (Justin Thomas). Arkansas’s Austin Cook was named Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Sturgeon and the Gamecocks will find out their postseason destination when the NCAA Regional pairings are announced on May 7. Carolina could end up at one of six locations, including Greensboro, N.C., Athens, Ga., Ann Arbor, Mich., Bowling Green, Ky., Norman, Okla. and Stanford, Calif.

2012 SEC MEN’S GOLF AWARDS
Coach of the Year: Jay Seawell, Alabama
Golfer of the Year: Justin Thomas, Alabama
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Austin Cook, Arkansas
Freshman of the Year: Justin Thomas, Alabama

First Team All-SEC
Justin Thomas, Alabama
T.J. Vogel, Florida
Blayne Barber, Auburn
Cory Whitsett, Alabama
Bobby Wyatt, Alabama
Ethan Tracy, Arkansas
Sang Yi, LSU
Sebastian Cappelen, Arkansas

Second Team All-SEC
Dominic Bozzelli, Auburn
Joe David, Ole Miss
Niclas Carlsson, Auburn
Hunter Hamrick, Alabama
Will McCurdy, Auburn
Garrick Porteous, Tennessee
Tyler McCumber, Florida
Andrew Presley, LSU
Chad Ramey, Mississippi State

All-Freshman Team
Justin Thomas, Alabama
Michael Johnson, Auburn
Nicholas Reach, Georgia
Kolton Crawford, Arkansas
J.D. Tomlinson, Florida
Caleb Sturgeon, South Carolina