June 25, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina juniors Will Starke and Matt NeSmith have been named PING All-Americans, the Golf Coaches Association of America announced Thursday.

Starke earned a spot on the second team, while NeSmith is a third-team selection. It marks the third-straight year a Gamecock golfer has been on one of the PING All-American teams.

The All-American honor is the second for Starke, who was also a second-team selection by Golfweek this season. NeSmith now has three career All-American honors after earning third-team honors from Golfweek this season and PING Honorable Mention honors as a freshman.

With Starke and NeSmith leading the way, the Gamecocks turned in one of the greatest seasons in program history in 2014-15, winning a school record five tournament titles, recording a school-record 10 top-five finishes and shattering the school record for team scoring average in a season by more than four strokes (282.85).

A native of Chapin, S.C., Starke led the team with a stroke average of 70.27, which is the lowest for a single season in school history. He finished 16th or better in 10 of 12 events this season, including one tournament win, and matched the school record for top-five finishes in a season with six. He placed 16th at the NCAA Championship with a 72-hole total of 289 (+1). Starke, a first-team All-SEC selection and PING All-Southeast Region selection, shot under par in 26 of 37 rounds this season, including 19 rounds in the 60s.

A first-team All-SEC and PING All-Southeast Region selection, NeSmith finished with a season stroke average of 70.51, which ranks second in program history for a single season. He finished in the top 20 in eight of 12 tournaments, including two tournament wins. He became just the second Gamecock to win an SEC title as he claimed a six-stroke victory at the SEC Championship with a school-record 54-hole total of 196 (-14). A native of North Augusta, S.C., NeSmith posted 18 rounds under par, including 14 rounds in the 60s.

PING ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS
First Team
Bryson Dechambeau, SMU
Gavin Green, New Mexico
Beau Hossler, Texas
Lee McCoy, Georgia
Maverick McNealy, Stanford
Cheng-Tsung Pan, Washington
Jon Rahm, Arizona State
Max Rottluff, Arizona State
Ollie Schniederjans, Georgia Tech
Robby Shelton, Alabama
Hunter Stewart, Vanderbilt

Second Team
Brian Campbell, Illinois
Charlie Danielson, Illinois
Thomas Detry, Illinois
Jonathan Garrick, UCLA
Kyle Jones, Baylor
Hank Lebioda, Florida State
Jack Maguire, Florida State
Scottie Scheffler, Texas
Clement Sordet, Texas Tech
Will Starke, South Carolina

Third Team
Sean Crocker, Southern California
Michael Gellerman, Oklahoma
Denny McCarthy, Virginia
Adrian Meronk, East Tennessee State
Matt NeSmith, South Carolina
JT Poston, Western Carolina
Xander Schauffele, San Diego State
Matthias Schwab, Vanderbilt
Zach Seabolt, Winthrop
Will Zalatoris, Wake Forest

Honorable Mention
Anders Albertson, Georgia Tech
Rowin Caron, Florida State
Trevor Cone, Virginia Tech
Claudio Correa, USF
Riley Davenport, Charlotte
Mookie DeMoss, Georgia
Paul Dunne, UAB
Rigel Fernandes, USF
Doug Ghim, Texas
Ben Griffin, North Carolina
Gavin Hall, Texas
Blair Hamilton, Houston
Zach Healy, Georgia
Grant Hirschman, Oklahoma
Rico Hoey, Southern California
Zack Jaworski, Vanderbilt
Chase Koepka, USF
Brandon Matthews, Temple
Byron Meth, Pacific
Taylor Moore, Arkansas
Jordan Niebrugge, Oklahoma State
John Oda, UNLV
Brandon Pierce, LSU
Andrew Presley, TCU
Eric Ricard, LSU
Robin Sciot-Siegrist, Louisville
JD Tomlinson, Florida
Scott Vincent, Virginia Tech
Scott Wolfes, Georgia Southern
Zach Wright, LSU