Oregon sweeps Pac-12 Men's Golf honors
CLARK NAMED MEN’S GOLFER OF THE YEAR
XIONG NAMED FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
MARTIN TABBED COACH OF THE YEAR
SAN FRANCISCO — Wyndham Clark of OREGON was named the Pac-12 Men’s Golfer of the Year, teammate Norman Xiong was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, and OREGON coach Casey Martin was tabbed Pac-12 Coach of the Year in a voting by the Pac-12 men’s golf coaches. In addition, the 2017 All-Pac-12 Men’s Golf Team as selected by the coaches was announced.
Clark, who hails from Denver, Colo., becomes just the third men’s golfer in school history to earn the Conference honor, joining Brent Murray (1978) and Eugene Wong (2010, 2012). He posted top 10 finishes in 10 of 11 events played this season, included top three finishes in seven events. Clark stood atop the leaderboard three times this season with wins at the Arizona Intercollegiate, Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate and the recently completed Pac-12 Championships. A finalist for the Hogan Award given annually to the nation’s top collegiate golfer, Clark currently leads the nation in stroke average (69.45). He shot 69 or better in 18 of 28 rounds played this season, including all three rounds of the Pac-12 Championship – the only player in the field to accomplish that feat.
Xiong, from Canyon Lake, Calif., not only earned Freshman of the Year honors, but also was a first team all-conference selection. He becomes the first Duck to be tabbed Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. Xiong had six top 10 finishes in eight events this season for the Ducks with his best finish coming in the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate where he finished tied for medalist honors with teammate Wyndham Clark. He posted eight rounds in the 60s, including a final round 69 at the Pac-12 Championships where he finished tied for 14th to help the Ducks capture the Pac-12 title. He’s currently ranked 19th in Golfstat scoring average (70.38), which is second among all freshmen.
Martin, earns his second Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor (also in 2010). He joins Scott Nosler (1997), Scott Kreiger (1985), and Jim Ferguson (1976, 1977) as the only other Oregon coaches to have earned the honor. In his 11th year as head coach, he has guided the Ducks to their first Pac-12 title since Oregon won the North Division crown in 1977, and their first outright league title since 1959. Currently ranked No. 9 by Golfweek, Oregon has posted a top five finish in all 11 events this season under Martin, including victories in five of the last eight tournaments. During the 2016-17 season, Martin has mentored Pac-12 Golfer of the Year Wyndham Clark and Freshman of the Year Norman Xiong, both first team all-conference selections, as well as second team members Ryan Gronlund and Edwin Yi.
The Pac-12 golf awards and the All-Pac-12 Team are voted on by the Conference head golf coaches. Following is the complete list of honors:
All-Pac-12 First Team
Name School Year Hometown
Wyndham Clark Oregon Sr. Denver, Colo.
Sean Crocker USC Jr. Westlake Village, Calif.
Rico Hoey USC Sr. Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Maverick McNealy Stanford Sr. Portola Valley, Calif.
Collin Morikawa California So. La Cañada Flintridge, Calif.
Justin Suh USC So. San Jose, Calif.
Jared du Toit Arizona State Sr. Kimberley, British Columbia
Norman Xiong Oregon Fr. Canyon Lake, Calif.
All-Pac-12 Second Team
Name School Year Hometown
Ryan Gronlund Oregon RSo. Pleasanton, Calif.
Franklin Huang Stanford Jr. Poway, Calif.
Corey Pereira Washington Sr. Cameron Park, Calif.
Brandon Wu Stanford So. Danville, Calif.
Edwin Yi Oregon So. Beaumont, Calif.
Hidetoshi Yoshihara UCLA Fr. Irvine, Calif.
Chun An Yu Arizona State Fr. Taoyuan, Taiwan
Carl Yuan Washington So. Orlando, Fla.
Honorable Mention: Viraat Badhwar, Sr., STAN; Tyler Collier, Jr., UCLA; Ethan Freeman, Sr., COLO; Cheng Jin, Fr., USC; Cole Madey, So., UCLA; Isaiah Salinda, So., STAN; Jonah Texeira, Jr., USC.
Pac-12 All-Freshman Team
Name School Year Hometown
Cheng Jin USC Fr. Beijing, China
Alex Del Rey Gonzalez Arizona State Fr. Madrid, Spain
Norman Xiong Oregon Fr. Canyon Lake, Calif.
Hidetoshi Yoshihara UCLA Fr. Irvine, Calif.
Chun An Yu Arizona State Fr. Taoyuan, Taiwan
Honorable Mention: Henry Lee, Washington.
Pac-12 Player of the Year: Wyndham Clark, Oregon
Pac-12 Freshman of the Year: Norman Xiong, Oregon
Pac-12 Coach of the Year: Casey Martin, Oregon
* It’s the third time a school has swept all three honors. Arizona accomplished the feat in 2004, UCLA in 2011.