NORMAN, Okla. - The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) released the 2023 Division III PING All-American honorees Tuesday, and four Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) men's golfers were recognized.
Trinity University’s Daniel Nunez secured Third Team All-American honors, while Schreiner University’s Zhao Yung Gu, Southwestern University’s Christian Rodriguez and Trinity's Jacob Mason earned Honorable Mention All-American honors following their participation at the 2022 NCAA Division III National Championship last month.
This year marks the first time since 2015 the SCAC has landed four athletes on the GCAA All-American squad.
Nunez, a senior from Los Angeles, Calif., returns to the All-American team after earning Third Team honors back in 2020. Both Nunez and Mason are the first Tigers to earn multiple All-American honors in program history. Nunez led the Tigers to their second appearance at the NCAA III Championships in the last three years, earning All-SCAC honors three times in his career. He finished in a tie for second place at this year's SCAC Championships for his best career finish, highlighted by an opening-round score of 64 – breaking the conference single-round record. In addition to First Team All-SCAC honors this spring, Nunez was also a two-time SCAC Golfer of the Week who completed the year with a 72.83 scoring average over 23 rounds.
Yung Gu, a senior from Weihai, China, is the first Mountaineer to earn All-American honors since Phillip Stewart secured Second Team honors in 2016. The 2023 SCAC Individual Medalist, Yung Gu finished the year with an adjusted scoring average of 73.09 and led Schreiner to a runner-up team finish at the conference championships back in April. A two-time All-SCAC performer, Yung Gu also earned the prestigious SCAC Elite 19 award this year.
Rodriguez, a senior from Houston, Texas, is making his second-straight appearance on the GCAA Honorable Mention team. He is just the second Pirate in program history to earn back-to-back All-American honors, joining Cade Osgood who earned three-straight accolades from 2018-2020. Rodriguez, the 2022 SCAC Individual Medalist, closed out his senior year ranked 70th in the most recent Golfstat.com rankings with an impressive 72.78 adjusted scoring average.
Mason, a sophomore from Westminter, Colorado joins Rodriguez in making his second-straight apperance on the GCAA HM team. He is the first Tiger in program history to earn All-American honors in back-to-back years. A three-time SCAC Golfer-of-the-Week honoree this past year, Mason led Trinity with a 72.17 adjusted scoring average and earn medalist honors twice during the season.
To view the entire 2023 Division III PING All-American honorees, click here.
