The Oglethorpe men's golf team rolled in the All-SAA accolades again this week, as senior Anthony Maccaglia earned his second consecutive SAA Men's Golfer of the Year award and head coach Jim Owen earned his third consecutive SAA Men's Golf Coach of the Year award after last weekend's SAA Championship at Old Fort Golf Course in Murfreesboro, Tenn. In addition, the Stormy Petrels saw four golfers make All-SAA teams, with Maccaglia and freshman Michael Sheahan earning All-SAA First Team honors and junior David Kleckner and freshman Matt Young taking All-SAA Second Team accolades.
Maccaglia continues his brilliant career by taking his second straight SAA Men's Golfer of the Year award and earning a spot on the All-SAA First Team for the third straight year. In addition, he's now earned first team all-conference accolades in all four years on campus after taking All-SCAC First Team honors his freshman year. This year, Maccaglia is again the top-ranked individual player in Division III golf with an average score almost a stroke lower than his closest competitor. He was named a finalist for the Byron Nelson Award this year, which is an all-divisions honor recognizing golf ability, citizenship and sportsmanship. He also won three individual medals over the course of the fall and spring seasons while garnering six SAA Men's Golfer of the Week awards. For his career, he's won 11 tournament medals and 13 total individual medals while taking home 16 conference men's golfer of the week awards.
Owen has now won the SAA Men's Golf Coach of the Year honor in each year it has been handed out. He has accrued 14 overall conference coach of the year awards dating back to the SCAC. This season, he led a team that is currently ranked No. 1 in the Bushnell Golfweek Division III Coaches Poll. They have held the top spot in five of the eight polls released this season, and were No. 2 in the other three. Owen has led the team to three tournament championships this season with victories at the Tournament Town Championship Preview in Greensboro, N.C., September 21-22; the program's own Royal Lakes/Oglethorpe Fall Invitational in Flowery Branch, Ga., October 6-7; and the Camp Lejeune Championship in Jacksonville, N.C., for the third straight time March 27-29. The team did not finish lower than fifth in any event this season.
"It is an honor to be recognized by my peers in the conference as coach of the year this year," said Owen. "We were ranked No. 1 or 2 for the whole season and congratulations have to be shared with this team. I think the rest of the league and the nation thought we would be vulnerable with the graduation losses we suffered last year. However, the three freshmen stepped in right where we left off and I appreciate the coaches in our league recognizing the great job the guys did this year."
Sheahan had an excellent freshman season for the Petrels himself. He finished tied for fifth at the SAA Championship this past weekend and was named the SAA Co-Men's Golfer of the Week after his third-place finish at the Emory Spring Invitational in Adairsville, Ga., April 6-7. He finished in the Top 5 at his final three events to wrap up the regular season and is the eighth-rated golfer in the SAA according to Golfstat's individual rankings.
Kleckner finished tied for 10th at the SAA Championship this weekend and is currently ranked No. 21 in the nation as an individual according to the Golfstat rankings. That puts him as the second-ranked player in the SAA behind only Maccaglia. His performance at the SAA Championship marked his third Top 10 finish of the season with a high of second place at the Royal Lakes/Oglethorpe Fall Invitational. He was named SAA Co-Men's Golfer of the Week with Maccaglia after that event.
Young played consistently well over the course of his freshman season. He finished tied for seventh at the SAA Championship this past weekend with a one over par weekend that featured two even-par 72 performances on back-to-back days. That was his best finish of the season, though he also garnered two other Top 20 finishes over the course of the year. He finished 12th at the prestigious Gordin Classic in Columbus, Ohio, September 29-30 and came in tied for 20th at the Camp Lejeune Championship in March. He's currently the 10th-ranked golfer in the SAA according to the Golfstat individual rankings.
"It's a sign of a strong and deep program to have multiple All-SAA honorees," Owen continued. "This is the fifth year in a row we have had four or more all-conference golfers make first or second team. Maccaglia's second consecutive player of the year award was not much of a surprise since he was ranked No. 1 in the nation all year. He was ranked in the Top 50 of the Golfstat Cup rankings for most of year, as well, with individuals from all divisions. He is winding up a very special career."
The Petrels will now wait for a likely at-large invitation to the NCAA Division III Championship at Grandover Resort in Greensboro, N.C., May 12-15. The tournament field will be announced on Monday and if Oglethorpe is selected, it will be their 16th consecutive NCAA championship appearance. They won the 2009 and 2012 national championships and finished as the national runner-up last year. The program has four Top 5 finishes at the event, with a fourth-place finish in 2006.
