ARLINGTON, Texas – The major award winners and all-conference teams for the 2023 WAC men’s golf season were revealed on Tuesday. Sam Houston’s Bret Gray was named WAC Player of the Year, NM State’s Javier Delgadillo earned WAC Freshman of the Year and Grand Canyon’s Mark Mueller and Utah Valley’s Chris Curran were voted by their peers as the WAC Coaches of the Year.
Player awards and the all-conference teams were tabulated by using a formula that included pre-championship Golfstat and Golfweek player rankings, adjusted regular season scoring average and placement at the 2023 WAC Men’s Golf Championship. Eight players comprised the all-conference first team and eight players made up the second team.
Gray finished solo third at the 2023 WAC Men’s Championship, firing rounds of 66-68-71 to finish as one of four players double digits under par at 11-under, 205. Grey was a two-time medalist during his sophomore season, capturing the Bluejack National Shootout against Houston in September and the Bayou City Classic in February. Gray improved to 120th in NCAA Division I following the WAC tournament according to Golfstat, boasting eight top-10 showings across 2022-23.
Delgadillo shared sixth place at the 2023 WAC Men’s Championship with a total score of 208 (69-69-70, -8). Delgadillo fashioned three top 10s in the second half of his debut season, earning a tie for third place at the Las Vegas Intercollegiate in March for his best collegiate result.
Mueller led GCU to its first WAC men’s team championship in golf, equaling the tournament record with a 54-hole score of 830 (280-273-277, -34) last weekend at Boulder Creek Golf Club. The Lopes have finished in the top three of the WAC tournament each season since officially debuting in 2018. GCU has logged five top-10 finishes thus far this season, including an additional team victory at the Visit Stockton Invitational in October.
Curran guided Utah Valley to a fifth-place finish at the 2023 WAC Men’s Championship, with the Wolverines matching GCU for the low round of the tournament with a 15-under-par 273 during the second round. Utah Valley claimed three team victories during the season, winning the Pat Hicks Invitational and Loyola Intercollegiate in February and the UC Santa Barbara Intercollegiate earlier this month as part of nine team top 10s.
Sam Houston led all WAC men’s golf programs with five all-conference performers, including two players on the first team. Grand Canyon and Seattle U each boasted three honorees, while NM State and Utah Valley each added two all-conference qualifiers. Tarleton rounded out the 2023 all-conference representatives.
2023 WAC Men’s Golf Season Awards
2023 WAC Men’s Golf Player of the Year
Bret Gray, So, Sam Houston
2023 WAC Men’s Golf Freshman of the Year
Javier Delgadillo, NM State
2023 WAC Men’s Golf Coaches of the Year
Mark Mueller, Grand Canyon
Chris Curran, Utah Valley
2023 WAC Men’s Golf All-Conference First Team
Parker Reddig, Sr, Grand Canyon
Garrison Smith, Sr, NM State
Aidan Thomas, Jr, NM State
Bret Gray, So, Sam Houston
Jack Randle, Sr, Sam Houston
Nathan Cogswell, Sr, Seattle U
Brady McKinlay, Sr, Utah Valley
Caden Weber, Jr, Utah Valley
2023 WAC Men’s Golf All-Conference Second Team
Matthew Braley, Sr, Grand Canyon
Nicky Kling, Jr, Grand Canyon
Josh German, So, Sam Houston
Kristoffer Max, Jr, Sam Houston
Samual McKenzie, Jr, Sam Houston
Liam Gill, So, Seattle U
Jack Rahon, Sr, Seattle U
Jack Anderson, Jr, Tarleton
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