BROKEN ARROW, Okla. – On the eve of the 2024 Great American Conference Men’s Golf Championships, the league held its awards banquet. Harding’s Sam Tandy claimed Player of the Year while his teammate, Jose Arzu, garnered Freshman of the Year. Southern Arkansas’ Neriah Brown won the first Coach of the Year Award of his career. Southwestern Oklahoma State’s Lukas Hendricks, owner of a perfect 4.00 GPA, received the Elite Scholar Athlete Award – Presented by Conway Regional Health System.
Tandy, the unanimous choice as Player of the Year, became the first Bison lauded as the conference’s top player. Tandy notched eight top-10 finishes in nine starts. He claimed medalist honors at the NCAA Regional Preview. He finished under par in 20 of his 26 rounds. He finished the regular season ranked as the No. 2 player in the region and the No. 11 player across Division II.
Arzu became the fourth Bison named Freshman of the Year in the last five seasons. Arzu finished his spring season by registering three consecutive top-seven finishes. His best result came at the The Showdown at Shangri La when he took third.
Brown guided the Muleriders to a No. 39 national ranking and the No. 3 position in the Central Region entering the GAC Championships. They won team titles at Tulsa Cup and the Arkansas Collegiate.
In addition to Tandy, Southern Arkansas’ Caleb Miller and Henderson State’s Ethan Wilkins made the All-GAC First Team by unanimous consent. Miller collected four top-10 finishes, including a victory at the Arkansas Collegiate. Wilkins tallied five top-10 results in his 10 tournaments. He won the Derrall Foreman Invitational. SAU’s Logan McDonald and Arkansas Tech’s Jackson Cole rounded out the First Team. McDonald placed inside the top 10 five times while Cole never finished outside the top 25 and he picked up a victory at The Hillcat Classic.
Arzu headlined the All-GAC Second Team. Three from Henderson State – Nathan Cossement, Alex Hadden and Miller Harris – made the team as well as SAU’s Connor Harrington.
The All-GAC Honorable Mention Team consisted of Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Dalton McGinnis and Jesse Rouse, Arkansas-Monticello’s Owen Page, Harding’s Dennis Staykov, Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Max Courange, SAU’s Wil Griffin and Southern Nazarene’s Sam Schmidt.
A total of 14 student-athletes earned the Distinguished Scholar Athlete award – Presented by Conway Regional Health System in Harding’s Tandy, SAU’s Harrington, Southern Nazarene’s Schmidt, UAM’s Ethan Bearden and Aiden Rooke, Harding’s Finlay Cummings and Leo Maciejek, Southern Nazarene’s Landon Hendrix and Southern Nazarene, Arkansas Tech’s Oscar Darlington, Henderson State’s Ratio Visuttipinate, Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Davan Smith, Southern Arkansas’ Colby Light and SWOSU’s Cameron Gallagher.
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