All-SoCon men's golf team announced

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – ETSU senior Kristian Bressum has been named the Southern Conference Men’s Golf Player of the Year, while UNCG’s Jake Lewis have been named the SoCon Freshman of the Year in voting conducted by the league’s eight head coaches. Furman’s Matt Davidson was voted the league’s Coach of the Year.

The league also named a 10-member all-conference team and a five-member all-freshman team, which was voted on by the coaches, who could not vote for their own players or themselves.

Bressum, who is the top ranked SoCon golfer nationally, finished with a stroke average of 70.9, which is tied for first in the league. The senior was the SoCon Player of the Week three times this season, with those recognitions coming on Oct. 2, Nov. 6 and March 5. The native of Randers, Denmark, posted five top-10 finishes, with his best finish coming at the Colleton River Collegiate in March where he finished second. In head-to-head matchups, Bressum grabbed four wins over top-25 opponents, including a win over former Buc and current LSU golfer Algot Kleen, who is ranked 10th. Bressum’s player of the year win marks the 17th time a Buccaneer has received the honor.

Lewis is the seventh UNCG golfer overall to win SoCon Freshman of the Year. This is the second consecutive year the Spartans have had the recipient of the honor as Kelvin Hernandez was the winner in 2024. The first-year player from Cary, North Carolina, had a 72.4 stroke average, which is ninth amongst SoCon golfers. Lewis, who was named SoCon Golfer of the Week on March 19 and April 2, finished in the top 15 at seven different tournaments during his freshman campaign.

Davidson earned his second SoCon Coach of the Year honor, the first coming in 2023, and Furman’s 12th overall. The seventh-year coach, who was the SoCon Player of the Year in 2002, guided the Paladins to top-10 finishes in all 11 tournaments this season, including five top-five finishes. Furman’s highest finish came in October at the Furman Intercollegiate, when the team was the runner-up to 12th-ranked Texas A&M, falling by just two strokes. Davidson led the Paladins to the conference’s top ranking in the Clippd rankings as the team is ranked No. 65 nationally.

Furman and Chattanooga each claimed a SoCon-best three All-SoCon selections. The Paladins were represented by juniors Clark Akers and Harris Barth along with senior Will Morlan. Barth received his second consecutive all-conference selection this season. The Mocs saw sophomore Camden Braidech and seniors Garrett Engle and Braedon Wear make the squad. ETSU and UNCG both had a pair of selections on the all-conference team. Bressum was joined by teammate Yannick Malik, while the Spartans were represented by Colin Dutton, the 2025 SoCon Championship medalist, and Jack Marcotte.

Lewis was joined on the all-freshman team by ETSU’s Gavin Tiernan, Furman’s Ludvig Josefsson, Chattanooga’s Ethan Whitaker and Western Carolina’s Chase Cline.

The Buccaneers clinched an automatic berth to the NCAA regionals by virtue of their win at the SoCon Championship. The NCAA field will be announced live on Wednesday, April 30, at 1 p.m. (ET), on the Golf Channel.

2024-25 Southern Conference Player of the Year
Kristian Bressum, Sr., ETSU
 
2024-25 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year
Jake Lewis, UNCG
 
2024-25 Southern Conference Coach of the Year
Matt Davidson, Furman
 
2024-25 All-Southern Conference Team
Kristian Bressum, Sr., ETSU

Yannick Malik, Jr., ETSU

Clark Akers, Jr., Furman

Harris Barth, Jr., Furman

Will Morlan, Sr., Furman

Colin Dutton, Sr., UNCG

Jack Marcotte, Gr., UNCG

Camden Braidech, So., Chattanooga

Garrett Engle, Sr., Chattanooga

Braedon Wear, Sr., Chattanooga

2024-25 All-Freshman Team
Gavin Tiernan, ETSU

Ludvig Josefsson, Furman

Jake Lewis, UNCG

Ethan Whitaker, Chattanooga

Chase Cline, Western Carolina