SEVEN COUGAR GOLFERS NAMED GCAA ALL-AMERICAN SCHOLARS

PROVO, Utah – Seven members of the BYU men’s golf team were honored for their achievements on the course and in the classroom Friday as the Golf Coaches Association of America released their All-American Scholar Team.

The Golf Coaches Association of America named Keanu Akina, Austin Banz, Kelton Hirsch, Cole Ponich, Brock Stanger, David Timmins and Elijah Turner to their Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-American Scholar Team for their outstanding academic and athletic achievements in college golf.

To qualify for the award, recipients must have participated in 40-percent of the team’s competitive rounds with a stroke average of 76 or better, while maintaining a 3.2 minimum cumulative career grade-point average.

Walk-on freshman Keanu Akina competed in five events in the 2020-21 season and held a scoring average of 74.2; his best finish came at the WCC Championships where he finished T-22 at 1-under par. Akina is an entrepreneurial management major and boasts a 3.63 grade point average.

Austin Banz, a senior in the Marriott School of Business held a 3.37 GPA, graduated with an economics degree this past April and will be pursuing a master’s in finance at Boston College in August. Banz played in four events with a 75.6 scoring average in the 2020-21 season with his highest finish coming at the Rustic Classic.

Senior Kelton Hirsch majored in strategic management and held a team high grade point average of 3.70 in the Marriott School of Business.  He followed that up on the course by starting in nine of 10 events, posting a 72.4 average and a 7-under par, 10th place finish at the WCC Championship in April. Hirsch was named to the WCC Men’s All-Academic Team in June.

Cole Ponich also teed it up in nine of the teams 10 events this past season, finishing in the top-25 five times and held a 72.2 scoring average. Ponich, a psychology major, holds a 3.48 grade point average and was also named to the WCC Men’s All-Academic Team.

Brock Stanger graduated with a degree in communications this past April and finished with a 3.3 grade point average.  Stanger played in four events in 2020-21, posted a 75.0 scoring average and a T-22 finish at the Pasadera Collegiate Invitational.

Westminster transfer David Timmins is a communications major and holds a 3.47 GPA going into his senior year. He competed in all ten tournaments for the Cougars this past season posting four top-25 finishes and a 73.2 scoring average. Along with his teammates, Timmins was named to the WCC Men’s All-Academic Team.

Sophomore Elijah Turner posted a scoring average of 74.8 in five events during the 2020-21 campaign. Turner was named to the WCC Men’s All-Academic Team, is a communications studies major and holds a 3.34 grade point average entering his junior year.