A trio of Seawolves win CCAA awards
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Talia Gutman won CCAA Freshman of the Year.
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Griffin Pace earned his second STRAIGHT All-CCAA First Team.
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Jules Lavigne took home an All-CCAA Honorable mention.
SSU Golf has continued to impress this season with freshman Talia Gutman and seniors Griffin Pace and Jules Lavigne each receiving All-CCAA honors for their play this year.
Gutman was named CCAA Freshman of the Year and selected to the All-CCAA First-Team, becoming the third Seawolf to win the former and the third in the last four years for SSU.
Gutman said, “I worked really hard this past year to improve my swing and mentality on the course, so it feels like my hard work is paying off. I know there were probably a good number of excellent freshmen this year, so it means a lot to me that I was picked.”
Looking to build on the strong start to her career, Gutman is determined to improve her game in the off-season. She said, “I’m planning on doing speed drills this summer to increase my driving distance while maintaining my accuracy. I’m also planning on practicing a lot of putting. It has always been my greatest weakness in golf, so I want to turn it into my greatest strength. “
Pace earned his second straight All-CCAA First-Team selection after an excellent season for the Seawolves. He recorded his first career win this season at the Wildcat Classic in October, hosted by Chico State, scoring a career-best 11-under-par. Pace is ranked in the top-20 in all of Division II for individual golfers after putting up impressive numbers in both the Fall and Spring campaigns.
Pace has also recorded a team best six top-10’s, five top-5’s, and three top-3’s performances, leading all Seawolves. Over a 26 round span, Pace averaged a score of 71.19 to lead all Sonoma State golfers this year.
Fellow senior, Lavigne, finished his season with the second lowest average score per round on the Seawolves with 73.00, earning an All-CCAA Honorable mention. He was the only Seawolf to finish inside the top-30 in every tournament this Spring, showing remarkable consistency in his game.
Lavigne was surprised to receive honors because of his slow start in the fall. “Going from not making the line-up to being an all-conference honorable mention is something that was unexpected.”
After graduation, Lavigne plans to return home to France to pursue his dream of playing professionally in Europe. He said, “Hard work pays off. I’ve struggled over the last few years but kept working, always believing that I would find success. This spring season my work was rewarded with good results.”
On Friday, the men’s golf team was announced as the #2 seed in the NCAA division II South Central/West Regional tournament. The Seawolves will also play host to the tournament for the second time in program history and the first time in 15 years. SSU has won two NCAA regional championships, with the first coming in 2008 at Adobe Creek Golf Course the last time the Seawolves hosted.
The Regional tournament will take place Thursday, May 11 at Foxtail Golf Club, where the Seawolves claimed first place in the Fall Preview back in September. The team will hope to reclaim that same success from seven months ago.
