Starke, NeSmith Add More All-American Honors

COLUMBIA, S.C. (USC SID) — South Carolina juniors Will Starke and Matt NeSmith have been named PING All-Americans, the Golf Coaches Association of America announced Thursday. Starke earned a spot on the second team, while NeSmith is a third-team selection. It marks the third-straight year a Gamecock golfer has been on one of the PING All-American teams. The All-American honor is the second for Starke, who was also a second-team selection by Golfweek this season. NeSmith now has three career All-American honors after earning third-team honors from Golfweek this season and PING Honorable Mention honors as a freshman. With Starke and NeSmith leading the way, the Gamecocks turned in one of the greatest seasons in program history in 2014-15, winning a school record five tournament titles, recording a school-record 10 top-five finishes and shattering the school record for team scoring average in a season by more than four strokes (282.85). A native of Chapin, S.C., Starke led the team with a stroke average of 70.27, which is the lowest for a single season in school history. He finished 16th or better in 10 of 12 events this season, including one tournament win, and matched the school record for top-five finishes in a season with six. He placed 16th at the NCAA Championship with a 72-hole total of 289 (+1). Starke, a first-team All-SEC selection and PING All-Southeast Region selection, shot under par in 26 of 37 rounds this season, including 19 rounds in the 60s. A first-team All-SEC and PING All-Southeast Region selection, NeSmith finished with a season stroke average of 70.51, which ranks second in program history for a single season. He finished in the top 20 in eight of 12 tournaments, including two tournament wins. He became just the second Gamecock to win an SEC title as he claimed a six-stroke victory at the SEC Championship with a school-record 54-hole total of 196 (-14). A native of North Augusta, S.C., NeSmith posted 18 rounds under par, including 14 rounds in the 60s. PING ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS First Team Bryson Dechambeau, SMU Gavin Green, New Mexico Beau Hossler, Texas Lee McCoy, Georgia Maverick McNealy, Stanford Cheng-Tsung Pan, Washington Jon Rahm, Arizona State Max Rottluff, Arizona State Ollie Schniederjans, Georgia Tech Robby Shelton, Alabama Hunter Stewart, Vanderbilt Second Team Brian Campbell, Illinois Charlie Danielson, Illinois Thomas Detry, Illinois Jonathan Garrick, UCLA Kyle Jones, Baylor Hank Lebioda, Florida State Jack Maguire, Florida State Scottie Scheffler, Texas Clement Sordet, Texas Tech Will Starke, South Carolina Third Team Sean Crocker, Southern California Michael Gellerman, Oklahoma Denny McCarthy, Virginia Adrian Meronk, East Tennessee State Matt NeSmith, South Carolina JT Poston, Western Carolina Xander Schauffele, San Diego State Matthias Schwab, Vanderbilt Zach Seabolt, Winthrop Will Zalatoris, Wake Forest Honorable Mention Anders Albertson, Georgia Tech Rowin Caron, Florida State Trevor Cone, Virginia Tech Claudio Correa, USF Riley Davenport, Charlotte Mookie DeMoss, Georgia Paul Dunne, UAB Rigel Fernandes, USF Doug Ghim, Texas Ben Griffin, North Carolina Gavin Hall, Texas Blair Hamilton, Houston Zach Healy, Georgia Grant Hirschman, Oklahoma Rico Hoey, Southern California Zack Jaworski, Vanderbilt Chase Koepka, USF Brandon Matthews, Temple Byron Meth, Pacific Taylor Moore, Arkansas Jordan Niebrugge, Oklahoma State John Oda, UNLV Brandon Pierce, LSU Andrew Presley, TCU Eric Ricard, LSU Robin Sciot-Siegrist, Louisville JD Tomlinson, Florida Scott Vincent, Virginia Tech Scott Wolfes, Georgia Southern Zach Wright, LSU