June 10, 2005
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech seniors Chan Song and Nicholas Thompson have been named second-team All-Americans, joining first-team selection Roberto Castro, on teams announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America Friday.
The GCAA announced its first-team, as well as its national award winners, last Saturday following the conclusion of the NCAA Championship. The Yellow Jackets finished second in the NCAA Championship, and closed out the year ranked No. 3 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.
It was the highest honor for Thompson, who earned All-America recognition for the fourth time (third team in 2004, honorable mention in 2002 and 2003). He joined David Duval and Bryce Molder as the only Tech golfers ever to earn All-America mention all four years of their careers, though Duval and Molder were first-team honorees each time.
Song made the team for the third time, having earned honorable mention recognition in 2002 and 2004, and is the seventh Tech golfer to have earned All-America recognition three times.
Song and Thompson tied for 27th place at the NCAA Championship last week, each concluding outstanding careers for the Yellow Jackets. Both earned their bachelors’ degrees from Tech in May and have been named All-America Scholars by the GCAA.
Thompson, whose 72.05 career stroke average ranks fifth-best in Tech history, was a three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference honoree and was a finalist this year for the Byron Nelson Award. The Coral Springs, Fla., native won one tournament and earned 15 top-10 finishes during his career. He finished his senior year ranked No. 16 individually in the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings.
Song, from Orlando, Fla., finished his career with a 72.75 stroke average, which was the seventh lowest in Tech history, and played in 48 of 49 tournaments during his career, earning 11 top-10 finishes. A two-time All-ACC choice and the 2002 ACC Rookie of the Year, Song was the ACC Championship runner-up this year and finished the season ranked No. 14 nationally.
Castro, who finished third in the NCAA Championship and led the Atlantic Coast Conference in stroke average, was named a first-team All-American by the GCAA last Saturday. An honorable mention All-American last year as a freshman, Castro became the ninth Yellow Jacket to earn first-team honors and first since Troy Matteson in 2003. He was ranked No. 4 among collegiate golfers at the end of the season.
2005 DIVISION I PING ALL-AMERICA TEAMSSelected by the Golf Coaches Association of America
First Team Ryan Blaum, Duke Roberto Castro, Georgia Tech Rhys Davies, East Tennessee State Matt Every, Florida Anthony Kim, Oklahoma James Lepp, Washington Spencer Levin, New Mexico Pablo Martin, Oklahoma State Ryan Moore, UNLV Aron Price, Georgia Southern Michael Putnam, Pepperdine
Second Team Oscar Alvarez, Brigham Young David Denham, Georgia Kalle Edberg, Augusta State John Holmes, Kentucky Chris Kirk, Georgia Tyler Leon, Oklahoma State Jeff Overton, Indiana Chan Song, Georgia Tech Nicholas Thompson, Georgia Tech Brendon Todd, Georgia
Third Team Mark Anderson, South Carolina Alejandro Cañizares, Arizona State Dustin Johnson, Coastal Carolina J.J. Killeen, TCU Bronson LaCassie, Minnesota Ross McGowan, Tennessee Alex Norén, Oklahoma State Kyle Reifers, Wake Forest Zack Robinson, Oklahoma State David Skinns, Tennessee
Honorable Mention Jeremy Alcorn, Baylor Travis Bertoni, Cal Poly Jordan Dempsey, Mississippi Will Dodson, Southern Methodist Rob Grube, Stanford Scott Jamieson, Augusta State Shawn Jasper, Missouri Ryan Keeney, UNLV Kevin Kisner, Georgia Nathan Lashley, Arizona Gregg LaVoie, Oregon Niklas Lemke, Arizona State Henry Liaw, Arizona Luke List, Vanderbilt Major Manning, Augusta State David Palm, Georgia Southern Matthew Rosenfeld, Texas Richard Scott, Georgia Michael Shachner, Duke Webb Simpson, Wake Forest Nathan Smith, Duke Brett Stegmaier, Florida Steve Tiley, Georgia State Emmett Turner, Augusta State Martin Ureta, North Carolina Dawie VanDerWalt, Lamer James Vargas, Florida Lee Williams, Auburn Taylor Wood, Southern California Joshua Wooding, Southern California
