May 4, 2009
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s Cameron Tringale was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference men’s golf team for the fourth time in his career Monday, while Yellow Jackets’ head coach Bruce Heppler was named ACC Coach of the Year for the fifth time.
Clemson led the way by placing three players on the 2009 All-ACC team, while Florida State and NC State placed two players each on the team, as selected by a vote of the league’s 11 head coaches. Five teams – ACC Champion Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest – rounded out the 12-member team with one selection each.
Tringale, a senior from Laguna Niguel, Calif., became the fourth Georgia Tech player to make the all-conference team four years in a row, joining Matt Kuchar (1997-2000), Bryce Molder (1998-2001) and Roberto Castro (2004-07), and the 12th ACC player to do so since the conference began choosing teams on 1975.
The two-time All-American has won two tournaments this year, missed winning a second ACC title by one stroke, and posted six top-10 finishes in nine tournaments. He has the ACC’s second-best stroke average (71.33), and is ranked No. 3 nationally in this week’s Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.
Heppler’s selection as Coach of the Year was his fifth in 14 years, more than any ACC coach except Clemson’s Larry Penley (7) since the conference began bestowing the honor in 1980. This year, Heppler guided the Yellow Jackets to their third ACC title in the last four years, their sixth under his watch and the 11th in the history of the program. Tech is ranked seventh in the nation this week.
Only Wake Forest’s Jesse Haddock (15 titles in 33 years) and Penley (seven titles in 26 years) have won more ACC championships at their schools than has Heppler.
NC State’s Matt Hill secured the prestigious Player of the Year award, while Florida State’s Brooks Koepka, captured Freshman of the Year honors.
2009 All-ACC Men’s Golf Team
(Listed alphabetically by school)
Kyle Stanley, Clemson, Jr., Gig Harbor, Wash.
Ben Martin, Clemson, Jr., Greenwood, S.C.
David May, Clemson, Sr., Auburn, N.Y.
Matt Savage, Florida State, Sr., Louisville, Ky.
Drew Kittleson, Florida State, So., Scottsdale, Ariz.
Cameron Tringale, Georgia Tech, Sr., Laguna Niguel, Calif.
John Popeck, Maryland, Fr., Washington, Pa.
Kevin O’Connell, North Carolina, So., Cary, N.C.
Matt Hill, NC State, So., Bright’s Grove, Ontario
Darren Blair, NC State, Sr., Johannesburg, South Africa
Drew Weaver, Virginia Tech, Sr., High Point, N.C.
Dustin Groves, Wake Forest, Sr., Keswick, Va.
ACC Player of the Year
Matt Hill, NC State (So., Bright’s Grove, Ontario)
ACC Freshman of the Year
Brooks Koepka, Florida State (Fr., Wellington, Fla.)
ACC Coach of the Year
Bruce Heppler, Georgia Tech
