Kentucky head coach Brian Craig, Kentucky?s John Holmes and South Carolina?s Mark Anderson and West Streib headline the 2005 Southeastern Conference Men?s Golf Awards announced Monday. Holmes also earned First Team honors, while fellow senior Mark Blakefield was named to the Second Team All-SEC.
Craig was voted SEC Coach of the Year by his peers while Holmes was named the SEC Golfer of the Year, Anderson was named the SEC Freshman of the Year and Streib took Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.
The Coach of the Year honor for Craig is his first in the SEC. In his fourth season at Kentucky, Craig directed the Wildcats to their first-ever SEC Championship this season and an eighth-place finish in last year?s NCAA Championships. Currently, Kentucky is ranked 11th in the latest Golfweek Men?s Team Rankings.
Holmes was a major factor in the Wildcats? success this season. The senior from Campbellsville, Ky., is third in the SEC in scoring this season, averaging 71.80 strokes per round. He won the Inverness Intercollegiate earlier this year and placed third at the SEC Championships. He is the highest rated SEC golfer (10th) in the latest Golfweek Individual Rankings. He placed in the top 10 in six of 10 events this year and had 12 of 30 rounds under-par.
Holmes earned his fourth straight All-SEC honor in 2005, earning first-team honors in 2002 and 2004 and second-team in 2003. 2005 SEC individual champion David Skinns of Tennessee is also making his third appearance on the SEC first-team (2002-03). Vanderbilt?s Luke List, Florida?s Matt Every and Auburn?s Lee Williams are also making their second appearance on the first-team as well. Making their first appearance on the All-SEC first-team in 2005 are South Carolina?s Anderson, Ole Miss? Jordan Dempsey, Georgia?s Chris Kirk and David Denham.
Blakefield, a senior from Maysville, Ky., earns his first postseason conference honors with Second Team accolades. He ranks second on the team with a 73.45 strokes per round average. Blakefield shot a season-best 68 in the third round of the Hyatt Plantation Club Intercollegiate this spring and had his best finish when he won the Gary Koch/Cleveland Golf Intercollegiate in the fall. Blakefield also helped lead the Wildcats to the team championship at the same tournament and won SEC Golfer of the Week honors for his performance that week.
The Wildcats return to action next week, May 9-10, when they host the UK Derby Invitational at the University Club. East Tennessee State and Vanderbilt will take on the Wildcats in the two-day tournament.
Below is a complete list of all 2005 SEC Men?s Golf Postseason Awards.
SEC Coach of the Year: Brian Craig, Kentucky
SEC Golfer of the Year: John Holmes, Kentucky
SEC Freshman of the Year: Mark Anderson, South Carolina
SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: West Streib, South Carolina
First-Team All-SEC
David Skinns, Tennessee
John Holmes, Kentucky
Matt Every, Florida
Jordan Dempsey, Ole Miss
Chris Kirk, Georgia
Lee Williams, Auburn
David Denham, Georgia
Luke List, Vanderbilt
Mark Anderson, South Carolina
Second-Team All-SEC
Brett Stegmaier, Florida
Brendon Todd, Georgia
Ross McGowan, Tennessee
Tyler McKeever, Auburn
Mark Blakefield, Kentucky
Stuart Moore, Auburn
Patton Kizzire, Auburn
Matt Bortis, Arkansas
Chris Wells, LSU
Richard Treis, Florida
