May 17, 2006

CEDAR RAPIDS , IOWA . . . Three Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) men’s golfers were honored by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) as the association announced its annual awards in conjunction with the recently completed NCAA Championship.

Wartburg College senior Kevin Ault (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge) was named to the PING All-America Third Team, becoming the first Knight men’s golfer to earn All-America honors. He was also named to the PING All-Central Region Team for the second straight year.

Luther College junior Ben Hanson (Richfield, Minn./Richfield) joined Ault on the PING All-Central Region Team and was also named a Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar. Buena Vista University senior Alex Downing (Lee’s Summit, Mo./Lee’s Summit North) also earned Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar honors, his second straight year receiving the honor.

Twelve golfers from each of the six regions are named to the All-Region Teams. Three players from each region are named as pre-National Tournament All-America selections. The PING All-America First Team is comprised of the top-eight finishers at nationals and two at-large selections. The Second Team consists of golfers who placed ninth through 16th plus ties at nationals and the Third Team is comprised of those who placed 17th-24th plus pre-Tournament All-America selections not included on the First Team.

To be eligible for Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar status, an individual must be a junior or senior academically and competed in at least two full years at the collegiate level, participate in 70 percent of his teams competitive rounds, have a stroke average under 79.0 and maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.2. A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at his college or university.

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