May 6, 2008

KENNESAW, Ga. - The Kennesaw State men's golf team was recognized with three awards by the Atlantic Sun Conference Tuesday, as Oliver West and Michael Tulacz were named to the A-Sun All-Conference Second Team and Matthew Nagy was honored with an All-Freshman selection in a statement released by the conference office.

Nagy became the first Owl golfer to be named to the A-Sun All-Freshman team with his selection, while West and Tulacz are just the second and third men's golfers to be named to the A-Sun All-Conference team. They join Kris Shepherd who was named to the Second Team last season.

Playing in his fourth and final season for the Owls, West recovered from a subpar fall to turn in one of the best spring seasons in school history. He got the spring season started on the right foot, finishing a career-best second at the season-opening Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate. A week later he opened with a one-under par 70 at the CSU Spring Kick-Off Classic, eventually finishing tied for third at four-over.

Not letting the highly competitive field intimidate him, West turned in a career-low opening round 67 to stand tied for second after 18 holes of the prestigious Linger Longer Invitational. Fighting through extremely difficult conditions over the last two days of the event, West held it together to finish ninth for a third-straight top 10 finish. A week later, he helped lead the Owls to their first team win with a sixth place finish at the Larry Nelson Collegiate Invitational.

After a slip-up at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic, West finished his career masterfully with a third place finish at the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship where he led the field in birdies with 12. His 73.3 scoring average marked the third best season for an Owl golfer since the move to D-I, and he finished his career at KSU with the most wins (1322) and the third best scoring average (74.43) and won-loss percentage (.574).

"Oliver had one of, if not the best semesters in KSU Golf history. His string of great play really helped push us up the rankings, and secured his All-Conference honor," said Kennesaw State head coach Blake Smart on West's performance. "It was a fitting finish to a really solid collegiate career and should give him confidence heading into the next phase of his golf life."

While West helped carry the Owls in the spring, Tulacz shouldered the team in the fall, finishing in the top five in four out of five events and climbing to as high as No. 9 in the nation according to Golfweek Magazine. He earned the highest ranking for a D-I Owl golfer after opening the season with top five finishes in his first two events.

On the strength of a season-low 65 in the second round, Tulacz finished third at 10-under par at the season-opening USA Jaguar Invitational. Three weeks later, at the highly touted Brickyard Collegiate Championship, Tulacz bested some of the top players in collegiate golf by finishing fifth. After opening with an even-par 72, the junior from Connelly, N.Y. shot 68-67 in the final two rounds to card a nine-under par 207.

After taking less than a week to rest, Tulacz used a final round 69 at the Mizuno Southbridge Intercollegiate to record his third-straight top 10 with a tie for sixth. He recorded his fourth top five with a ninth place showing at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate in the Owls final fall event.

His 72.6 scoring average and .809 winning percentage are good for the second best season in school D-I history, and his 65's at the USA Jaguar Invitational and the Wyoming Cowboy Classic stand as the lowest 18 hole totals since the Owls joined the A-Sun.

"Michael had a really good year, posting some great finishes in big events. He certainly showed his ability to go low throughout the year and has gotten much better at managing his game," said Smart. "We are looking forward to having him around for one more year and hopefully having him continue to fill the record books."

After not playing in any of the Owls fall events, Nagy found his way into the lineup in the spring-opener and soon became a fixture on the travel roster after recording a top 10 finish in his first collegiate event. Proving his consistency early on, the freshman from Buena Vista, Fla. led the squad by firing back-to-back 73's in the first two rounds of the Wexford, eventually finishing in a tie for eighth.

Nagy turned in the lowest round of his career, a 71, twice. The first time was in the opening round of the Larry Nelson and second was a week later in the opening round of the Cowboy Classic. Nagy wrapped up his solid spring with a tie for seventh at the Conference Championship where he was third in pars, including 12 straight down the stretch to help the Owls secure third.

"Matt was the best suprise of the spring semester. He was one qualifier away from redshirting his first year, but he came back from winter break having worked hard and with new focus," added Smart on Nagy's turnaround. "I knew when Matt committed to KSU that he had the potential to be a special player and he is well on his way to making that happen. He is already working on his weaknesses and wants to be one of the best players in the country."

His .716 winning percentage is the fourth-best in KSU history and his 73.9 scoring average was the third-best among freshman in the conference this season.


First Team All-Conference
* Gareth Shaw ETSU
Rhys Enoch ETSU
Josh Gallman UPST
Cody Hale LIP
Fredric Sundberg CAM

Second Team All-Conference
Zac Drescher CAM
Michael O'Neal UNF
Seamus Power ETSU
Michael Tulacz KSU
Oliver West KSU

A-Sun Player of the Year
Gareth Shaw ETSU

A-Sun All-Freshman Team
* Rhys Enoch ETSU
Zac Drescher CAM
Chris Kennedy UNF
Daniel Mazziota FGCU
Matthew Nagy KSU

A-Sun Freshman of the Year
Rhys Enoch ETSU

A-Sun Coach of the Year
Scott Schroeder UNF

* Unanimous Choice