BATON ROUGE – LSU men’s golf alum John Peterson was honored by his alma mater at Sunday’s Tiger Athletic Foundation Academic Excellence Gala as the winner of the 2011 TAF Male Athlete of the Year award in the wake of a senior season in which he was crowned the NCAA Individual Champion.
This year’s TAF Academic Excellence Gala was held on Sunday evening at the Royal Cotillion Ballroom at the LSU Student Union as each of LSU’s 19 varsity sports were honored during the event.
Peterson wrapped up a brilliant collegiate career as one of the most decorated players in the history of the LSU men’s golf program as he became the third Tiger to be crowned the NCAA Individual Champion for his performance as the 2011 NCAA Medalist at the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla. That’s where Peterson fired his 54-hole score of 5-under par 211 to claim a one-shot victory over UCLA standout Patrick Cantlay.
With his NCAA Championships win, Peterson snapped a 70-year drought as LSU’s first national medalist since Fred Haas, Jr. in 1937 and Earl Stewart in 1941.
He also nearly snapped a 24-year drought as LSU’s first SEC Champion since David Toms in 1987, while falling to Florida’s Andres Echavarria in a one-hole, sudden-death playoff for the conference title. He was still honored as a First-Team All-SEC selection with his SEC Championships finish.
Peterson was named a PING First-Team All-American and Golfweek Second-Team All-American in June following his national championship victory. He finished his four-year collegiate career as a three-time All-American and two-time First-Team All-SEC performer with the Tigers from 2007-11.
He joined a distinguished list of three-time All-Americans that also boasts Eddie Merrins (1952-54), B.R. McLendon (1965-67), Rob McNamara (1985-87) and Toms (1987-89).
In addition to being recognized as the 2011 TAF Male Athlete of the Year, Peterson was also among eight Tigers honored as recipients of the LSU Director’s Cup at the gala. Joining Peterson during Sunday’s recognition of LSU Director’s Cup athletes were Austin Gutgsell, Smylie Kaufman, Ken Looper, Andrew Loupe, Clayton Rotz, Curtis Thompson and Sang Yi.