LAKE CHARLES, La. – LSU men’s golfer Zach Wright and Tulane women’s golfer Emily Penttila were named as the Louisiana Men’s and Women’s Golfers of the Year respectively by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA) on Saturday in conjunction with the All-Louisiana Men’s and Women’s golf teams.
In addition to Wright’s Golf of the Year honors, Luis Gagne of LSU was named the state’s Freshman of the Year while McNeese head coach Austin Burk garnered Coach of the Year honors.
On the women’s side, LSU’s Kathleen Gallagher was named Freshman of the Year and Lorne Dorn of Tulane earned Coach of the Year honors.
Wright, a junior from Phoenix, earned first team All-SEC honors as well as being selected as a member of the Arnold Palmer Cup Team and a NCAA Division I Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award Semifinalist.
He capped the regular season ranked as the No. 10 individual in the country by Golfstat and Golfweek and posted a 71.38 score per round average. He posted three wins on the season, had seven top 10 finishes. Ten in the top 20 and shot par or better in 19 of 32 rounds played.
Penttila, a senior form Helsinki, Finland, earned first team All-American Athletic Conference honors and was named Tulane’s Most Valuable Player.
She capped the regular season ranked No. 47 in the country by Golfstat and posted a 72.97 scoring average, which was the second-best mark in a single-season in school history. That lowered her career average to 73.53, a school record. She recorded 16 rounds of par or better including three rounds in the 60s.
Joining Wright on the men’s All-Louisiana team are Martin Eriksson of McNeese, Haraldur Magnus of ULL, Louisiana Tech’s Victor Lange and LSU teammate Luis Gagne to round out the first team.
Second team All-Louisiana honors go to Eric Ricard of LSU, Fernando Cruz Valle of ULL, Jack Lee of Nicholls, James Anstiss of Southeastern Louisiana, and Andreas Krokeide of McNeese.
The women’s All-Louisiana squad, which is made up of one five-golfer team, includes Penttila, Silvia Garces and Laura Munoz, all of Tulane; and Kathleen Gallagher and Sydney Cavin of LSU.
Burk led McNeese to its second-straight NCAA Regional appearance after the Cowboys won their first Southland Conference Championship since 1979. McNeese won three tournaments on the season and ranked in the top 80 in the nation the entire year. The Cowboys posted a 22-2 record against other Southland Conference members, 18-3 mark against teams from Louisiana, and a 79-34 record against regional teams.
In his third season at the helm of the Green Wave, Don led Tulane to the NCAA Regionals for the third straight campaign under his tenure and for the eighth consecutive season overall. The Green Wave came up one stroke short of advancing to the NCAA Championships for the fourth straight year at the NCAA Bryan Regional. The program’s 298.27 season scoring average ranked as the fourth-best effort in school history.
2016 All-Louisiana Women’s Golf
Emily Penttila, Tulane
Silvia Garces, Tulane
Kathleen Gallagher, LSU
Laura Munoz, Tulane
Sydney Cavin, LSU.
Golfer of the Year: Emily Penttila, Tulane
Freshman of the Year: Kathleen Gallagher, LSU
Coach of the Year: Lorne Don, Tulane
2016 All-Louisiana Men’s Golf
1st Team
Zach Wright, LSU
Martin Eriksson, McN
Haraldur Magnus, ULL
Victor Lange, LTU
Luis Gagne, LSU
2nd Team
Eric Ricard, LSU
Fernando Cruz Valle, ULL
Jack Lee, Nicholls
James Anstiss, SLU
Andreas Krokeide, McN.
Golfer of the Year: Zach Wright, LSU
Freshman of the Year: Luis Gagne, LSU
Coach of the Year: Austin Burk, McNeese