BATON ROUGE – LSU graduate golfer Connor Gaunt has been named to the 2024 NCAA Division I PING All-American Honorable Mention Team, the GCAA announced on Wednesday morning
“It is such a great honor and was definitely a goal of mine before the year started,” said Gaunt. “I was blessed to play well this year and to get recognized for it is amazing. My coaches and teammates pushed me everyday and can’t thank them enough. My family is so supportive and I also can’t thank them enough.”
The Cabot, Ark. native put together his best golf in his final season competing in collegiate golf. After spending a year in Division II at Arkansas Tech, Gaunt transferred to LSU where he went on to contribute for three years and then lead his team in almost every category in his fifth and final season.
Gaunt’s 2023-24 season stroke average of 71.05 etches his name in the record book as the second best season average in program history. The best season average is owned by none other than Sam Burns with a 70.05 in the 2016-17 season.
“I feel honored to have that stat and it was a lot of hard work getting there,” added Gaunt on is spot in the record book. “It is amazing to have that especially with how many great golfers that have come through LSU.”
The graduate student finished in the top-5 seven times individually this season through 13 events. Gaunt’s last round out was in the final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championships where he finished tied for eighteenth in Carlsbad.
Gaunt’s lowest round of the season was back in October where he fired an 8-under 64 in the first round at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup. Gaunt went on to finish tied for third in the Stephens Cup. In the following tournament, Gaunt finished tied for third once again at 7-under 209 in his home state at the Everett Buick GMC Classic. The highest finish of his season was second at 9-under 204 in the Hal Williams Collegiate, his teammate Jay Mendell won individual honors at 10-under 203.
Gaunt placed fourth at the Valero Texas Open with a 5-under 211, finished tied for fifth in the season opener at the Golfweek Collegiate Kickoff with a 4-under 212, and finished tied for fifth at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional at 5-under 211 less than a month ago.
Gaunt earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees while in Baton Rouge and plans to pursue professional golf following graduation.
Division I PING All-America Teams:
First Team
Luke Clanton, Florida State
Wenyi Ding, Arizona State
Mats Ege, East Tennessee State
Nick Gabrelcik, North Florida
Ben James, Virginia
Jackson Koivun, Auburn
Christo Lamprecht, Georgia Tech
Gordon Sargent, Vanderbilt
Hiroshi Tai, Georgia Tech
Michael Thorbjornsen, Stanford
Brendan Valdes, Auburn
Second Team
Santiago de la Fuente, Houston
Austin Greaser, North Carolina
Max Herendeen, Illinois
Johnny Keefer, Baylor
Michael La Sasso, Ole Miss
Jack Lundin, Missouri
Jacob Skov Olesen, Arkansas
Matthew Riedel, Vanderbilt
Cole Sherwood, Vanderbilt
Karl Vilips, Stanford
Third Team
Bastien Amat, New Mexico
Jackson Buchanan, Illinois
Gustav Frimodt, TCU
Ryggs Johnston, Arizona State
Frederik Kjettrup, Florida State
Christiaan Maas, Texas
Phichaksn Maichon, Texas A&M
Omar Morales, UCLA
Preston Summerhays, Arizona State
Sampson Zheng, California
Honorable Mention
Josele Ballester, Arizona State
Michael Brennan, Wake Forest
J.M. Butler, Auburn
George Duangmanee, Virginia
Josh Duangmanee, Virginia
David Ford, North Carolina
Maxwell Ford, North Carolina
Connor Gaunt, LSU
Ian Gilligan, Florida
Tyler Goecke, Illinois
Alex Goff, Kentucky
Jake Hall, Tennessee
Palmer Jackson, Notre Dame
Petr Hruby, Washington
Bryan Lee, Virginia
Bryce Lewis, Tennessee
Riley Lewis, Loyola Marymount
Ben Lorenz, Oklahoma
Nick Mathews, NC State
William Moll, Vanderbilt
Sebastian Moss, Louisville
Calum Scott, Texas Tech
Herman Sekne, Purdue
Baard Skogen, Texas Tech
Jack Turner, Florida
Jackson Van Paris, Vanderbilt
Ben van Wyk, Georgia
Ryan Voois, Illinois
Daniel Rodrigues, Texas A&M
Neal Shipley, Ohio State
Adam Wallin, Ohio State
Ben Warian, Minnesota