HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – On the eve of the 2022 Great American Conference Championship Tournament, the league announced its annual all-conference teams as specialty awards. As a surprise to no one, the nationally-ranked and defending NCAA Division II National Champion Arkansas Tech men's golf team racked up on both.
All five golfers in the Wonder Boys primary lineup received some form of all-conference recognition with
Francois Jacobs,
Santiago De La Fuente and
Andre Jacobs earning first-team plaudits. Both F. Jacobs and De La Fuente were also unanimous choices for the first team.
Henry Frizzell and newcomer
Hayes Hamilton landed on the honorable mention team.
In terms of specialty awards, the Wonder Boys came away with two of the three "of the Year" awards as
Francois Jacobs was unanimously named the league's Men's Golfer of the Year, and for the sixth time, Wonder Boys' head coach
Luke Calcatera was named the GAC Men's Golf Coach of the Year.
Luke Calcatera
The 2022 GAC Men's Golf Coach of the Year award for Calcatera is his second-straight and sixth overall at the helm of the Wonder Boys. It is also the third time in his career that he has gone back-to-back in winning conference coach of the year. His first two awards came in 2012 & 2013 and his second batch in 2017 & 2018.
This year, Calcatera has guided the Wonder Boys to a program-record five tournament titles with wins at Washburn Invitational (9/13-14), NSU Classic (9/20-21), Houston Classic (2/7-8), Trophy Club Invitational (3/21-22) and Argonaut Invitational (4/4-5).
Francois Jacobs
A Second Team All-GAC selection a year ago,
Francois Jacobs has broken out in a major way in his junior campaign and has been named the unanimous GAC Men's Golfer of the Year. The native of League City, Texas, Jacobs had an up and down fall portion of the schedule with three top-10 individual finishes, but also posted finishes of T18 and T21.
His spring, however, has been one to remember as he has won twice with victories at the Houston Classic and the Argonaut Invitational. He has also finished in the top-10 individually in all five tournaments this spring with his lowest finish being a T7 at the nationally-stacked Las Vegas Desert Classic.
A five-time GAC Men's Golfer of the Week this year, Jacobs currently has a scoring average of 71.5 and is the top-ranked golfer in the central region and is the No. 7-ranked golfer in all of NCAA DII according to the latest GolfStat rankings.
Santiago De La Fuente
Last year, De La Fuente burst onto the collegiate golf scene and was unanimously recognized on the conference level as a first team golfer and the league's Freshman of the Year. This year, De La Fuente has continued to be a standout golfer and returns as a first team honoree.
In his first three tournaments of the fall, De La Fuente finished in the top-three in each and tied for the top spot at the NSU Classic, but he came up short in the playoff. He also posted a top-10 finish in Tech's final tournament of the fall.
At the Houston Classic, the Wonder Boys' first tournament of the spring, De La Fuente once more tied for the individual top finish, but lost out in the playoff to teammate
Francois Jacobs.
Prior to that tournament, De La Fuente took part in the Latin America Amateur Championship and finished tied for second, narrowly missing out on an automatic qualification to this year's Masters Tournament.
Having played in 27 rounds thus far, De La Fuente has a current scoring average of 71.9 and is the second-ranked golfer in the region and the No. 27-ranked golfer in DII according to GolfStat.
Andre Jacobs
A Second Team All-GAC golfer as a sophomore a year ago,
Andre Jacobs landed on the First Team as a junior, joining twin brother Francois with the honor.
This year, Andre has been a steady hand for the Wonder Boys with his lowest finish being a T21 at the Battle for the Belt. In the eight tournaments he has played, Andre has placed in the top-10 six times. His highest finish was a third-place showing at the Lion Invitational.
Having played in 24 rounds thus far, Andre has a current scoring average of 72.0 and is the fifth-ranked golfer in the region and the No. 13-ranked golfer in DII according to GolfStat.
Henry Frizzell
Frizzell is now two-for-two in being an All-GAC golfer as he followed up his second team plaudits from his freshman year with honorable mention recognition in his sophomore campaign.
The native of Frisco, Texas had his best showing in his home state as he finished tied for fourth at the Houston Classic.
Having played in nine tournaments and 27 rounds, Frizzell carries a 74.3 scoring average into the GAC Championships.
Hayes Hamilton
A newcomer to the Wonder Boys as a junior college transfer, Hamilton is the lone golfer in Tech's everyday lineup that was not on the 2021 National Championship team, but the Texas City, Texas native has fit right into the fold and been a solid contributor to the 2022 squad.
Hamilton joins Francois as the only Wonder Boys to play in all 10 regular season tournaments this season. In his first go-round at Tech, Hamilton currently carries a 74.5 scoring average and is the No. 19-ranked golfer in the region.
