SwingU, the golf technology and media company, announced today the seven divisional winners of the SwingU College Player of the Month Award for April 2024 in partnership with the Golf Coaches Association of America.
Jackson Koivun of Auburn (Division I), Mike Hay of Nova Southeastern (Division II), Travon Willis of Virginia Union (HBCU), Jack Burr of Huntingdon (Division III), Brock Hoover of Dalton State (NAIA), Gaspar Glaudas of Indian Hills (NJCAA Division I), and Dillon Dean of South Mountain (NJCAA Division II) are the April 2024 SwingU College Player of the Month recipients as announced in partnership by SwingU and the Golf Coaches Association of America.
Koivun had a near-perfect April that has led to widespread national recognition. The freshman from Chapel Hill, N.C., ended his first collegiate regular season with 15 birdies, one eagle, and a third-place finish at the Mossy Oak Collegiate (66-69-71, -10) on April 16, giving him a freshman single-season program record 21 rounds below par. The top-ranked Tigers, who swept first through fifth place on the individual leaderboard for the first time in school history, won the tournament by 34 strokes. After receiving SEC Freshman of the Week honors for the fifth time on April 17, Koivun was selected to compete for Team USA in the 2024 Arnold Palmer Cup, held July 5-7 at Lahinch Golf Club in Lahinch, Ireland, on April 23. He then turned in a performance he’ll never forget at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championships over the next three days. Recording 16 birdies and a 12-under 198 (66-66-66), he became the first Auburn freshman to win the SEC individual title, doing so by six strokes. Following the individual championship, Koivun went 3-0 in SEC Championship Match Play, never trailing against his semifinal and final match opponents, to lead Auburn to their fifth SEC Championship in program history. Most recently, Koivun was named one of three finalists for the 2024 Ben Hogan Award presented by PNC Bank on May 7, presented to the top men’s NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA, or NJCAA college golfer based on all collegiate, amateur, and professional events over the previous 12 months.
Hay, who also received the February 2024 NCAA Division II SwingU College Player of the Month, helped lead the Sharks to their five-stroke team victory at the Battle at The Shores on April 2 by recording 13 birdies and finishing third (67-69-70, -7). Three weeks later, the graduate student from Middlesbrough, England, used 18 birdies, including eight during his opening-round 66, and one eagle to win the Sunshine State Conference Championship by one shot (66-67-72, -11). On May 6, Hay was named Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year.
Willis recorded top-two finishes in both April tournaments. The graduate student from Indian Trails, N.C., finished T2 (76-73-74, +7) at the CIAA Northern Division Championship on April 6 by recording six birdies and leading the Panthers to their six-stroke team victory. Before receiving 2024 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAA) Player of the Year honors, Willis recorded 12 birdies and a seven-under 209 (69-70-70) to win the CIAA Championship by three shots on April 16. Virginia Union won the team championship by five strokes, earning an automatic bid into this week’s NCAA Division II Atlantic/East Regional.
Burr began April ranked 27th in the NCAA Division III National Rankings but raised to 11th after finishing one shot back (67-70, -7) at the Wynlakes Invitational on April 2. The sophomore from Milton, Ga., recorded 13 birdies, including on his first four holes of the tournament, to ignite his finish. At The Cochran Collegiate two weeks later, Burr used 11 birdies, including four on his bogey-free front nine during the first round, to win by three strokes with a three-under 213 (72-72-69). He was named Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) Golfer of the Week the next day (April 17) and CCS Golfer of the Year on May 6.
Hoover helped lead the Roadrunners to their 11-stroke team victory at the Roadrunner Classic on April 9 with a T4 finish. The junior from Woodstock, Ga., recorded seven birdies and a two-over 218 (72-75-71) against a field that had eight of the top 10 ranked NAIA Coaches Poll teams. Before being named a First-Team All-Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) and Academic All-SSAC selection, Hoover won his second straight SSAC individual title on April 24 by two strokes with 12 birdies, two eagles, and a five-under 211 (67-72-72). Dalton State won the SSAC Championship by five shots.
Ranked No. 1 in NJCAA Division I by over 30 average weighted points, Glaudas finished inside the top seven in all four of his April tournaments. With a bogey-free final round and a three-under 137 (70-67), the sophomore from Sainte-Tulle, France, finished T5 at the Don Benbow Butler Spring Invitational, an NCAA Division I-hosted event, on April 2. Four days later, Glaudas used 14 birdies and a 10-under 203 (68-67-68) to win the NCAA Division I-hosted WIU Intercollegiate at TPC Deere Run by 12 strokes on April 6, leading the Warriors to their 22-shot team victory. The Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) then named Glaudas Men’s Golf Athlete of the Week for the sixth time this season on April 9. He finished T7 (70-67-73, -3) at the Highland Meadows Intercollegiate, another NCAA Division I-hosted event, on April 16, recording nine birdies and four in his bogey-free second round. Lastly, Glaudas carded eight birdies and one eagle for a T2, three-under 213 (70-70-73) to help lead Indian Hills to their 17-stroke NJCAA Central District Championship victory on April 30. He previously won October 2023’s NJCAA Division I SwingU College Player of the Month and the NJCAA Division I SwingU College Player of the Fall this season.
Dean won two of his three April tournaments and recorded his seventh top-10 finish of the season. The freshman from Scottsdale, Ariz., who has now received consecutive NJCAA Division II SwingU College Player of the Month honors, used 12 birdies, including eight during his bogey-free final-round 62, and two eagles for his six-stroke victory (70-62, -12) at the Cougars Spring Invitational on April 3. In recording the team’s lowest round of the season by four shots, Dean led the Cougars to their 18-stroke team victory and first of three tournament wins in April. After finishing T6 with five birdies and one eagle (70-75, +1) at the Gila Monsters Spring Invitational on April 9, helping lead South Mountain to their four-shot team victory, Dean carded 17 birdies en route to his four-shot win at the ACCAC Division II Region 1 Championship (70-70-73-70, -1) on April 25. The Cougars won the team championship by 18 strokes and Dean was named First-Team All-Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC).
The SwingU College Player of the Month is awarded to players from seven divisions – NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, HBCU, NCAA Division III, NAIA, NJCAA Division I, and NJCAA Division II – based on a voting committee made up of coaches from their respective divisions. For more information on the award, please visit www.swingu.com/potm.
PREVIOUS RECIPIENTS
March 2024
NCAA Division I: Luke Clanton, Florida State
NCAA Division II: Drew Coble, Grand Valley State
HBCU: Brandon Jones, Fayetteville State
NCAA Division III: Avery Stansell, Rhodes
NAIA: Kolby Shackelford, OUAZ
NJCAA Division I: Nick Miller, Eastern Florida State
NJCAA Division II: Dillon Dean, South Mountain
February 2024
NCAA Division I: Ian Gilligan, Florida
NCAA Division II: Mike Hay, Nova Southeastern
HBCU: Marcus Taylor, Florida A&M
NCAA Division III: Tobey Wills, Texas Lutheran
NAIA: Isac Wallin, Keiser
NJCAA Division I: Gunnar Green, Central Alabama
NJCAA Division II: Andrew Zielinski, Mississippi Gulf Coast
Fall 2023
NCAA Division I: Christo Lamprecht, Georgia Tech (2)
NCAA Division II: Sangha Park, UT Permian Basin (2)
HBCU: Gonzalo Moreno, Alabama State (2)
NCAA Division III: Jackson Klutznick, Emory (2)
NAIA: Tom Scullion, Cumberland (TN) (2)
NJCAA Division I: Gaspar Glaudas, Indian Hills (2)
NJCAA Division II: Will Burnham, Mississippi Gulf Coast
October 2023
NCAA Division I: Omar Morales, UCLA
NCAA Division II: Sam Tandy, Harding
HBCU: Gonzalo Moreno, Alabama State
NCAA Division III: Cameron Cappuzzo, Methodist
NAIA: Tom Scullion, Cumberland (TN)
NJCAA Division I: Gaspar Glaudas, Indian Hills
NJCAA Division II: Will Thompson, East Central
September 2023
NCAA Division I: Christo Lamprecht, Georgia Tech
NCAA Division II: Sangha Park, UT Permian Basin
HBCU: Micah Stangebye, Kentucky State
NCAA Division III: Jackson Klutznick, Emory
NAIA: Jack Whaley, Dalton State
NJCAA Division I: Oscar Holm Bredkjaer, Midland
NJCAA Division II: Lucas Park, Parkland
April 2023
NCAA Division I: Caleb Surratt, Tennessee
NCAA Division II: Charles DeLong, Grand Valley State
HBCU: Patrick Mwendapole, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
NCAA Division III: J.F. Aber, Wittenberg
NAIA: Jakob Stavang Stubhaug, Keiser
NJCAA Division I: Gaspar Glaudas, Indian Hills
NJCAA Division II: Kolby Shackelford, Kirkwood
March 2023
NCAA Division I: Ben Carr, Georgia Southern
NCAA Division II: Beck Burnette, Lee
HBCU: Caden Hodges, Fayetteville State
NCAA Division III: Alex Price, Christopher Newport
NAIA: Kade Cannon, St. Thomas (FL)
NJCAA Division I: Matthis Lefèvre, New Mexico JC (2)
NJCAA Division II: Chase Kaiser, Mississippi Gulf Coast (2)
February 2023
NCAA Division I: Gordon Sargent, Vanderbilt
NCAA Division II: Reece Coleman, Anderson (SC)
HBCU: Gregory Odom Jr., Howard
NCAA Division III: Vikram Chatterjee, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
NAIA: Isac Wallin, Keiser
NJCAA Division I: Matthis Lefèvre, New Mexico JC
NJCAA Division II: Chase Kaiser, Mississippi Gulf Coast
(#) = recipients who were named in multiple months during the same school year
About SwingU
Headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, SwingU is a sports technology and media company focused on golf game improvement. The company owns and operates the top-rated golf game-improvement app across GPS, scorecard, statistics and instruction. SwingU Clubhouse publishes an email newsletter reaching hundreds of thousands of golfers daily. Lastly, SwingU Coach offers the ultimate coaching & statistics platform for both golf teams and academies. For more company information, please visit www.swingu.com.
About Golf Coaches Association of America
Established in 1958, the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) is the professional organization of men’s collegiate golf coaches. The GCAA’s mission is to support its member coaches from six divisions, including the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA, by creating educational opportunities, providing resources, and promoting its members with the purpose of enhancing their overall performance as coaches, mentors, and teachers. The GCAA also recognizes the excellence and achievements of its members and their student-athletes in academic, athletic, and civic endeavors.
Media Contact
Chris Chaney
chris@swingu.com
