The Missouri State men's golf team continues to score national recognition for its performance in the classroom from the Golf Coaches Association of America. The Bears have been recognized by the GCAA as an 18Birdies All-Academic Team for achieving a team grade-point average of 3.44. 18Birdies is a mobile golf and social platform powering the next generation of golf technology.
Additionally, a foursome of Bears raked in individual honors, being named to the GCAA Cleveland/Srixon All-America Scholar Team, four of just 265 Division I players nationally to earn such status. Graduated senior
John Fuchs and seniors-to-be
Brad Carpenter,
Kory Franks and
Jack Knoesel earned recognition for their achievements in the classroom and surpassing the criteria for the award -- being a junior or senior academically, having completed at least three years at the collegiate level, having participated in at least 50 percent of the team's competitive rounds, posting a stroke average under 76 and maintaining a 3.2 or better GPA.Â
A Springfield native, Fuchs graduated in May after completing his senior year with a 74.83 scoring average and competing in eight of the Bears' 11 tournaments. His best finish was a tie for thrid at the Twin Oaks Intercollegiate, where he shot a one-over-par 213 for 54 holes. Fuchs compiled a 3.26 GPA while majoring in Marketing.
Carpenter is a two-time Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete and received the league's prestigious Elite 18 (now Elite 17) Award in 2017 as the top academic performer at the league championship. He graduated last year with a 3.84 GPA in Business in the classroom and compiled a 73.53 average on the course, which was good enough for ninth in the league. He was medalist at the season-opening Sam Hall Intercollegiate at Southern Mississippi. He is from Washington, Mo.
Franks, who recently qualified for the U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach next month, has posted a 3.67 GPA in Finance. He's also a member of the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team and finish last season ranked fourth in the Valley with a 73.06 scoring mark. A Jefferson City native, he was the only Bear to compete in all 11 tournaments, posted a pair of top-10 finishes, and placed 11th at the MVC Championship.
Knoesel, who is from Columbia, Mo., placed second in the MVC with a 72.38 scoring average while compiling four top-10 finishes and earning all-conference honors. In the classroom, he has a 3.21 GPA while majoring in Marketing.
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