NEW HAVEN, Conn. - - For the first time in his career, Wilmington University golf coach Mark Hall has been named the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year, highlighting the major awards as two Wildcats were named All-CACC in the postseason report, as announced by the conference office on Monday.
In the year's final statistical rankings according to Golfstat, senior Matthew Kettleson and junior Enrique Valverde were named All-CACC. They were a part of the 10 named across the CACC that were named to All-CACC, with Goldey-Beacom's freshman Gonzalo Moreno highlighting the major awards winners by being named the CACC Player and Rookie of the Year.
Mark Hall helped orchestrate a 10-stroke comeback in the second round to propel the Wildcats to the 2019 CACC Tournament Championship in the fall. HE was voted as the CACC Coach of the Year in a vote of the league's sports information directors. Dominican rounded out the major awards by winning the CACC Team Sportsmanship Award in a vote by the teams.
Kettleson (Vancouver, B.C./Hugh Boyd Secondary) played in four tournaments in the 2019-20 season, finishing a year's best fourth overall at Wingate's Hargett Memorial Invitational in March. He shot rounds of 72-72-70 for a 214 (-2) in the tournament to place fourth, four strokes off the lead. He sank 19 birdies on the year, and finished the season with a 4.98 scoring average on par-five holes. In 12 rounds, he held a 77.0 average score.
Valverde (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/The Community for Learning) played in all six tournaments this year, finishing with a 74.69 round average in 16 rounds. He won the CACC Championship by overcoming a five-stroke deficit in the second round, shooting a 75-72 for a 147 (+3), while holding off teammate Tyler Cleaves for a two-stroke victory. He also finished second at Wingate's Hargett Memorial Invitational in March, shooting rounds of 71-70-71 for a 212 (-4) to lead the Wildcats. The second round 70 at the Hargett Memorial was his low round of the year, as he put in 50 birdies, and averaged 4.84 strokes on par five holes on the year.
The Wildcats won the CACC Championship for the ninth time in 10 years and were playing the spring season to prepare for the NCAA Super Regionals in May.
AGATE:
2020 CACC Men's Golf All-Conference:
Anthony Guerrera (Post University)
Matthew Kettleson (Wilmington University)
Shawn Mayer (Chestnut Hill College)
Hunter McGee (Goldey-Beacom College)
Ben McKenna (Post University)
Gonzalo Moreno (Goldey-Beacom Collge)
Shea Murphy (Goldey-Beacom College)
Minwoo Park (Concordia College)
Pablo Saenz Avila (Goldey-Beacom College)
Enrique Valverde (Wilmington University)
2019-20 CACC MEN'S GOLF PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Gonzalo Moreno (Goldey-Beacom College)
2019-20 CACC MEN'S GOLF ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Gonzalo Moreno (Goldey-Beacom College)
2019-20 CACC MEN'S GOLF COACH OF THE YEAR: Mark Hall (Wilmington University)
2019-20 CACC MEN'S GOLF TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: Dominican College