Baylor men’s golf led the Big 12 Conference with seven student-athletes on the Academic All-Big 12 Golf Teams, which were announced by the conference office Tuesday.
Baylor’s six first-team honorees and seven total selections are both school records. Braden Bailey, Jackson Heazel, Klein Klotz, Matthew Perrine, Hunter Shattuck and Nick Thornton earned first-team recognition, and Garrett May was a second team selection.
Baylor has now had 61 Academic All-Big 12 honorees in the league’s 21-year history, and at least five Bears have earned league academic honors in all three seasons under third-year head coach Mike McGraw.
Bailey and May repeated as academic honorees after they were named to the 2016 Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team last season, while Heazel, Klotz, Perrine, Shattuck and Thornton were first-time selections.
Bailey is a sophomore pre-business major from Groves, Texas. He has played all 26 rounds this season and leads the team with a 70.58 stroke average, which is currently the second-best single-season mark in program history. Bailey has a team-best four top-five finishes this season, including a tie for first place at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate.
Heazel is a redshirt junior marketing major from Atlanta, Ga. He has played in two tournament this season, posting a 73.17 stroke average across six rounds.
Klotz is a redshirt junior marketing major from Austin, Texas. He transferred to Baylor prior to the 2015-16 season from Sam Houston State and redshirted last season.
Perrine is a junior accounting/finance major from Austin, Texas. He’s played all 26 rounds this season, leads the team with 18 rounds at par or better and ranks third on the team with a 71.12 stroke average. He tied with Bailey for first place at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, one of his team-high four top-five finishes this season.
Shattuck is a senior HKLS major from Jacksonville, Texas. He’s played all 26 rounds this season and ranks fifth on the team with a 71.54 stroke average. Shattuck has two top-five finishes and has played 13 rounds at par or better.
Thornton is a senior finance/real estate major from Boerne, Texas. He’s played 12 rounds over four tournaments as an individual, posting a 73.33 stroke average, including four rounds at par or better.
May is a sophomore pre-business major from Hope, Ark. He’s played all 26 rounds this season and ranks fourth on the team with a 71.38 stroke average. May has finished among the top three individuals three times this season and has shot 13 rounds at par or better.
Nominated by each institution's director of student-athlete support services, the Academic All-Big 12 men's golf team consisted of 36 first-team honorees and five second-team selections. First team members have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA, while second team honorees hold a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.
To qualify, student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher, and they must have participated in 60 percent of their team's scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence, and seniors who have participated for at least two years are exempt from the participation requirements.
The Bears are currently No. 3 nationally in the latest GolfStat rankings and reached No. 1 for the first time in program history in last week’s Golfweek rankings. BU has wrapped up its regular season and next plays in the 2017 Big 12 Championship, which runs April 24-26 at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan.
