DALLAS – Charlotte sophomore
Dongjin Park was recognized as the 2021-22 Conference USA Golfer of the Year as the league announced its men’s golf all-conference and superlative awards on Thursday. Rice newcomer
Raghav Chugh was tabbed the C-USA Freshman of the Year while Charlotte’s
Ryan Cabbage earned the Philip Hatchett Coach of the Year award after leading the 49ers to the C-USA Championship last week in Texarkana.
Park adds the conference’s top honor to a memorable junior campaign as he became Charlotte’s second Golfer of the Year in the last three years joining John Gough in 2020. The Seoul, South Korea, product has been named the C-USA Golfer of the Week three times, including back-to-back honors in the last two weeks of the season. He leads the nationally-ranked 49ers with a 71.12 stroke average and never finished below 20
th in his 11 events this season. He posted five finishes in the top 10 and three inside the top five. He was key in Charlotte’s C-USA Championship victory winning his semifinal match 6&5 and his finals match 4&3. A C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll recipient and previous C-USA All-Freshman team selection, Park is currently ranked No. 54 nationally.
Chugh led the Owls with a 72.52 stroke average in his 12 tournaments over his freshman campaign to become Rice’s first Freshman of the Year since the 2014 season and third overall. He finished in the top 20 in seven events and took home three top-five finishes. Chugh played at the top of the lineup in every spring event and earned his best finish of the season at the Sam Houston Dual Match, where he tied for first. The New Delhi, India native was named the C-USA Golfer of the Week in October after finishing tied for third at the Bentwater Intercollegiate with a 2-under 211. His low tournament score came at the Louisiana Classics where he went 7-under 209 at the par-72 Oakbourne Country Club. Additionally, Chugh was Rice’s top finisher in 10 of his 12 events played.
Cabbage led Charlotte to its first-ever C-USA Championship defeating UTSA in the championship match of the event a week ago en route to being named the C-USA Coach of the Year for the first time of his career. The 49ers are currently ranked No. 31 and will be making their second-straight NCAA team appearance and 12th overall. Since March, Charlotte has not finished lower than fifth in a field and won three team titles. The 49ers took home the Desert Intercollegiate, Irish Creek Intercollegiate and the C-USA titles this season. They also finished second at the John Hayt Invitational. Cabbage helped guide both Matt Sharpstene and Ben Woodruff to individual crowns and was key in helping Park develop into a top 55 player nationally during the season. Along with Park’s Golfer of the Year honor, Cabbage’s roster featured three First Team All-Conference selections, one Third team honoree and an All-Freshman Team member. The 49ers will head to New Haven, Connecticut and the Yale Golf Course for this year’s NCAA Regionals.
Seven student-athletes are making their second or third appearance on the All-Conference teams while 10 of the 13 teams have representation across the teams. C-USA will be represented at the NCAA Regionals this year by Charlotte and UAB along with four individuals in Middle Tennessee’s Michael Barnard (2022 C-USA Individual Champion) and Nick Wolf, Vicente Marzilio of North Texas and Sam Murphy from Louisiana Tech.
Men’s Golfer of the Year
Dongjin Park, Charlotte
Freshman of the Year
Raghav Chugh, Rice
Phillip Hatchett Coach of the Year
Ryan Cabbage, Charlotte
All-Conference Teams (*-repeat selection across all three teams)
First Team
Dongjin Park, Charlotte
*Matt Sharpstene, Charlotte (Second Team 2021)
*Khavish Varadan, UAB (Second Team 2021, Third Team 2020)
*Vicente Marzilio, North Texas (First Team 2021)
*Ben Woodruff, Charlotte (Second Team 2021)
Michael Barnard, Middle Tennessee – Individual Champion
Second Team
*Nick Robillard, UAB (First Team 2021)
Sam Murphy, LA Tech
Nick Wolf, Middle Tennessee
Alfie Fox, UAB
Robbie Latter, Southern Miss
Third Team
*Max Sturdza, FAU (Third Team 2021)
*Alex Maguire, FAU (Third Team 2020)
Michael Rome, UTSA
Carson Ownbey, Charlotte
Tyler Jones, Marshall
All-Freshman Team
Raghav Chugh, Rice
Jake Hibbert, FAU
Guilherme Grinberg, FAU
Conor Gough, Charlotte
Ryan Dupuy, Southern Miss