Tulane Sweeps Louisiana Golf Player of the Year Honors
May 22, 2005 | Men's Golf
May 22, 2005
NEW ORLEANS - Tulane sophomore golfers Michael Thompson and Alison Walshe were named the Louisiana Male and Female Players of the Year, respectively, as the Green Wave dominated the 2005 All-Louisiana golf teams named by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Sunday.
In addition to Thompson and Walshe, who earned first team All-Louisiana honors along with the Player of the Year Awards, Green Wave women's golf coach Sue Bower was honored as the Louisiana Women's Coach of the Year. Thompson was joined on the five-man men's all-state squad by teammate Chris Wheeler, while Liliana Alvarez was named to the women's team along with Walshe.
Thompson and Wheeler both earned individual bids to the NCAA East Regional after posting scoring averages of 72.7 and 72.8, respectively, during the regular season. Thompson, a sophomore from Tucson, Ariz., led the state in scoring average and picked up a pair of tournament wins during the season en route to All-Conference USA first team honors while Wheeler was a second team all-league choice and was named to the Conference USA All-Decade Team. He placed sixth at the Conference USA Championships to record his fifth top 10 finish of the year.
At the NCAA East Regional at the Golf Club of Tennessee outside Nashville, Wheeler totaled a score of five-under par 208 after rounds of 69, 69 and 70, while Thompson finished one stroke back at four-under 209 after shooting 70, 69 and 70. Wheeler tied for 14th in the event while Thompson tied for 16th.
Walshe, a sophomore who transferred to Tulane from Boston College this season, was named the Conference USA Player of the Year and won the league's tournament championship while posting a 73.45 stroke average during the season. She was ranked as high as 12th in the nation during the season and finished fourth in the NCAA East Regional to lead Tulane to its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Championships, where the Green Wave placed 15th.
She was joined on the All-Louisiana team by her teammate Alvarez, a junior from Durango, Mexico, who was the Louisiana Player of the Year in 2004. She carded a stroke average of 74.96 as a junior and placed third at the C-USA Championship.
Bower, who guided the Green Wave to its first appearance in the NCAA Championships in 2005, was named the state's top women's coach for the fifth time and has now won the honor in each of the last four seasons. Her team won its second straight C-USA title this year and made its fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Regionals. The 2004-05 season was Bower's 15th at the helm of the Green Wave program.
A complete listing of the 2005 All-Louisiana teams follows.
LSWA MEN'S ALL-LOUISIANA COLLEGIATE GOLF TEAM
Michael Thompson, Tulane, Soph., Tucson, Ariz.
Chris Wells, LSU, Soph., Mobile, Ala.
Tim Kunick, Louisiana-Monroe, Jr., Bismark, N.D.
Preston Smith, Louisiana Tech, Soph., Monroe, La.
Chris Wheeler, Tulane, Senior, Allen, Texas
Player of Year: Michael Thompson, Tulane
Coach of Year: Bob Bass, Louisiana-Lafayette
Freshman of Year: Pat Collogan, Louisiana-Monroe
LSWA WOMEN'S ALL-LOUISIANA COLLEGIATE GOLF TEAM
Alison Walshe, Tulane, Soph., Westford, Mass.
Liliana Alvarez, Tulane, Jr., Durango, Mexico
Lisa Westman, McNeese State, Soph., Stockholm, Sweden
Melissa Eaton, LSU, Soph., Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
Brooke Shelton, LSU, Senior, Plano, Texas
Player of Year: Alison Walshe, Tulane
Coach of Year: Sue Bower, Tulane
Freshman of Year: Rebecca Kuhn, LSU
-- Roll Wave --
