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Nov. 14, 2013

Charlottesville, Va. – The Virginia men’s golf team announced a three-man signing class today that features a trio of top junior players, all listed in the top 100 of the current American Junior Golf Association’s rankings. Topping the class is first-team Rolex All-American Austen Truslow (New Smyrna Beach, Fla.), who is ranked as the No. 2 junior golfer in the nation and ranked as Golfweek’s No. 3 overall player for the class of 2014.

Joining Truslow on the Cavalier golf team next fall will be Danny Walker (Bradenton, Fla.), a Rolex honorable-mention All-American who is ranked as the No. 61 junior by the AJGA and the No. 49 player by Golfweek for the class of 2014 and Connor Messick (Oak Hill, Va.), the No. 82 ranked junior by the AJGA.

“We are very excited to announce the addition of Austen, Danny, and Connor to the Virginia golf family,” said UVa head coach Bowen Sargent. “Obviously, Austen headlines the ’14 class. Austen being ranked third in the country and a Rolex first team All-American grabs a lot of attention. But Danny, who like Austen, also hails from Florida and an AJGA All-American, is an extremely talented young man who has respect among those in his home state. Connor had a strong summer in Virginia and will surprise a lot of people as he continues to develop. All three are great students and hard workers, qualities I admire greatly in my student-athletes. I know they each want to build on the success of Virginia golf over the past seven years and take this program to higher highs.”

Truslow won the 2013 Junior Players Championship in his first AJGA invitational start and later took top honors at the Golf Pride/David Leadbetter Junior Classic. He was the runner-up at 2013 Puerto Rico Junior Open and finished third at Callaway Junior World Championships. He was 12th at TaylorMade-adidas Golf Junior at Innisbrook, finished 13th at the Western Junior Championship and has qualified for and competed in the 2012 and 2013 U.S. Amateur Championships.

A two-time Maine State Junior Amateur Champion, he was the runner-up at the Florida State Golf Association’s boys championship in 2011 and 2013. He was named the Orlando Sentinel’s Boys Golfer of the Year 2011 and the Daytona Beach News Journal’s Boys Golfer of the Year 2011 & 2010.

Truslow tied for second at the Florida 1A state championships this fall while competing for Lake Mary Prep. He helped Lake Mary to the state title, the first for any sport at the school. He also helped Spruce Creek High School to the 2010 state title.

Walker helped his Lakewood Ranch High School team to three consecutive state titles in Florida, winning the 2A crown in 2011 and 2013 and the 3A title this fall. He won the Florida High School state 2A individual title as a freshman. He placed second at the 2012 Western Junior and was named a Rolex Junior All-American that season. Walker finished sixth at TaylorMade-adidas Golf Junior at Innisbrook, was 21st at FootJoy Invitational, placed 38th at Polo Golf Junior Classic and was 44th at Thunderbird International Junior.

Messick has only played competitive golf for four years. Last summer, he was the runner-up at the Virginia State Golf Association Stroke Play Championship. Messick had top-15 finishes in three of four AJGA events he played and was selected for the Mid-Atlantic Junior Invitational. He was selected to participate in the 2013 Virginia/Carolinas Match and was named the 2012 College Prep Golf Tour player of the year.

He helped Chantilly High School to the 2013 state title this fall, finishing fourth in the individual competition. He finished second at the state championships in 2012. He earned all-state honors as a junior and senior.

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