Four Cavaliers Named to ACC All-Academic Team
June 21, 2016
Charlottesville, Va. – Four members of the Virginia men’s golf team have been named to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s All-Academic Team. Virginia juniors Derek Bard (New Hartford, N.Y.) and Jimmy Stanger (Tampa, Fla.) are repeat selections while sophomore Danny Walker (Bradenton, Fla.) and freshman Thomas Walsh (High Point, N.C.) are first-time selections.
Bard and Stanger are among the six ACC golfers to be honored on both the All-ACC and All-Academic teams this year. Bard, a foreign affairs major, was picked for the third time in his career while Stanger, a commerce major, received the award for the second time.
Bard led UVA with a 71.23 stroke average and was ranked No. 21 in the final Golfstat standings. He had six top-five finishes and repeated as champion of the U.S. Collegiate Championship. He was 16th at the ACC Championships and 17th at the NCAA Championships, helping the Cavaliers to a 22nd-place finish. A member of the U.S. Palmer Cup team that competes June 24-26 in Formby, England, Bard played in both the Masters and U.S. Open this year, the only collegiate player to appear in both events.
Stanger was second on the team with a 71.23 stroke average. He led UVA at the NCAA Regional with a sixth-place finish and birdied his final hole to break a tie for the final qualifying spot for the NCAA Championships. He posted six top-10 finishes during the season and was ranked No. 59 in the final Golfstat poll.
Walker was fourth on the team with a 72.54 stroke average. He posted five top-10 outings and was amongst the team’s top two performers in six tournaments. Walsh played in 11 of 13 tournaments, was third on the team in stroke average (72.54) and placed 75th at the NCAA Championships.
To be eligible for consideration for the All-ACC Academic team, a student-athlete, regardless of classification, must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his academic career. Athletic achievements during the most recent season are also considered in selecting the All-ACC Academic Team.