CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – In a poll of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 15 men’s golf head coaches, senior Ben James was voted the ACC Player of the Year and Tony Markel Head Men’s Golf Coach Bowen Sargent won his second consecutive ACC Coach of the Year honor the league office announced on Friday (June 12).
James is the first UVA men’s golfer to win the award since Ben Kohles won consecutive awards in 2010 and 2011. He is the first Virginia men’s golfer to win both the ACC Freshman of the Year (2023) and ACC Player of the Year Award. James joins and elite grouping of 16 ACC men’s golfers to win both awards in their careers.
Sargent, the 2026 Dave Wiliams National Coach of the Year, earned his third ACC Coach of the Year honor (2010, 2025, 2026) and repeats for the first time. Alongside associate head coach and Jan Strickland National Assistant Coach of the Year, Dustin Groves, the Cavaliers broke the program’s single-season record with seven wins and qualified for NCAA Championships for a record, fourth-straight season.
James, Paul Chang and Bryan Lee each were named to the All-ACC team for the second-straight year. The three selections matched a program record (2012, 2025, 2026). The three Cavaliers received All-America recognition from both GCAA/PING and Golfweek on Wednesday.
2026 ACC Men’s Golfer of the Year
Ben James, Sr., Virginia
2026 ACC Men’s Golf Freshman of the Year
Carson Bertagnole, North Carolina
2026 ACC Men’s Golf Coach of the Year
Bowen Sargent, Virginia
2026 Men’s Golf All-ACC Team
Ziqin Zhou, So., California
Ethan Evans, Sr., Duke
Bryan Kim, Jr., Duke
William Love, Sr., Duke
Tyler Weaver, Jr., Florida State
Hiroshi Tai, Sr., Georgia Tech
Carson Bertagnole, Fr., North Carolina
Niall Sheils Donegan, Jr., North Carolina
Jacob Modleski, Jr., Notre Dame
William Sides, Sr., SMU
Dean Greyserman, Sr., Stanford
Jay Leng, So., Stanford
Paul Chang, Gr., Virginia
Ben James, Sr., Virginia
Bryan Lee, Sr., Virginia