June 11, 2009

NORMAN, OK – Four Peach Belt Conference golfers were named to the PING All-America Team by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). Seven others were named Honorable Mention. Clayton State’s Will Wilcox was named a first-team All-American while USC Aiken’s Roberto Diaz and Columbus State’s Andrew Georgiou were placed on the second team. GCSU’s Niclas Johannson was named to the third team.

The seven players named honorable mention were Columbus State’s Michael Hicks and Steven Paine, Clayton State’s Wade Binfield, GCSU’s Pedro da Costa Lima, USC Aiken’s J.P. Solis, UNC Pembroke’s Jordan Walor and Armstrong Atlantic State’s Chris Wolfe.

Wilcox, a senior from Pell City, Ala., became the first ever Clayton State golfer to earn Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year honors and the first ever Laker to earn All-Peach Belt Conference for two straight seasons. Wilcox was the unanimous choice for PBC Player of the Year after winning four tournaments combined during the fall and spring.

This spring, he won three straight tournaments to start the season – the Outback Steakhouse Intercollegiate, the Matlock Invitational and the Samford Invitational. He finished one stroke off the pace of Binfield at the Peach Belt Conference Championship.

Wilcox led the Peach Belt Conference in scoring with a 70.9 stroke average and finished in the Top Five in seven of the 12 events he played in this season. Wilcox shot a season-low round 66 at the Outback Intercollegiate, and had a PBC-best 19 rounds of par or under this season.

For the second consecutive season, Diaz was a second team selection. In addition to being a second team selection for the past two seasons, Diaz (Veracruz, Mexico) was an Honorable Mention All-American in 2007 and a third team All-American in 2006.

Diaz was named All-Peach Belt Conference earlier this spring, ending his Pacer career as a four-time All-PBC selection. The senior was also named All-PBC in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He is the program’s first ever four-time All-PBC selection.

He concluded his final season with the Pacers with four top five finishes and nine top 20 finishes in the 2008-09 season. Diaz, who is tied for fifth in school history in career wins, picked up his fourth career individual title at the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate on Feb. 24. His 71.90 scoring average in 31 rounds in 2008-09 is the third lowest single season scoring average in program history. Overall, Diaz ends his Pacer career as the all-time career scoring leader in school history at 72.97 in 130 rounds played.

Andrew Georgiou helped lead Columbus State to a third-place finish in the NCAA National Championships in May. The senior from South Africa was named PBC All-Conference for the third straight season after posting a 72.2 stroke average, third-best in the PBC, during the regular season.

Georgiou played in all 12 tournaments for the Cougars in 2008-09, finishing in the top five three times. He finished second at the Outback Intercollegiate and fourth at both the Indian Bayou Classic and the Peach Belt Championships. He finished in the top 10 eight times and fired a season-low 68 in the second round of the PBC Tournament. CSU was ranked #1 in the nation in the final two regular-season GCAA polls.

Niclas Johansson was also named PBC All-Conference for Georgia College & State University for the second consecutive season. The junior from Skanor, Sweden, led the team and was fourth in the Peach Belt with a 72.4 stroke average. He finished ninth at the NCAA National Championships as GCSU as team took fifth place.

Johansson had six top-10 finishes in 2008-09 including third-place finishes at the AASU/Southbridge, the Cleveland Palmetto Intercollegiate and the Southeastern Intercollegiate. GCSU as a team won the Southeastern and also took a victory at their own Bobcat Invitational.