McMakin headlines SEC honors for Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – University of Arkansas men’s golf coach Brad McMakin was named the Southeastern Conference Coach of the year headlining several honors for the Razorbacks, the league office announced Monday. In addition to McMakin, senior Andrew Landry earned All-SEC First-Team honors, junior David Lingmerth was selected to the second team and freshman Ethan Tracy was named to the SEC All-Freshman team. McMakin, in just his third season as the skipper of the men’s team, is the first Razorback men’s golf coach to earn the award. “Well, it’s a great honor,” said McMakin. “We have a lot of great coaches in the SEC and golf in the SEC is the best in the country. I’m excited to be thought of by my peers for this award. I have a great assistant in Coach (Layne) Savoie. I think he’s the best assistant in the country and he deserves a lot of credit for our success this year.” The Razorbacks are ranked 13th in the most recent Golf World/Nike Coaches Poll and is No. 9 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index Ratings. McMakin has guided the Razorbacks to a pair of team titles this year and the program’s best rankings in recent history. Landry, a Groves, Texas, native, is making his third consecutive appearance on the All-SEC list and his first on the first-team. He leads the Razorbacks with a 72.50 stroke average through 11 events this year. He has six top-five finishes including his first career win at the Reunion Intercollegiate. Landry was second at the Fighting Irish Classic, tied for fourth at Baylor and tied for fifth at Maryland this year. Lingmerth is making his first appearance on the All-SEC Second-Team. He ranks second for the Razorbacks with a 73.09 stroke average and has also made the cut for all 11 events this year. Lingmerth has five top five finishes including back-to-back ties for second-place to open the year. He tied for fifth at the SEC Championship last week. Tracy became the fourth Razorback named to the SEC All-Freshman Team since the league began the honor. He ranks third on the Razorback squad with a 74.03 stroke average and, like Landry and Lingmerth, has made the cut for all 11 tournaments this year. The freshman captured his first career collegiate win at the first tournament of the year winning the Maryland Invitational. Tracy was third at the Border Olympics and tied for 17th in his first SEC Championship last week. “We’ve come a long way in a short period of time,” said McMakin. “We have two of these guys coming back next year and we’re excited about our future. We want to continue to get quality players and improve. We’ve done a nice job of that the last couple of years here. Our guys work hard and are focused on the right things – school and golf. That good combination has had a lot to do with our success.” The Razorbacks continue to wait for the 2009 NCAA Regional Championship announcement next week. For more information about Arkansas men’s golf, log on to ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

2009 Southeastern Conference Men’s Golf Awards

First-Team All-SEC

Second-Team All-SEC

All-Freshman Team