May 4, 2009

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Clemson led the way by placing three players on the 2009 All-ACC men’s golf team, while Florida State and NC State placed two players each on the team, as selected by a vote of the league’s 11 head coaches.

Five teams – Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest - rounded out the 12-member team with one selection each.

NC State’s Matt Hill and Clemson’s David May were automatic members of the ACC team as the 2009 ACC co-medalist championship winners. Hill also secured the prestigious Player of the Year award and is the first NC State player to win the award since Tim Clark in 1997, who shared the award with Clemson’s Richard Coughlan.

Clemson was also represented by juniors Kyle Stanley, a third-straight honoree, and Ben Martin, his second such honor on the All-ACC team.

Atlantic Coast Conference Champion Georgia Tech was represented by senior Cameron Tringale, who has now been named to the All-ACC team four straight seasons. Florida State’s honorees included senior, Matt Savage, his third straight All-ACC award, while fellow sophomore teammate, Drew Kittleson, is a first-time All-ACC member. Fellow Florida State teammate, Brooks Koepka, captured Freshman of the Year honors. NC State’s senior, Darren Blair joins the team for the first-time ever.

Rounding out the 12-member team are Kevin O’Connell, a second-straight honoree from North Carolina; seniors Drew Weaver from Virginia Tech and Dustin Groves from Wake Forest, making their first every appearances on the All-ACC team. Weaver is the second Virginia Tech student-athlete to earn All-ACC status in men’s golf since the school joined the league in 2004 – the first being last year’s Jurrian van der Vaart. John Popeck, a freshman from Maryland, captured his first All-ACC honor.

Georgia Tech’s Bruce Heppler was named ACC Coach of the Year, his fifth such honor in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Under Heppler, Georgia Tech claimed their second ACC Men’s Golf Championship in three years and fifth in the last 10 years.

2009 All-ACC Men’s Golf Team
(Listed alphabetically by school)

Kyle Stanley, Clemson (Jr.,  Gig Harbor, Wash.)
Ben Martin, Clemson (Jr., Greenwood, S. C.)
David May, Clemson (Sr., Auburn, N. Y.)
Matt Savage, Florida State (Sr., Louisville, Ky.)
Drew Kittleson, Florida State (So., Scottsdale, Ariz.)
Cameron Tringale, Georgia Tech (Sr., Laguna Niguel, Calif.)
John Popeck, Maryland (Fr., Washington, Pa.)
Kevin O’Connell, North Carolina (So., Cary, N. C.)
Matt Hill, NC State, So (Bright’s Grove, Ontario)
Darren Blair, NC State (Sr., Johannesburg, South Africa)
Drew Weaver, Virginia Tech (Sr., High Point, N. C.
Dustin Groves, Wake Forest (Sr., Keswick, Va.)

ACC Player of the Year
Matt Hill, NC State (So., Bright’s Grove, Ontario)

ACC Freshman of the Year
Brooks Koepka, Florida State (Fr., Wellington, Fla.)

ACC Coach of the Year
Bruce Heppler, Georgia Tech