DeLand, Fla. ? Stetson senior men's golfer Tommy Parker (Palm Beach, Fla.) had his impressive final season for the Hatters capped off with a place on the All-Atlantic Sun First Team, the conference office announced Tuesday. Parker, who also earned Atlantic Sun All-Tournament honors last month, is the first Hatter to earn All-Conference honors since Francis McCahill made the First Team in 2002.
Parker's 73.20 stroke average this season ranked second among all A-Sun golfers and is good for second place in Stetson single-season history, just .02 strokes per round higher than what junior Dave McAndrew (Barrington, R.I.) averaged last season. The November 2008 A-Sun Golfer of the Month, Parker won the JU Classic (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) outright in February and tied for medalist honors at October's Bethune-Cookman Invitational (Daytona Beach, Fla.) and April's Larry Nelson Intercollegiate (Braselton, Ga.). Parker also finished second at the CFSC/Stetson Invitational at Victoria Hills GC in November and closed out his career by taking fifth in the A-Sun Championships at Keith Hills GC in Buies Creek, N.C.
Parker led the Hatters to their second consecutive sixth place finish at the conference championships, tying for their top performance since 2002. He and McCahill are the only two Stetson men's golfers to earn First Team All-Atlantic Sun honors since the league began using the GolfStat.com rankings to determine postseason awards in 1997. Parker's final career scoring average was 75.37, good for third place in program history.
ETSU swept the three major awards for the season, with Seamus Power capturing Player of the Year honors, rookie A-Sun tournament champion Michael Stewart getting the Freshman of the Year award and mentor Fred Warren being named Coach of the Year. Joining Parker, Power and Stewart on the First Team were Rhys Enoch (ETSU) and Bill Jones III (Mercer).
Although Parker graduates, Stetson, which set a school record with a 295.86 average team score per round in 2008-09, returns the other four golfers who competed at the A-Sun Championships this season, including McAndrew, rising juniors Gabe Costa (Tequesta, Fla.) and Michael Stewart (New Smyrna Beach, Fla.) along with rising sophomore Sam Ryder (Longwood, Fla.).
