ULM Warhawks

MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. - The final round of the 2011 Club Glove Sun Belt Conference Championship was cancelled due to severe weather conditions in the Muscle Shoals, Ala., area Wednesday, and the ULM men's golf team finished with a program-record-setting tie for second place on the par-72, 7,170 yard Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at the Shoals Fighting Joe course. Gustaf Kocken was named the 2011 SBC Men's Golf Freshman of the Year while James Searson and Nick Wilson were named to the SBC All-Conference team.

"I'm really proud of the guys," said head coach Erik Hsu. "They stayed tough and performed well especially under pressure. We worked on it all year and to see it come together is very fulfilling. They stayed strong and steady and refused to let the weather distract them. "

ULM's tie for second place smashes the program's previous lowest finish of ninth place for the past three consecutive Sun Belt Conference Championships. This season also marks the first the Warhawks landed three players on the SBC All-Conference team. ULM and Middle Tennessee led the league with three all-conference selections.

"We did what we had to do to play strong all day long (yesterday). Our goal was to put ourselves in position to win that final round and we did that," said Hsu. "Obviously no one expected what happened with the weather, so we are disappointed to not to get to play today."

Kocken's Freshman of the Year honor is also the first time in program history a ULM player has received the accolade. Kocken had an incredible record-breaking season for ULM as he ended the year with a 72.1 average to rank third in the Sun Belt in scoring average. The freshman ended the tournament tied for 14^th with a combined 146.

The Stockholm, Sweden, native won back-to-back titles at the Kansas and Oral Roberts Invitationals and tied for medalist honors at HBU's Intercollegiate Invitational where he fell in a sudden death playoff. Kocken held a streak of six-consecutive top-10 finishes over this season, four being in the top-three.

Wilson and Searson also finished second and tied for third individually at 138 and 139 total respectively, marking the lowest individual finishes by a Warhawk at the championship in program history since joining the league in 2006-07. Wilson ended just one stroke back from medalist David Ortiz of North Texas at 137 total after leading following the first round.

Denver claimed the team championship after shooting a combined 284-289-573 to win by four strokes over ULM and North Texas in second with 577 total. North Texas edged ULM for the runner-up spot after determining the fifth player with the lowest finish. Arkansas State and UL-Lafayette complete the top-five in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Tim Hardham finished with 152 total to tie for 34^th overall while Adam McCleary rounded out the lineup at 50^th place with a combined 158.