South Mountain Community College Men’s Golf Named Academic National Champions

The Golf Coaches Association of America named the South Mountain Community College men's golf team Academic National Champions, the association announced Thursday. The Cougars finished with the top GPA in NJCAA Division II and were one of 95 schools to earn a Presidents Special Recognition Honors, finishing with a team GPA of 3.5 and above.

"Early in the fall, we had a team meeting discussing personal and team goals. We also discussed the importance of holding each other accountable, understanding that we're only as strong as our weakest link on and off the golf course. It became evident that this was going to be an extraordinary group, setting goals at the highest standard," said SMCC head coach Aaron Puetz. "The effort to achieve these goals I saw from the guys to come together still gives me goosebumps. We took time every week to openly discuss our successes and challenges. We celebrated success together and helped each other through the challenges together."

The GCAA recognized the Cougars, the No. 1 team in the nation on the course, for their academic work. Earlier this summer, SMCC received one of the NJCAA Academic Teams of the Year award.

In the spring of 2020, the Cougars won tournaments hosted by Scottsdale Community College, Chandler-Gilbert Community College, Mesa Community College and Eastern Arizona. Individually, four SMCC student-athletes earned NJCAA Ping Division II All-America honors: Gabriel Salvanera, Johnathan Walters, Ryan Macpherson and Matthew Halvorson. Salvanera would later receive the 2020 NJCAA Division II Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award.

Earlier this summer, Halvorson, Samuel Salisbury, Walters and Caden Weber earned NJCAA Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar honors.

"When the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic presented itself, and we could not defend our National Championship on the course, our guys remained focused in the classroom and were determined to win the Academic National Championship," Puetz added. "I am so proud of the effort that every student-athlete put in to achieve this goal."

SMCC will send several student-athletes to NCAA institutions this fall. Walters will continue his intercollegiate career at UNLV, Halvorson will play at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Salvanera will play Arizona State University, Salisbury travels to Fort Lewis College (CO) and Weber heads to Utah Valley University.