MADISON, Wis. — The
Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) has named three Wisconsin men's golfers as
2022-23 Division I All-America Scholars.
Graduate students Maxime Legros and Clayton Tribus join senior Coalter Smith as this past school year's honorees for the prestigious GCAA national honor.
Update: The GCAA also named Wisconsin as a Division I Outstanding All-Academic Team for earning a GPA above 3.0, as announced by the organization on Thursday, Aug. 10. Wisconsin joins 266 schools across six divisions in earning the honor.
Legros, an international student from Dinard, France, competed in all 11 events for the Badgers in the 2022-23 season. He played on the Badgers' NCAA qualifying team at the NCAA Regional and finished tied for 66th (71-76-78=225 (+12)) and also finished T13 at the Big Ten Championships, helping the Badgers finish third overall. Legros was also named to the All-Big Ten Second Team. He finished his season with a 71.52 average and setting career lows of 66-135-206. A transfer from Lander University, Legros was also a 2022 NCAA Division II PING All-Region honoree prior to playing for the Badgers. He finished his studies at UW and has began his professional golf career in Europe.
Smith, of Gross Pointe Farms, Michigan, played in 10 tournaments with the Badgers and was a member of the UW's NCAA Regionals team, finishing T68 (73-78-75=226). Smith also helped the Badgers finish third at the Big Ten Championship (T37). He averaged 73.46 and earned season lows of 69-141-210, including his season-best performance of T14 at the Puerto Rico Classic (70-71-69=210). This is his second GCAA All-America Scholar honor and he's a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree earning a major in legal studies and political science.
Tribus, a native of Madison, Wis., competed in 10 tournaments with the team and was also a member of the UW's NCAA Regionals team, finishing T39 (73-73-71=217). Tribus finished the season with a 72.75 average and earned two top-five finishes, including leading the team with T3 at the Badger Invitational and T5 at the Puerto Rico Classic. A transfer from Davidson, Tribus completed his master's degree in business analytics and has begun his professional golf career. This is his fourth career GCAA All-America Scholar honor.
To be eligible for GCAA All-America Scholar nomination, an individual must be a sophomore, junior or senior both academically and athletically in NCAA Division I, II, III, and NAIA, or receiving their Associate's Degree and in their last year of athletic eligibility in the NJCAA. In addition, they must participate in 50 percent of their team's competitive rounds, have a stroke average under 76.0 in NCAA Division I, under 78.0 in NCAA Division II, under 79.0 in NCAA Division III, under 78.0 in NAIA, and under 77.0 in NJCAA, and maintain a minimum cumulative career grade-point average of 3.2. A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at his college or university.