NORMAN, Okla. – The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) announced its 2022-23 outstanding team academic awards on Thursday (Aug. 10), and the Newberry College men's golf team received recognition.

The Wolves were one of 20 Division II schools that earned the Presidents Special Recognition Award, which is given to teams with a collective grade-point average of 3.5 or higher. In total, 85 NCAA member institutions earned the award.

Among the Wolves who helped the program achieve a 3.6 team GPA was captain Alex Pillar (Hawley, Pa.) with a 3.8. For his efforts, Pillar earned his second Academic All-American Award.

"First, congratulations and well done to Alex Pillar," Head Men's Golf Coach/Director of Golf Howard Vroon said. "Alex served as a team captain last year. He was a huge asset to our program for his commitment to both his golf and his schoolwork, but also for his leadership.

"I am excited that he earned this All-American honor again, in addition to everything else Alex did for our program. We will miss him this year."

Carlos Camaros Ruiz's (Madrid, Spain) 3.7 GPA likewise earned an Academic All-American Award.

"I am so happy for Carlos Camaros Ruiz as well," Coach Vroon said. "Transitioning to college golf at Newberry has been a challenge for him and he has met that challenge with courage and determination. He is exemplary in his approach to both his schoolwork and his golf. He is a very important part of our program going forward, and I'm excited to see what else he can help our team accomplish."

In all, Newberry had 11 student-athletes with GPAs of 3.0 or higher, including two with 4.0s.

"The team academic award of Presidents Special Recognition warrants mention of every single player on our team," Coach Vroon said. "As a group we plan to be National Champions academically every year. Despite falling short of that, this award is important to us, and each one of these student athletes contributed to achieving a team GPA of 3.6.

"Congratulations to every single student-athlete on our team: Alex (3.8), Carlos (3.7), Patrick Jacobs (Prosperity, S.C.) (3.0), Tom Hull (Spalding, England) (3.9), Miguel Angel Avalos (3.8), Benny Fischer (Regensburg, Germany) (4.0), Javier Borrego Martin (Salamanca, Spain) (3.8), Herman du Plessis (Johannnesburg, Z.A.) (3.2), Josh Greig (Horsham, England) (3.3), Eric Nord (Blythewood, S.C.) (3.1) and Tom Yao (4.0). Well done Wolves!"