ARLINGTON, Texas – The major award winners and all-conference teams from the 2023-24 WAC men’s golf season were announced on Tuesday. Grand Canyon senior Nicky Kling was named WAC Player of the Year, while Seattle U’s Kevin Li claimed WAC Freshman of the Year. In a vote of the conference’s 11 head coaches, Grand Canyon’s Mark Mueller was selected as the WAC Coach of the Year.
 
Player awards and the all-conference teams were tabulated using a formula that included pre-championship Clippd national player rankings as the leading metric, with equal parts adjusted regular season player scoring average and the final individual leaderboard at the 2024 WAC Men’s Golf Championship at Chaparral Pines in Payson, Arizona, also being factored in.
 
Kling finished the regular season ranked among the top 175 players in NCAA Division I and was tied for the GCU lead with a 70.7 adjusted scoring average over 30 total rounds. Thus far this season Kling has registered four top-10s, which included an opening win at the Kansas State Wildcat Invitational in September. Kling claimed individual runner-up plaudits at the 2024 WAC Men’s Golf Championship for team champion GCU after rolling in a 10-foot par putt on the 54th hole to cap off a 5-under-par 211 (70-72-69) performance for the weekend.
 
Li enjoyed a steady debut season for Seattle U entering the conference tournament, posting three top-25s and a 72.3 adjusted scoring average. Everything clicked for Li at the 2024 WAC Men’s Golf Championships, as the Redhawk newcomer became the first freshman since 2015 to finish as the individual medalist at the WAC men’s tournament following rounds of 69-72-69 to post a winning score of 6-under-par 210. With the victory, Li claimed the WAC’s automatic berth as an individual participant into NCAA Regional competition.
 
Mueller led GCU to a successful title defense at the 2024 WAC Men’s Golf Championship, taking the top spot by one stroke with a 54-hole score of 12-over-par 876 (292-295-289). It was the third team win of the year for the Lopes, to go along with wins at the Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational in October and the Wyoming Cowboy Classic earlier in April. GCU enters NCAA Regional play ranked among the top-75 DI teams in the country according to Clippd.
 
Kling and Li were joined on the all-conference first team by GCU senior Tommaso Zorzetto, UTRGV senior Javier Neira Garcia and Utah Valley freshman Dane Huddleston. On the all-conference second team were Abilene Christian graduate student Zane Heusel, California Baptist graduate student Fred Tindale, GCU senior Matthew Pennington, Tarleton State sophomore Max Bengtsson and UT Arlington graduate student Daniel Cronje.

2023-24 WAC Men’s Golf Season Awards

2023-24 WAC Player of the Year
Nicky Kling, Sr., Grand Canyon

2023-24 WAC Freshman of the Year
Kevin Li, Seattle U

2023-24 WAC Coach of the Year
Mark Mueller, Grand Canyon

All-WAC First Team
Nicky Kling, Sr., Grand Canyon
Tommaso Zorzetto, Sr., Grand Canyon
Kevin Li, Fr., Seattle U
Javier Neira Garcia, Sr., UTRGV
Dane Huddleston, Fr., Utah Valley

All-WAC Second Team
Zane Heusel, Grad, Abilene Christian
Fred Tindale, Grad, California Baptist
Matthew Pennington, Sr., Grand Canyon
Max Bengtsson, So., Tarleton State
Daniel Cronje, Grad, UT Arlington