By Keith Michlig

 

NORMAN, OK. — Georgia Southwestern State University men’s golfers Joao Costa, Mateo Quiroga and Payne Sells have been named All-America Scholars for the 2023-24 season by the Golf Coaches Association of America. Each of the Hurricanes are receiving their first All-America honor.

To be eligible for the GCAA All-America Scholar status, an individual must be a sophomore, junior or senior academically. In addition, they must have participated in 50 percent of their team’s competitive rounds for the 2023-24 season, have a stroke-average under 78.0 (NCAA Division II) 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.

Costa, a native of Carcavelos, Portugal, completed his first season with the Hurricanes. The sophomore transfer from Asbury University compiled a 72.86 scoring average over 21 rounds of competition in 2023-24. His best event was at the Southeastern Collegiate in Valdosta, GA. played March 11-12 where he fired a 3-under 213 and tied for fifth place out of 90 golfers. Costa finished the year ranked No. 133 in the NCAA Division II individual rankings according to the National Collegiate Golf Rankings from Clippd.

Quiroga, a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, also completed his first season with the Hurricanes. The sophomore transfer from Missouri Valley College compiled a 73.86 scoring average over 21 rounds of competition in 2023-24. His best event of the season was at the Battle in the Desert played Feb. 26-28 in Borrego Springs, Calif. where he compiled a 5-under 211 and finished second out of 80 golfers. That performance earned him Peach Belt Conference Golfer of the Week honors. Quiroga finished the year ranked No. 125 in the NCAA Division II individual rankings according to the National Collegiate Golf Rankings from Clippd.

Sells, a senior from Perry, GA., compiled a 72.64 scoring average over 33 rounds of competition in 2023-24. Sells captured his first collegiate individual title with a 9-under 207 at the Argonaut Invitational played April 8-9 when he defeated 84 other golfers and also led the Hurricanes to the team championship. That performance earned him Peach Belt Conference Golfer of the Week honors. Sells garnered a pair of postseason awards by being named All-Peach Belt Conference and PING All-Southeast Region. Sells finished the year ranked No. 41 in the NCAA Division II individual rankings according to the National Collegiate Golf Rankings from Clippd. He recently qualified for the 2024 U.S. Amateur Championship to be played in August.

The GSW trio were amongst the 227 student-athletes to earn the award in NCAA Division II.

A total of 14 Hurricanes have earned All-America Scholar honors since 2015. Current GSW golfer Nicolas Escobar is a two-time recipient. Former GSW golfers Chase McLain, Nick Ward, Hayes Dupree and Anders Olsson each earned the award twice during their careers, while Jack Tharrington, Elias Birkeland, Vincent Norrman, Ryan Cahill, Frasier Johnston and Chris Low earned the award once.