GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) -- Fifteen student-athletes have been honored as part of the 2017-18 Men’s Golf All-Atlantic Coast Conference Team, as announced Thursday.
Headlining the All-ACC Team are NC State’s Stephen Franken, the ACC Player of the Year, and Florida State’s John Pak, the ACC Freshman of the Year. Georgia Tech’s Bruce Heppler garnered ACC Coach of the Year accolades.
The All-ACC Team, Player, and Freshman of the Year were decided by a combination of the Golfstat and Golfweek/Sagarin rankings in conjunction with a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches, while Coach of the Year was selected by a vote of the coaches.
Franken finished the regular season ranked No. 13 in the country according to Golfstat and No. 17 in Golfweek. A junior from Raleigh, North Carolina, he had a scoring average of 70.27 in 30 rounds and posted seven top-10 finishes in 10 events played this season, including a win at the Wolfpack Intercollegiate in October and a runner-up finish at the Chris Schenkel Invitational in March. He is the fourth Wolfpack golfer to win the award, joining Tim Clark (1997), Matt Hill (2009), and Albin Choi (2013).
Pak is the fourth Seminole to be named ACC Freshman of the Year and third in the last six seasons, joining Brooks Koepka (2009), Hank Lebioda (2013), and Jack Maguire (2014). The Scotch Plains, New Jersey, native finished the regular season with a 70.50 scoring average, and had eight top-10 finishes in 11 tournaments this year. Pak won his first collegiate tournament at the Seminole Intercollegiate in February, and had runner-up finishes at the Doc Gimmler in September and Valspar Collegiate in March. He is ranked No. 28 in the country in Golfstat and No. 33 in Golfweek.
Heppler led the Yellow Jackets to the 17th ACC Championship in program history and ninth in the last 13 years in April at the Old North State Club. Georgia Tech is currently ranked No. 4 in the country in the Golfstat rankings and earned top seed in the Raleigh Regional. This is the eighth career ACC Coach of the Year honor for Heppler, tied with Clemson’s Larry Penley for the most in league history.
Nine ACC programs are represented on the All-ACC Team, led by Georgia Tech with four golfers and Clemson with three.
ACC Player of the Year
Stephen Franken, NC State
Freshman of the Year
John Pak, Florida State
Coach of the Year
Bruce Heppler, Georgia Tech
2017-18 Men’s Golf All-ACC Team
Bryson Nimmer, Clemson
Turk Pettit, Clemson
Doc Redman, Clemson
Alex Smalley, Duke
Harry Ellis, Florida State
John Pak, Florida State
Noah Norton, Georgia Tech
Chris Petefish, Georgia Tech
Luke Schniederjans, Georgia Tech
Tyler Strafaci, Georgia Tech
Ben Griffin, North Carolina
Stephen Franken, NC State
Thomas Walsh, Virginia
Mark Lawrence, Virginia Tech
Cameron Young, Wake Forest