Big South Announces 2023 Men's Golf Annual Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (
www.BigSouthSports.com) -– Radford junior
Bryce Corbett was voted the 2023 Big South Men’s Golfer of the Year, while Campbell’s
Tim Holmberg was voted Freshman of the Year by the league’s head coaches and announced this past Tuesday afternoon as part of the Men’s Golf Championship Awards Ceremony. Longwood head coach
Kevin Fillman was voted Coach of the Year by the panel. Campbell’s
Henrik Lilja was voted Men’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the Big South’s sports information directors.
Corbett (Gainesville, Va.) is the first Highlander to be named Big South Men’s Golfer of the Year, and became the first Radford player to win Big South Medalist honors, as he won the stroke play championship earlier this week by one shot with a 4-under 212 (75-66-71). Corbett, who earned an automatic qualification into the NCAA Regionals with his conference victory, is the Big South leader in stroke average at 71.98 in addition to his league-best five Top 10 finishes. A two-time Big South Golfer of the Week honoree in 2022-23, Corbett played par, or better, golf in 12 of 27 rounds, including two rounds at 65. This season he was also runner-up at the Cutter Creek Intercollegiate, finished third out of 100 golfers at the Elon Phoenix Invitational with a 10-under 203, and tied for third at the River Run Collegiate.
A freshman from Uppsala, Sweden, Holmberg played 23 of the Camels’ 31 team rounds, plus five rounds as an individual. The highest ranked freshman golfer in the conference, Holmberg is the fourth Camel to be named Big South Freshman of the Year since 2016. He was named Big South Freshman of the Week twice in 2022-23, and recorded a season-best round of 69 at the Stitch Intercollegiate. Holmberg, who was also voted Second-Team All-Conference and to the All-Freshman Team, posted two top-15 finishes this year, including a T-11 at the Stitch Intercollegiate. He finished the Seahawk Intercollegate with a 1-under 215 (71-71-73) for his best 54-hole score of the campaign.
Fillman collects his first Big South Coach of the Year award as his team tallied Top 10 finishes in 10 of 11 events this season -- including seven-straight Top 5 standings in the last seven tournaments, with two runner-up finishes. His team held the 36-hole lead of the Big South Stroke Play Championship at 579, and tied for second overall for a berth into the Match Play Championship. In Match Play, Fillman’s Lancers’ defeated Winthrop in the Semifinals, 3-2, and then rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Charleston Southern for the title and automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals. Longwood now leads the Big South with a 289.81 average round score, and has five golfers in the conference’s top-17 for scoring average -- two of which earned All-Conference honors.
Lilja (Gothenburg, Sweden) repeats as the Men’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year honoree. He is a 4.0 student working on his MBA, as well as a three-time GCAA Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar. Lilja tied for fifth at the Big South Championship, and is third in the conference with a 72.42 stroke average.
Also announced Tuesday afternoon were the Big South Men’s Golf All-Conference and All-Freshman teams, which are listed below. Both squads are based on performance during the regular-season and conference championship.
2023 Big South Conference Men’s Golf Award Winners
All-Conference Team
First-Team
Bryce Corbett, Radford
Henrik Lilja, Campbell
Ben Carroll, Charleston Southern
Edwin Blomander, Campbell
Layne Lambert, Charleston Southern
Second-Team
Nick Mayfield, Winthrop
Tim Holmberg, Campbell
Nick Rakes, Longwood
Douglas Nordlof, Campbell
Gregor Meyer, High Point
Honorable Mention
Brady Hinkle, USC Upstate
Nathan Piatt, Radford
Lleyton Renner, Presbyterian College
Brendan Dunphy, Longwood
Alejandro Cogollo, Campbell
All-Freshman Team
Tim Holmberg, Campbell
Theodor Takman, Charleston Southern
Burch Harrison, High Point
Maddox Whittington, Gardner-Webb
Amadeus Susanto, Campbell
All-Academic Team
Henrik Lilja, Campbell
Griffin Tarver, Charleston Southern
Max White, Gardner-Webb
Gregor Meyer, High Point
Daniel George, Longwood
Jimmy McCollum, Presbyterian College
Nick Taliaferro, Radford
El Kluaymaingarm, USC Upstate
Ian Faulconer, Winthrop
Golfer of the Year
Bryce Corbett, Radford
Freshman of the Year
Tim Holmberg, Campbell
Coach of the Year
Kevin Fillman, Longwood
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Henrik Lilja, Campbell
All-Championship Team (Top 5 finishers plus ties)
Bryce Corbett, Radford (Medalist)
Ben Carroll, Charleston Southern
Charlie Barr, High Point
Brendan Dunphy, Longwood
Henrik Lilja, Campbell
Nick Rakes, Longwood