Big South Announces 2025 Men's Golf Annual Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (
www.BigSouthSports.com) -– Longwood senior
Justin LaRue was voted the 2025 Big South Men’s Golfer of the Year, while Presbyterian College’s
Jeep Patrick 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, and Winthrop’s
Jeff Nelson was tabbed Newcomer of the Year. Radford’s
Channing Blevins was voted Men’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the Big South’s sports information directors.
LaRue (South Chesterfield, Va.) is the first back-to-back Big South Men’s Golfer of the Year honoree since 2010 and 2011. He was the Big South’s leader in stroke average at 69.30 entering the Conference Championship, posted a league-best seven Top 10 finishes, and won four tournaments in 2024-25 -- the Elon Phoenix Invitational (12-under 201), ODU/OBX Intercollegiate (11-under 202), The Savannah Intercollegiate (8-under 136) and the Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate (8-under 205). Ranked No. 240 in the country, LaRue was also the Runner-up finisher at the Rutherford Intercollegiate, and had three of the four lowest 54-hole under-par scores in the Big South in 2024-25 -- including a league-best 12-under par to win the Elon Phoenix Invitational. He was a five-time Big South Golfer of the Week honoree this season, and was one of three players with the Big South’s season-low round of 63 this year. In all, LaRue carded 12 rounds in the 60s in 2024-25.
A freshman from Hilton Head, S.C., Patrick is the first Blue Hose to be voted Big South Freshman of the Year. He was the Big South Championship Medalist with a 9-under 204 (63-71-70) -- his first Top 10 finish of the year, while his first round 63 tied the Championship record for lowest 18-hole score. Patrick became the first freshman since 2015 to win the Big South individual title, and he was PC’s first-ever Big South Medalist. He played all 23 of Presbyterian’s team rounds during the regular-season, and his 73.48 stroke average entering the Conference Championship was second on the squad and 12th in the league. He was named Big South Freshman of the Week three times. Patrick earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals with his conference victory.
Fillman secured his second Big South Coach of the Year honor in three seasons and his second overall. He directed the Lancers to a Top 10 team finish in all nine regular-season events –- including three consecutive tournament victories with The Savannah Intercollegiate, Surf Club Invitational and Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate. Longwood also placed second twice along with a third-place finish. Fillman’s squad led the Big South during the regular-season with a 284.87 average team round score, and was the top seed in this past week’s Big South Championship. Fillman had four players in the conference’s top-8 for scoring average, and all four earned All-Conference honors.
Nelson (Commerce City, Colo.) is the second Big South Men’s Golf Newcomer of the Year, which was added in 2024 to recognize the top non-freshman transfer playing in the Big South for the first time. In his first season with the Eagles, Nelson ranked third in the Big South with a 72.17 stroke average through the regular-season, and had three Top 10 finishes. He earned Big South Golfer of the Week accolades after winning the Dorado Beach Collegiate with an 11-under 205 (65-71-69).
Blevins (Wytheville, Va.) is the Highlanders’ first Men’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year honoree since 2018. He carries a 4.00 GPA as an MBA student, and was ranked ninth on the conference’s regular-season stroke average leaderboard at 73.10. Blevins had three Top 10 finishes this past season.
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.
2025 Big South Conference Men’s Golf Award Winners
All-Conference Team
First-Team
Justin LaRue, Longwood
Layne Lambert, Charleston Southern
Jeff Nelson, Winthrop
Scott Jordan, Longwood
Bobby Dudeck, Radford
Second-Team
Jack Boyer, Gardner-Webb
Jackson Stone, USC Upstate
Jack Wofford, Presbyterian
Jeep Patrick, Presbyterian
Channing Blevins, Radford
Honorable Mention
Nick Fleming, Longwood
Hunter Swidzinski, Longwood
Ashton Eubanks, Winthrop
Fred Roberts IV, High Point
Grady Newton, High Point
All-Freshman Team
Jeep Patrick, Presbyterian
Hunter Swidzinski, Longwood
Reed Burton, Gardner-Webb
Dallas Johnson, Winthrop
Ross Wright, USC Upstate
All-Academic Team
Layne Lambert, Charleston Southern
Jack Boyer, Gardner-Webb
Fred Roberts IV, High Point
Scott Jordan, Longwood
Trey Howard, Presbyterian
Channing Blevins, Radford
Caden Sanders, USC Upstate
Logan Lutz, Winthrop
Golfer of the Year
Justin LaRue, Longwood
Freshman of the Year
Jeep Patrick, Presbyterian
Newcomer of the Year
Jeff Nelson, Winthrop
Coach of the Year
Kevin Fillman, Longwood
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Channing Blevins, Radford
All-Championship Team (Top 5 finishers plus ties)
Jeep Patrick, Presbyterian (Medalist)
Layne Lambert, Charleston Southern
Bobby Dudeck, Radford
Alec Prentice, USC Upstate
Fred Roberts IV, High Point
Ross Wright, USC Upstate
Griffin Tarver, Charleston Southern