The golf team concluded its 2011-12 season on Thursday night with its annual awards banquet held at the Point Plaza Hotel and Conference Suites in Newport News.
It was a stellar season for the golf team as they were in the top three in 10 of the 14 events they participated in. Four of those were wins, including the Virginia Wesleyan Marlin Invitational and took third place in the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association National Championships.
Sophomore Ben Hunter was named the recipient of the Glenn Heath Memorial Award which goes to the holder of the lowest scoring average for the year. Hunter, a rigger apprentice from Suffolk, set a school single-season scoring average record carding a 75.05 average over 22 rounds. He won five medalist honors, finished in the top five 11 times and in the top ten on 12 occasions. Hunter's lowest round was a 70 at the Hampden-Sydney Invitational and the Builder Spring Fling and earned USCAA All-American honors for the second year in a row.
Fellow sophomore Kyle Mutter earned the Builder Award as given by the Apprentice Athletic Club. Mutter, a coating specialist apprentice from Portsmouth, earned USCAA All-American honors as he averaged 77.55 for 22 rounds this year. He had eight top five finishes, nine top 10 finishes and 12 top 20 finishes in 14 events. His best finish was second in a New York weekend when they faced U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and a two-day dual with SUNY Delhi. Mutter shot a season-low round of 71 in the second day of the SUNY Delhi dual.
Junior Blake Henger was named the recipient of the Determination Award. He participated in 15 of 24 possible rounds with a season best finish being tied for fifth in the dual match against the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and shot a season low round of 81 in the Builder Fall Invitational. Henger, a welder apprentice from Windber, Pa., had three top 10 finishes and five top 20 finishes this year.
Senior Kyle Radcliff was presented the Senior Award. He participated in 19 of 22 rounds this year averaging just under an 83. A sheet metal apprentice from Newport News, his best finish and low round was second in the Builder Fall Invitational with a round of 74. Radcliff had a pair of top five finishes – Builder Fall Invitational and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Dual – and finished in the top 10 in five events.