GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College’s Tanner Gross (Archdale, N.C./Homeschooled) earned Second Team NCAA Division III All-America honors Wednesday from the Golf Coaches’ Association of America (GCAA).
Gross, who earned the GCAA’s Phil Mickelson Award as Division III’s top freshman golfer last month, is the Quakers’ 27th golf All-American and the first Guilford rookie so honored since Dave Patterson ’05 was a second-team selection in 2001.
Gross led Guilford with a 74.44 stroke average in 27 rounds. He earned PING NCAA Division III All-South Region honors in May and was the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s (ODAC) Rookie of the Year. Also a member of PING’s six-man NCAA Division III All-Freshman Team, he was a First Team All-ODAC honoree and recorded top-12 finishes in eight events this season. His stroke average stood third in the league, 18th in school history and is the best mark by a Guilford freshman since Noah Ratner ’13, who had the Quakers’ fifth-best season average in school history (73.07) in 2010-11.
Gross won his first college tournament by shooting a 75-75-72-222 at the ODAC Championships Apr. 27-29. He also placed third in both the Emory Spring Invitational and the Pine Needles Intercollegiate. Gross shot a career-low 69 at the Marine Federal Credit Union Intercollegiate March 30 and finished in 12th place with a 36-hole total of 142.
Gross helped fourth-year head coach Corey Maggard’s team to 17th place at the NCAA Championships and the Quakers’ fourth straight ODAC crown. Maggard may return as many as nine letter winners in the fall, including Gross.