GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College’s Ty Palmer (Kernersville, N.C./Forsyth Country Day) and Drew Thompson (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) earned special recognition for their achievement in the recently completed 2014-15 golf season. The two were named to the 2015 PING All-South Region NCAA Division III Golf Team, joining 97 others from across the nation honored as all-region selections by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). Thompson also received 2014-15 Capital One Academic All-District© V recognition as selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Ty Palmer (Kernersville, N.C./Forsyth Country Day)
Palmer, a sophomore, earned his second straight all-region honor thanks to a 74.0 scoring average in 26 rounds. He stood second only to Thompson among Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) stroke average leaders and recorded the 15th-lowest season average in school history. Palmer earned First Team All-ODAC honors for the second consecutive year and ranked 21st in the final Golfstat.com Division III Head-to-Head Player Standings. He had six top-10 finishes in 11 events, including his first college win and two runner-up efforts.
Palmer placed second to Thompson at the ODAC Championships after shooting 75-69-144, which garnered all-tournament laurels. He placed a team-best fifth at the NCAA Division III Championships with a 72-hole score of 71-77-69-71-288, sixth-best in school history. Palmer set Guilford’s 36-hole standard with back-to-back rounds of 66 en route to winning the Gordin Classic Oct. 1. His 54-hole score of 206 is Guilford’s second-lowest in school history for 54 holes. The 10-under-par score earned the first of his three ODAC Golfer of the Week honors this year. Palmer compiled seven subpar rounds, one shy of Thompson’s team lead.
Drew Thompson (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North)
The ODAC’s 2015 ODAC Golfer of the Year, Thompson returned to the All-South squad after a one-season absence thanks to eight subpar rounds and four top-10 finishes, including his first college win. The senior’s league-best 73.58 scoring average over 26 rounds ranks 10th in school history. He stood 19th in the final Golfstat.com ratings and received First Team All-ODAC commendation for the third time. Thompson picked the right time for his first college win with a two-stroke victory at the ODAC Championships with a 71-71-142 (-2). He earned all-tournament recognition for his performance, which helped Guilford win its fifth straight team title. Thompson shot 71-69-80-77-297 to share 26th place at the Division III Championships.
Thompson concludes his stellar career with a 75.04 stroke average (in 105 rounds) that stands seventh all-time at Guilford. He also made his mark off the course and was one of six recipients of the Nereus C. English ’26 Athletic Leadership Award, the school’s highest athletics honor. Thompson graduated last month with his degree in business management. He earned Third Team PING All-America honors in 2013 and was a four-time All-ODAC selection. Thompson was a seven-time member of Guilford’s Student-Athlete Honor Roll, a three-time Academic All-ODAC Team pick and a dean’s list student.
The pair helped coach Justin Tereshko’s team to eighth place at the Division III Championships and its league-record 15th ODAC crown. Tereshko may return as many as four letter winners in the fall, including Palmer.