College Golf News – Guilford Pair Wins All-South Region Honors

DESTIN, Fla. – Guilford College’s Noah Ratner (Asheville, N.C./Asheville) and Drew Thompson (Pickerington, Ohio/North Pickerington) were named to the 2013 PING All-South Region Golf Team Tuesday evening. The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) presented the awards at a banquet held in conjunction with the NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships at the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. GCAA members nominated and selected the 101 all-region honorees.

Noah Ratner 2013
Noah Ratner

Ratner earned All-South recognition for the third straight season. Last month he received the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s (ODAC) Player of the Year Award for an unprecedented third consecutive year and entered this week’s NCAA Championships with an ODAC-best 73.0 stroke average over 23 rounds. He claimed medalist honors at the ODAC Championships April 23 by five strokes, his fifth college title, which matches the school record. Ratner earned four ODAC Golfer of the Week honors this season, raising his career total to 13. His lowest finish of the year was a 16th-place performance at the season-opening Gordin Classic. Since then he has placed 14th or better in nine straight tournaments with six top-seven finishes. A two-time PING First Team All-American, Ratner received the 2012 Jack Nicklaus Award, presented annually by the Golf Coaches Association of America to the top player in each college division.

Drew Thompson 2015
Drew Thompson

Thompson joined Ratner on the First Team All-ODAC unit after averaging 74.9 strokes per round in 23 rounds, the league’s second-best average. The sophomore southpaw was second to Ratner at the ODAC Championships, which earned All-ODAC Tournament recognition. He was fourth at both the O’Briant-Jensen Memorial and Marine Federal Credit Union (MFCU) Intercollegiate tournaments. Thompson has four top-six efforts this year, including a fourth-place finish in the 160-man MFCU Intercollegiate. He posted his lowest round of the year (66) at the event, which earned him ODAC Player of the Week accolades.

The pair helped coach Corey Maggard’s team to 17th place at the NCAA Championships and its third straight ODAC crown. Maggard may return as many as 10 letter winners in the fall, including Thompson.