Men's Golf Coach Wins SEC Coach of the Year Award
Monday, May 5, 2003 | Men's Golf
The No. 5 University of Florida men's golf team added more Southeastern Conference individual honors to the program's rich history Monday. Gator head coach Buddy Alexander was named the 2003 SEC Coach of the Year, while freshmen Brett Stegmaier (Madison, Conn.) and James Vargas (Miami, Fla.) were named to the All-SEC first team. In addition, junior Camilo Villegas (Medellin, Colombia) was named to the conference's second team.
Florida's two first team selections were the most of any SEC school, while the three All-SEC honors were tied for the most in the conference with Auburn.
"It's an honor to be recognized for this award as voted on by the coaches in the SEC," Alexander said. "It's very important to thank my team for helping me win this award. Good players make a coach look good and these guys kept improving and working hard this season. There are some awfully good coaches in this conference and a number of them deserved to win it."
The honor marks the fifth SEC Coach of the Year Award for Alexander at Florida and his sixth overall in 25 years of coaching. Alexander garnered his first SEC coaching award in 1986 as the conference's Co-Coach of the Year. The St. Petersburg, Fla. native also won the award in 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1999. Alexander's six conference coaching awards rank as the second most in SEC men's golf history. Dick Copas has the most SEC Coach of the Year Awards, as the former Georgia coach earned seven from 1970-1988.
Alexander guided Florida to the program's 14th SEC title two weeks ago at the conference championship, as the Gators overcame an eight-stroke deficit on the final day to win by six strokes over defending champion Auburn. It was the seventh conference championship for Alexander at Florida and his ninth SEC crown overall as he won two at LSU.
Stegmaier and Vargas became the 33rd and 34th Gator golfers to be named to the All-SEC first team in the program's history. It also marked the 20th straight year that at least one Gator golfer was named to the conference's first team. Overall, Florida has earned 96 All-SEC honors by 53 individuals.
Stegmaier won the 2003 SEC individual championship with a conference record-low 54-hole score of 203 (-7). Stegmaier, who shot a final round 64 (-6), won UF's 19th individual SEC title and became the 26th different Gator golfer since 1975 to win an individual title. Stegmaier is tied with Vargas for the team lead with four top-10 finishes this season, while tying with Villegas for team-high in individual titles with one.
Vargas, the 2002 Golfweek/Titleist National Junior Player of the Year, has two top-five finishes this season and leads the Gators in stroke average with a mark of 72.08. Vargas, who is currently ranked No. 16 in the latest Golfweek/Titleist National Collegiate Player rankings, finished tied for 24th at the SEC Championships.
Villegas, a 2003 Ben Hogan Award nominee, garnered his third All-SEC honor in as many seasons. The junior who was named to the conference's first-team his first two seasons, moved into a tie for second place in UF history with five individual titles earlier this season. Villegas finished in the top-20 at the SEC Championships for the second time in his career with a 19th place finish. Villegas shot a final round 69 (-1) to finish at +8 (218) at the conference championships.
UF will be back in action this weekend, as the Gators compete at the Atlanta Intercollegiate May 8-9. Both days of the tournament will begin at 8 a.m. at the Forest Heights Golf Course in Atlanta, Ga.
2003 SEC Men's Golf Awards
SEC Coach of the Year
Buddy Alexander, Florida
SEC Player of the Year
Brandt Snedeker, Vanderbilt
SEC Freshman of the Year
Kevin Kisner, Georgia
All-SEC First Team
Brett Stegmaier, Florida
Brandt Snedeker, Vanderbilt
Kevin Kisner, Georgia
James Vargas, Florida
David Skinns, Tennessee
Eirik Johansen, South Carolina
Andrew Dahl, Arkansas
John Humphries, LSU
All-SEC Second Team
David Denham, Georgia
Lars Brovold, Alabama
Camilo Villegas, Florida
Lee Williams, Auburn
Jay Mundy, Auburn
Tyler McKeever, Auburn
Ian Parnaby, Tennessee
John Holmes, Kentucky
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