June 24, 1998
Notre Dame senior Bryan Weeks (Tulsa, Okla.) and junior Brad Hardin (Martinsville, Ind.) are among 126 Division I men’s golfers nationwide who have been selected by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) to its annual All-America Scholar team for 1997-98. Notre Dame was one of eight schools in the nation with multiple players on the All-America Scholar team.
Criteria for selection include a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.200 (on a 4.000 scale), a season stroke average of 78 or lower and participation in at least 75 percent of a school’s scheduled competitive rounds. As of June 23, the GCAA had yet to release its women’s All-America Scholar team, with Notre Dame sophomore Beth Cooper a likely member of that team.
Xavier was the only school in the nation to produce three All-America Scholars while Notre Dame was one of seven schools that produced two, joining UC Irvine, Drake, North Carolina State, Texas Tech, Tulsa and Wyoming.
Hardin currently is tied for 22nd–just four shots out of sixth–after firing matching rounds of 72 at the Indiana State Amateur Tournament, which concludes Wednesday and Thursday at South Bend’s par-70, 6,550-yard Morris Park Country Club. Weeks is preparing to compete in several of the nation’s top amateur tournaments during the summer before weighing his options for a pro career.
Weeks, one of three Notre Dame male student-athletes nominated for the prestigious GTE Academic All-America honors for spring at-large sports, also received GCAA All-America Scholar honors following his junior year. He graduated from Notre Dame in May with a 3.23 cumulative GPA as a civil engineering major. Weeks ranked second on the 1997-98 Irish team with a 75.44 stroke average (27 rounds) that ranks eighth-best at Notre Dame (since ’54). His season highlights included a medalist showing at the Butler Spring Invitational (143/+1), a team-best 228 at the fall Iowa Intercollegiate (228/+12) and a fourth-place finish that helped Notre Dame capture the team title at the BIG EAST Conference Championship (151/+7).
Weeks concluded his four-year career with a 76.22 career stroke average over 93 rounds, the program’s fourth-best stroke average (records are incomplete prior to ’54). He led the Irish in 13 career tournaments, second in the program’s history behind Pat Mohan’s 16 team-best efforts from 1987-90.
Hardin averaged 76.75 strokes over 24 rounds in 1997-98, including a team-best 153 (+9) at the fall Louisville Intercollegiate, a 10th-place finish at the Butler Spring Invitational (152/+10) and a 12th-place showing at the BIG EAST Championship (158/+14). He owns a 3.75 cumulative GPA as a pre-professional science major.
The GCAA also named Ball State’s Jamie Broce as the recipient of the 1998 Ben Hogan Award, which honors the top scholar-athlete based upon athletics accomplishment and academic performance.
Weeks and Hardin were among four golfers from BIG EAST Conference schools named to the team, joining Seton Hall’s Michael Costigan and Georgetown’s William Olin (Georgetown).
Weeks, Hardin and Broce were among 16 players from the 43-school Midwest District who were named All-America Scholars, with the others being: Joshua Brewer (Indiana); Rob Couture (Eastern Michigan); Richard Daugherty (Kent); Joshua Habig (Northwestern); Mark Henderson (Illinois); Bart Jones, (Purdue); Craig Matthew (Ohio State); Tee McCabe (Miami, Ohio); Kris O’Donnell (Eastern Kentucky); Matthew Riegel (Michigan State); Michael Ries (Xavier); Matt Servies (Xavier) and Kevin Vernick (Xavier).
1997-98 GCAA ALL-AMERICA SCHOLARS
Tom Baldwin (Texas Tech); Brad Barnett (Kansas); Jack Boeckx (Coll. of Charleston); Michael Boyd (Tulsa); Jon Brackmann (Iowa St.); Joshua Brewer (Indiana); Jamie Broce (Ball St.); Andrea Brotto (Va.); Mare Chatelain (Duke); Byron Clift (Penn St.); Michael Connell (Miss. St.); Michael Costigan (Seton Hall); Rob Couture (E. Mich.); Richard Daugherty (Kent); Herbert Forster (Univ. of Pacific); Steve Friesen (Nebraska); Mark Gauley (NC St.); Ryan Gioffre (Wake Forest); Grady Girard (TCU); Gary Glazier (Fresno St.); Joshua Habig (Northwestern); Brad Hardin (Notre Dame); Mark Henderson (Ill.); Chad Jacobi (Vanderbilt); Chris Janson (Oregon St.); Bart Jones (Purdue); Keith Kemp (NC St.); Ian Kennedy (LSU); Brian King ( Idaho); Jake Kranstueber (S. Carolina); Jason Una (Davidson); C. W. Mallon (Rice); Craig Matthew (Ohio St.); Tee McCabe (Miami, Ohio); Benjamin McConahey (Princeton); John Mendell (SW La.); Scott Mendelsohn (Colo. St.); Kevin Mihailoff (Fla.); Kevin Miller (E. Carolina); Edward Molloy (Loyola, Md.); Rion Moore (Wofford); Rich Morris (Arkansas); Scott Niewland (Austin Peay); Kris O’Donnell (E. Ky.); William Olin (Georgetown); Derek Panfil (SMU); Ben Pettitt (Drake); Ben Poehling (Drake); Norton Rainey (Colo.); Tracy Richardson (Wyoming); Matthew Riegel (Mich. St.); Michael Ries (Xavier); William Schaffer (Hampton); Matt Servies (Xavier); Darren Slackman (Wash.); Kyle Smith (Lehigh); Fredrik Soderstrom (Tulsa); Phillip Tate (Texas Tech); Roland Thatcher (Auburn); Matthew Thurmond (BYU); Kevin Vernick (Xavier); Conan Vitale (UC Irvine); Eric Waeckerlin (Wyoming); James Watt (Nevada); Bryan Weeks ( Notre Dame); Andrew Wen (UC Irvine).