Three Saint Leo University men’s golfers were recognized as Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars on July 20. Liam Ainsworth, Ryan Gendron and Joey Savoie were among 91 Division II selections, including 14 from the Sunshine State Conference.
The trio helped the Lions capture the 2016 NCAA national championship in May in Denver, Colorado, defeating Chico State 3-2 in medal/match play. Ainsworth, Gendron and Savoie were teamed up with Hugo Bernard and Griffin Clark to capture the school’s first ever team national title. Ainsworth finished as a Division II PING Second Team All-American, and Savoie was a third team selection.
All three golfers were also named to the Sunshine State Conference Commissioner’s Spring Honor Roll, where Gendron had the highest spring GPA (3.87), followed by Savoie (3.60) and Ainsworth (3.56).
Over the season, Ainsworth and Gendron led the team in rounds played (39), while Savoie was second on the team with 33 rounds. Savoie tallied a 71.21 stroke average on the year, which ranked 20th individually in the nation by GolfStat. Ainsworth had a 72.51 average, and Gendron recorded a 73.54.
To be eligible for Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar status, an individual golfer must be a junior or senior academically, compete in at least three full years at the collegiate level, participate in 50 percent of his team’s competitive rounds, have a stroke-average under 78.0 and maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.2.
