ATLANTA, Ga. - The Lipscomb men's golf team had a pair of players earn special honors as the ASUN Conference announced its All-Conference and All-Academic Teams on Thursday afternoon, despite the season being cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The duo of Nolan Ray and Paul Swindell were both named to the All-Conference and All-Academic Teams. Ray and Swindell were two of six unanimous selections to the All-Conference team and were the only two unanimous selections to the All-Academic team.
Ray, a graduate transfer from the University of Tennessee, receives his first-career selection to an All-ASUN team in his only year at Lipscomb. He not only led the Bisons with his 70.45 scoring average, but led the entire ASUN Conference as well. Ray's 70.45 scoring average is also only .20 behind the all-time school record of 70.25.
"The awards just keep coming for this young man," Director of Golf Will Brewer said. "Nolan came to Lipscomb to compete for championships and lead the golf team and he has done that very well.
"As a coach and leader of the program, it is so good to see players like Nolan choose to play and compete at the mid-major level. Nolan recognized the growth and success with our golf program and he was confident he would receive solid coaching and an excellent opportunity to improve his game and compete for championships."
The Brentwood native won a pair events over the course of the season, which were the first two individual victories of his career. He started off the year by taking top honors at the Lone Star Invitational (207, 65-69-73) and a couple of tournaments later he won the Autotrader Collegiate Classic (202, 66-68-68).
Ray collected the ASUN Player of the Week honor on three occasions. He was honored with the weekly award after his victories at the Lone Star Invitational and the Autotrader Collegiate Classic, as well as after he finished in a tie for eighth place (213,71-69-73) at the Graeme McDowell Invitational.
Of the seven tournaments Lipscomb played in during the shortened 2019-20 season, Ray finished in the top-10 in five of them.
In the classroom, Ray earned a Masters Degree in Accounting with a 4.0 GPA.
Swindell also received his first career selections to the All-Conference and All-Academic teams in his junior campaign.
The Franklin native was just behind Ray in scoring average with a 70.50, which ranked second on Lipscomb and in the ASUN.
Swindell registered three top-five finishes in the five tournaments he participated in. He finished in fourth place or tied for fourth at the Autotrader Collegiate Classic (209, 68-67-74), Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational (204, 71-67-66) and Desert Mountain Intercollegiate (211, 72-71-68). The junior was the top finisher for the Bisons at the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational and at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate.
In the classroom, Swindell owns a 3.96 GPA in Mathematics.
"Paul has math skills that are very impressive and he has provided academic support for many team members," Brewer said. "He's uber intelligent and made an awesome run from October through March before our season was canceled due to the virus."
