Two Women's Golf Student-Athletes Earn All-America Scholar Plaudits
*2009-10 NGCA All-America Scholar Team Release* PDF
The National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) recently acknowledged a pair of Ferris State University women's golf team student-athletes as sophomores Bryce Hetchler (Clinton Township/Fraser) and Brooke Rodes (Traverse City/West) have been named 2009-10 All-America Scholars in a recent announcement by the organization.
Hetchler and Rodes were among 494 women's golf student-athletes encompassing NCAA Division I, II, and III to be recognized with this prestigious honor for the 2009-10 season. Division II consisted of a 102-member group, which included 10 representatives from Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) institutions.
The criteria for earning NGCA All-America Scholar Team recognition requires a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.50 and student-athletes must have completed in at least 66 percent of their team's regularly-scheduled competitive rounds during the respective season.
Hetcher, who also earned NGCA All-America Scholar Team kudos following the 2008-09 season, registered an 81.65 stroke average (2,123 total strokes) in 26 rounds for the 2009-10 campaign. The two-time (2008-09 and 2009-10) All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Second-Team selection, compiled four top-20 place performances this season with three of those occurring among the top 10. Her highest tournament placing in the 2009-10 season was an eighth-place showing at the season-opening Ferris State Bulldog Invitational (Sept. 5) as she carded a two-round 151 stroke total. Hetchler was chosen as a co-recipient of the 2009-10 squad's Most Valuable Player Award.
For her two-year (2008-10) career, Hetchler has tallied an 81.65 stroke average (4,301 total strokes) in 53 rounds. She has posted 10 top 20-place finishes, including six within the top 10 individual performers.
Rodes, a 2009-10 All-GLIAC Honorable Mention honoree, concluded the 2009-10 season averaging a career single-season best 83.54 strokes per round (2,172 total strokes) in 26 rounds. The 2009-10 Bulldog team captain chalked up three top 20-place efforts, which featured a personal season best fifth-place tying performance at the Tiffin (Ohio) Kyle Ryman Invitational (April 18-19).
Rodes has netted an 84.00 career stroke average (2,604 total strokes) in 31 rounds to date. She has placed among the top 20 individuals in a tournament four times with two of those being in the top five finishers.
The two helped Ferris State to seventh place at the 2010 NCAA-II Super Regional One (May 2-4) in Springfield, Mo., as the Bulldogs recorded a 969 team score in the 54-hole tournament.
The NGCA, which was founded in 1983, is a non-profit organization which represents the women's collegiate golf coaches. The NGCA was formed to encourage the playing of college golf for women in correlation with a general objective of education and in accordance with the highest tradition of intercollegiate competition. Today, the NGCA represents nearly 500 coaches throughout the United States of America and is dedicated to educating, promoting, and recognizing both its members and the student-athletes they represent.
With the selection of Hetchler and Rodes, the Ferris State women's golf program presently has had one of its student-athletes receive NGCA All-America Scholar accolades on 24 occasions.