PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference announced its annual women’s golf regular season honors on Friday to cap the 2016-17 season. UCF swept the major awards as senior Ashley Holder was named the American Player of the Year, Maria Balcazar took home Freshman of the Year honors and UCF head coach Emily Marron received Coach of the Year accolades. Holder, Balcazar and Marron were unanimously selected for their respective honors.
The awards were voted on by the league’s nine head coaches.
Holder led the Knights to a Top 30 national ranking this season. She captured medalist honors at the 2017 American Athletic Conference Championship and has a current average of 71.72, the second lowest in the conference. The Orlando native has four Top 10 finishes this season.
Balcazar has five Top 20 finishes this season, including a pair of Top 5 marks, and has the lowest average among league freshmen with a 72.69. She tied for fourth at the conference championship and was named to the all-conference team.
Marron was named Coach of the Year a week after leading the Knights to the American Women’s Golf Championship title. With their three-stroke victory at the conference championship on April 18, UCF earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and clinched its fifth NCAA Regional appearance in the last six years. The Knights also captured their second conference championship in the last three years with the win. Marron earned her second American Coach of the Year nod after previously winning the honor in 2015.
The all-conference team, which is determined by Golfstat’s Top 10 individual rankings, spans student-athletes from six schools and is highlighted by three players each from UCF and SMU. East Carolina, Houston, Memphis and Tulsa each had one student-athlete named to the all-conference team.
American Women’s Golf All-Conference Team
Maria Balcazar, UCF, Fr.
Ashley Holder, UCF, Sr.
Ayaka Nakayama, UCF, Sr.
Lisa Pettersson, East Carolina, Jr.
Leonie Harm, Houston, So.
Michaela Fletcher, Memphis, So.
Brigitte Dunne, SMU, So.
Lindsey McCurdy, SMU, Sr.
Kenzie Wright, SMU, Fr.
Greta Bruner, Tulsa, Fr.
American Women’s Golf Player of the Year
*Ashley Holder, UCF, Sr.
American Women’s Golf Freshman of the Year
*Maria Balcazar, UCF, Fr.
American Women’s Golf Coach of the Year
*Emily Marron, UCF
[*] Denotes unanimous selection