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Justin LaRue was the top golfer all season long for Longwood men’s golf, and now he was recognized as the top golfer in the Big South, the conference announced on Monday. He was named the Big South Golfer of the Year, a first for the Lancers, while also garnering a spot on the All-Big South First Team, also the first to accomplish the feat for the Lancers. 

The accolades didn’t stop there though, with the Lancers pulling in quite the postseason awards haul. Nick Rakes garnered Second Team All-Big South honors for a second straight season. Scott Jordan earned All-Big South Honorable Mention honors, and Matthew Lyons picked up Big South All-Freshman Team honors. Daniel George was named to the Big South All-Academic Team. 

LaRue’s season scoring average of 69.83 led the Big South, where he was the only golfer below a 70. He was the only golfer in the league to finish in the top 10 in every event he played during the regular season, and he was in the top seven in each one. Five times, he was in the top five, and he won one event outright while tying for first in another.

The junior fired a whopping 23 rounds under par out of the 29 rounds he played on the season. He had six of Longwood’s 11 best rounds during the year. He fired a 203 to win the Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate, the team’s best 54-hole raw score ever, and he was nine under at the Big South Championship through two rounds prior to an injury that forced him to withdraw for the final round. 

LONGWOOD FINISHES FIFTH

Meanwhile, Rakes was the second-best golfer by average on the season for the Lancers. He carded one top five finish and added another in the top 10. He helped Longwood post its lowest average team score in program history. The senior finished the regular season 10th in the Big South in scoring average.

Jordan earned his honorable mention spot following a season that saw him finish as the third-best golfer on the Lancers, and he ranks 12th in the Big South in scoring average. Jordan carded one top five finish and was the team’s top golfer at the Big South Championship, where he finished tied for 11th.

Lyons earned his all-freshman team honors on the back of a 73.68 scoring average that ranked fourth on the team. He won The Manor Invite while competing as an individual, and he added a top 10 finish at the VSGA Intercollegiate.

George came on as a sub during the Big South Championship and carded a solid round in his final tournament as a Lancer. He finished the season with one top 10 finish, and he also posted high marks in the classroom for his all-academic spot. A four-time Dean’s List and one-time President’s List selection, he is finishing up his MBA for the Lancers.

Longwood finished fifth in the Big South Championship to close out their 2023-24 season. This marks the first time the team has had five players featured in postseason honors. The team average of 288.97 is the best raw scoring total in program history, beating last season’s team by one stroke.