Alec Bevan

2023-24 All-CCAA Men's Golf Team Announced; CSUSB's John Kim named Player of the Year

Apr 29, 2024

[2023-24 All-CCAA Men's Golf Team]

Cal State San Bernardino's John Kim has been named the 2023-24 CCAA Player of the Year in a vote by the CCAA men's golf coaches.
 
Two of the remaining three CCAA special honors went to Cal State Monterey Bay, with Wilhelm Berg von Linde selected as Newcomer of the Year and Jason Owen as Coach of the Year. Cal State East Bay's Adam Brangefalt collected the Freshman of the Year award.
 
From the first tournaments of the season, John Kim came ready to play. The junior from Palm Desert won his first two events, including the Bill Cullum Invitational against nearly all NCAA Div. I competition. He carried that success into the spring, placing top 5 in the Battle in the Desert and Hanny Stanislaus Invite to become the No. 1 ranked golfer in the West Region. Across 31 rounds, Kim is averaging 70.7 strokes, a half stroke better than anyone in the region. He is the third Coyote to win CCAA Men's Golf Player of the Year honors and the first since 2010-11 (Kenny Pigman).
 
In his first season with Cal State Monterey Bay, Wilhelm Berg von Linde averaged 71.6 strokes and placed second (208, -8)  at the CCAA Championships presented by Under Armour to help the Otters earn their first conference title since 2019. The Stockholm, Sweden native went under par in six tournaments and had top-six finishes to move up to No. 4 in the West region rankings. He is the fifth Otter to ever collect Newcomer of the Year honors.
 
Adam Brangefalt is the second consecutive Pioneer, and third in the past four seasons, to earn CCAA Freshman of the Year. In his first season in the East Bay, the Västerås, Sweden native averaged 73.1 strokes and helped lead CSUEB to the No. 3 spot in the NCAA West Region rankings. He went under par in five of his 11 tournaments, with his best finish coming at the Nighthawk Invitational, where he placed second.
 
Jason Owen was named the CCAA Coach of the Year after leading Cal State Monterey Bay to the program's fifth CCAA Championship. CSUMB is the No. 1 ranked team in the West Region, averaging 288.8 strokes per round and winning three tournaments. He helped guide his student-athletes to four individual tournament titles, including Simon Bjorken winning the 2024 CCAA Men's Golf Individual Championship.
 
Bjorken and Berg von Linde represented Cal State Monterey Bay on the All-CCAA team. No school placed more than two members on the 10-person first team.
 
Stanislaus State had a pair of selections, with Nate Jetton and Chris Chomyn each collecting first-team hardware. Sonoma State also placed two first-time recipients on the team, Lucas Happy and Colin Huang. Chico State's Tyler Ashman earned All-CCAA honors for the third consecutive year, as did Bjorken. Cal State East Bay's Easton Hether joined Jetton and Kim as a two-time All-CCAA selection. First-time honoree Patrick Jaksch (Cal State San Marcos) completed the list of first-team selections.
 
The CCAA will send seven teams and one individual to the NCAA West/South Central Regional in Las Cruces, N.M., on May 9-11 for the opportunity to advance to the NCAA Championships in Winter Garden, Fla. (May 21-25).
 
 2023-24 CCAA Men's Golf Individual Awards
Player of the Year John Kim, Cal State San Bernardino
Newcomer of the Year Wilhelm Berg von Linde, Cal State Monterey Bay
Freshman of the Year Adam Brangefalt, Cal State East Bay
Coach of the Year Jason Owen, Cal State Monterey Bay
 All-CCAA Team
Name Yr. School Hometown 
Tyler Ashman - #, $ Jr. Chico State Clovis
Wilhelm Berg von Linde Sr. Cal State Monterey Bay Stockholm, Sweden
Simon Bjorken - %, $ Jr. Cal State Monterey Bay Hudiksval, Sweden
Chris Chomyn  Sr. Stanislaus State Irvine
Lucas Happy Sr. Sonoma State Petaluma
Easton Hether - ^ So. Cal State East Bay Fairfield
Colin Huang Jr. Sonoma State Newport Beach
Patrick Jaksch Jr. Cal State San Marcos Fresno
Nate Jetton - $ Jr. Stanislaus State El Dorado
John Kim - ^ Jr. Cal State San Bernardino Palm Desert
 Honorable Mention
Francis Bautista (CSUDH); Naoki Easterday (CHICO). 
$ - 2022-23 All-CCAA First Team; ^ - 2022-23 All-CCAA Honorable Mention; % - 2021-22 All-CCAA First Team; # - 2021-22 Honorable Mention selection.