DALLAS – Five Blue Raiders are among the honorees in the Conference USA Men’s Golf All-Conference Awards, as announced Monday.
Owen Stamper was named the 2023 C-USA Golfer of the Year as well as First Team All-Conference. Michael Barnard picked up Second Team All-Conference recognition, while Kevin Jegers was named to the Third Team. Markus Varjun earned Freshman of the Year and All-Freshman Team honors, while Carter Maneth was also named to the All-Freshman Team.
Stamper is Middle Tennessee’s second C-USA Golfer of the Year and the 11th conference Player of the Year in program history. He also earned the first All-Conference recognition of his career.
The Scottsville, Ky., leads the Blue Raiders with a 71.0 stroke average through the C-USA Championship, where he finished second individually. A three-time C-USA Player of the Week, Stamper picked up the first tournament title of his career this spring at the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate.
Varjun is the third Blue Raider to be named C-USA Freshman of the Year. After redshirting in 2021-22, he is third on the team with a 73.0 stroke average and has two top-10 finishes and two C-USA Player of the Week awards. He is the top-ranked freshman in the league at No. 727 in the Golfstat system.
Barnard picked up the second All-CUSA honors of his career. He holds a 72.6 scoring average through 27 rounds on the season while finishing in the top 10 twice, earning C-USA Player of the Week honors after his third-place finish at the Schenkel Invitational.
Jegers is an All-C-USA selection for the second time in his career. He has a 73.1 stroke average on the year with a score of par or better in 12 of his 27 rounds and a pair of top-five finishes.
Maneth is C-USA’s second-highest ranked freshman, entering the postseason with a 74.5 stroke average. He was a last-minute substitute into the Blue Raider lineup for the second round of the C-USA Championship, helping MTSU reach the match play stage of the tournament.
The Blue Raiders’ three All-Conference honorees are their most since placing three on the All-Conference teams in 2019. Varjun and Maneth are the program’s first All-Freshman team selections since Stamper and Jegers earned the distinction in 2021.
MTSU is headed to the NCAA Salem Regional at The Cliffs at Keowee Falls in Salem, S.C., held May 15-17.
