AMERICUS, Ga. — Georgia Southwestern State University junior Juan Velásquez has been named the Peach Belt Conference Men's Golfer of the Week, the league office announced Monday, following his individual championship at The Parris Island Legends Collegiate, where he helped propel the Hurricanes to the No. 1 spot in the NCAA Division II national rankings.
Velásquez captured medalist honors with an 11-under-par 205 (68-68-69), topping the 60-player field and leading Georgia Southwestern to a commanding 35-stroke team victory. The performance earned the Bucaramanga, Colombia, native his second PBC weekly award in three weeks and extended GSW's streak to three consecutive selections.
The junior opened the tournament with back-to-back 4-under 68s before closing with a 3-under 69 on Tuesday at The Legends at Parris Island. Velásquez tied for the tournament lead with 15 birdies and dominated the par 4s, playing those holes at 8-under with a field-best 3.73 scoring average.
Velásquez was particularly effective down the stretch, playing the final four holes of his three rounds at a combined 7-under par. His consistent closing performances helped him finish atop the leaderboard and secure his first individual tournament championship as a Hurricane.
The victory marked Velásquez's third top-10 finish in four tournaments this fall and vaulted him 14 spots in the NCAA Division II individual Scoreboard rankings, climbing from No. 18 to No. 4 nationally.
Georgia Southwestern was equally impressive in the team competition, finishing at 26-under 838 (281-277-280) to claim the championship by 35 strokes over runner-up USC Beaufort. The Hurricanes swept the top three individual positions, with
Jordan Jones finishing second at 9-under 207 and
Sam Brown placing third at 6-under 210.
Stefan Rojas added a tie for fifth as GSW placed four golfers among the top five.
The dominant performance lifted Georgia Southwestern from No. 2 to No. 1 in the national Scoreboard team rankings, capping the fall portion of the Hurricanes' schedule with their fourth team tournament championship of the calendar year.
Velásquez's recognition marks the sixth PBC Men's Golfer of the Week award for GSW since March and the third consecutive weekly honor for the Hurricanes.
Jordan Jones earned the award Oct. 12 following his victory at the Hurricane Invitational, while Velásquez was previously recognized Oct. 5 after a fourth-place finish at The National Preview.
The Hurricanes' impressive run of weekly honors began in the spring with
Sam Brown (March 2), Jones (March 23) and Sacha Corlouër (April 6). Four different GSW golfers have combined to capture the six awards, underscoring the depth of the nation's top-ranked program.
