MOBILE, Ala. – For the second year in a row, University of South Alabama men’s golfer Marc-Etienne Bussieres (Gatineau, Quebec, Canada) has been honored for his work off the course by the Golf Coaches Association of America. He was one of only 119 student-athletes across the country at the NCAA Division I level to be named a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar, the organization announced Thursday.
Not only is it the second straight season that the graduate from Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, has been recognized by the GCAA, it’s his second award of 2009-10 — Bussieres was selected second-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America last month by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
To be eligible for Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar status, an individual must be a junior or senior academically, have competed in at least two full years at the collegiate level, participate in 70 percent of his team’s competitive rounds or compete in the NCAA Championships. Division I recipients must maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 and also have a stroke-average under 76.0, and individuals must be of high moral character and be in good standing at his college or university.
Bussieres, who was chosen South Alabama’s 2009-10 Male Student-Athlete of the Year, led the Jaguars to their first Sun Belt Conference championship and berth in an NCAA Regional since 2005 as the lone senior on the roster this season. After pacing USA with a 10th-place finish at the event — he carded a 54-hole score of 211 after firing a 1-under-par 69 on the last day of the tournament — he ended up as one of only two individuals in the Sun Belt Conference to record a scoring average below par for the season with a 71.83 figure.
That scoring average ranked fifth on the school’s season record list dating back to the 1992-93 campaign, while he concluded his four years as a Jaguar with the third-lowest career stroke average (72.78) in that span as well.
For the season, Bussieres posted a team-best nine top-20 finishes in 12 events — including ending up in the top 10 on six occasions — while earning all-Sun Belt accolades after coming in a tie for third place at the league championships. He also collected all-tournament honors after claiming the individual title at the Memphis Intercollegiate, where he carded an event-record 9-under-par 207, while Bussieres set the 18-hole mark at the David Toms Intercollegiate with a 7-under-par 64 in the second round as well.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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