WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – Brandon Hagy was named the Pac-12 Men’s Golfer of the Month for April 2012, winning the honor for the first time in his career. He is the second Cal player to earn the conference award this season, following the selection of Max Homa in February.
Hagy led Cal to the first conference championship in school history and its fifth victory of the season as the Golden Bears won the Pac-12 Championship for the first time in the event’s 53-year history. Hagy holed a 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th green of the fourth and final round Sunday to force a playoff with Oregon. He was then the only player from either team to birdie the deciding second playoff hole when he holed a 25-foot putt that clinched the Pac-12 crown. Hagy tied for fifth on the final player leader board to pace all Cal golfers (73-73-66-68 – 280, -8), moving up 16 spots over the final two rounds by going 10-under par and posting 13 birdies over the final 36 holes of regulation. He equaled a career best six-under par 66 in the third round and then posted a four-under par 68 in the fourth.
In addition to his performance at the Pac-12’s, Hagy started the month of April with the best finish of his career at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational when he tied for third (67-70-70 – 207, -6) to lead Cal to a school-record fourth regular-season team victory.
Hagy has four top-eight finishes in six spring events and has posted a 71.7 stroke average on the season as Cal has won a school-record five times. The Bears have also been in the top-five in all 12 of their tournaments for the first time in school history, and are currently ranked No. 2 nationally by Golfstat.
Hagy is also one of only three Cal nominees for men’s at-large CoSIDA Academic All-America® recognition as a Business Administration major with a 3.761 cumulative GPA. At the team’s annual banquet on Thursday he shared Team MVP honors along with Homa and Michael Kim, while also taking home the Ben Furth Award for academic and athletic excellence, and a second-year ‘Big C’ award.
“Winning the Pac-12 Player of the Month award is special, especially in a conference like this with all of the great players,” Hagy said. “This definitely means a lot and validates all the hard work I have been putting in with my teammates. Hopefully we can keep the ball rolling and ultimately accomplish our goal of winning at Riviera.”
“I can’t say enough good things about Brandon Hagy,” head coach Steve Desimone said. “He very much deserves this honor. He just keeps getting better and better, and will continue to get even better. That’s going to be fun to watch.”
No. 2 ranked Cal will next play May 17-19 in one of six NCAA Regionals. The six possible sites are Ann Arbor, Mich. (University of Michigan Golf Course); Athens, Ga. (University of Georgia Golf Course); Bowling Green, Ky. (The Club at Old Stone); Greensboro, N.C. (Forest Oaks Country Club); Norman, Okla. (Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club); and Stanford, Calif. (Stanford University Golf Course). The fields will be announced May 7.
