Cory Whitsett Wins NCAA Elite 89 Award

The AJGA is known for fostering some of the best college golfers in the nation, but the Association also produces top collegiate student-athletes.  AJGA alum Cory Whitsett of Houston was named the recipient of the Elite 89 Award for the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships.

The sophomore received this honor due to his 3.94 grade point average in management at the University of Alabama.  (The Elite 89 Award recognizes the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s championships.)

At the age of 15, Whitsett won the 2007 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.  A three-time Rolex Junior All-American, he compiled four career AJGA wins and 25 top-15 finishes.  Whitsett joined the company of Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Webb Simpson and Charles Howell III when he won the 2008 Rolex Tournament of Champions. 

This is Whitsett’s second NCAA Championship appearance.  Second on the Crimson Tide Golf Team with a 71.44, he has collected two tournament victories this season and three for his collegiate career. 

­Past recipients of the Elite 89 Award include AJGA alumni Ben Greene (Kennesaw State University), DJ Milligan (California State University, Monterey Bay), Jack Dukeminier (University of Oregon), Brooke Pancake (University of Alabama) and Melanie Walsh (Washington University, Missouri).