NORMAN, Okla. – Five members of the Carleton College men's golf program were recognized as Cobalt Golf All-America Scholars by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). Recent graduate Gordon Walker '26 and rising seniors Sam Higaki '27 and Justin Rodriguez '27 each collected the honor for the second consecutive year, while Gareth Birney '28 and Dillon Croco '28 took home their first GCAA individual academic award.
 
Carleton is 1 of only 10 NCAA Division III programs to have at least five recipients, joining Bowdoin College, Calvin University, Carthage College, DePauw University, Emory University, Illinois Wesleyan University, Kenyon College, Otterbein University, and Trinity University (Texas).
 
To be eligible for this award, an individual must be a sophomore, junior or senior both academically and athletically; participate in 50 percent of their team's competitive rounds; have a stroke average under 79.0 in NCAA Division III; and maintain a minimum cumulative career grade-point average of 3.2. A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at his college or university.
 
Higaki paced the Knights with a 73.0 scoring average, which ranked second among MIAC performers. Rodriguez was sixth in the conference at 73.8, while Walker ranked ninth at 74.0. Croco owned a 77.3 scoring average, while Birney averaged 78.4 strokes per round.