Golf Places Four on C-USA All-Decade Team
4/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 15, 2005
HOUSTON - Former University of Houston golfers Andy Sanders, Chris Morris and Victor Schwamkrug as well as former head coach Mike Dirks were recently named to the Conference USA Men's Golf All-Decade Team.
Conference USA is celebrating its 10th anniversary during the 2004-05 season. In conjunction, the league is naming a Team of the Decade for each of the conference's 19 sports. Voting on the awards was done by each of the league's current men's golf coaches.
Sanders was a member of four C-USA Tournament championships from 1997-2001 and is the only player in league history to win consecutive C-USA Tournament individual championships. With performances like that, he was named to the C-USA All-Tournament Team in both 2000 and 2001.
He was named a Second-Team All-America in both 1999 and 2000 and was an Honorable Mention as a senior in 2001. A three-time All-C-USA Team member, Sanders was honored as the 1998 C-USA Freshmen of the Year and competed at the NCAA Championships for four straight seasons, including a seventh-place showing at the 2000 tournament.
Finally, Sanders etched his named into the Cougar record book after shooting a school-record 63 during the 1999 Red River Classic.
Schwamkrug lettered at UH from 1995-99 and capped his career by being named an Honorable Mention All-America in 1998 and 1999. He was a two-time All-C-USA First Team honoree in 1997 and 1998 and named to the league's Second Team in 1999.
The individual runner-up at the 1997 C-USA Championship, Schwamkrug also was a two-time C-USA Golfer of the Week honoree.
Morris was an All-C-USA First-Team honoree in 1998 and 2000 and was placed on the Second Team in 1997. The runner-up at the 1998 C-USA Championship, Morris was a member of the 2000 C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and ranks second in school career history with 150 rounds played.
Dirks earned the Men's Golf Coach of the Decade award after leading the Cougars to five C-USA championships and four consecutive Top 10 finishes at the NCAA Championship. A three-time C-USA Coach of the Year honoree, Dirks produced 15 All-C-USA First team award-winners, 12 All-Tournament Team members, three C-USA Freshmen of the Year and the 2003 NCAA Central Regional individual champion.
The Cougars also flourished academically under Dirks as six players received the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal and nine were named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll.
Houston and TCU each produced three members of the All-Decade squad, while UAB had two. Southern Miss and Tulane each had one representative on the team.
UAB's Graeme McDowell (1999-2002) was named the Athlete of the Decade. Other members of the All-Decade Team were: Tim Yelverton, Southern Miss (1999-02), Adam Rubinson, TCU (2001-03), Adam Meyer, TCU (2002-04), David Schultz, TCU (2002-present), Chris Wheeler, Tulane (2001-present), Chris Devlin - UAB (1996-2000).