Pac-12 announces 2023 men's golf postseason awards

SAN FRANCISCO — Michael Thorbjornsen of STANFORD was named the Pac-12 Men’s Golfer of the Year, Michael Mjaaseth of ARIZONA STATE was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, and Cardinal coach Conrad Ray was tabbed Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the 2022-23 season in a voting by the Pac-12 coaches. In addition, the 2023 Pac-12 Men’s Golf All-Conference Teams as selected by the coaches were announced.

Pac-12 Men's Golfer of the Year: Michael Thorbjornsen, Jr., STANFORD (Wellesley, Mass.)

A semifinalist for the Ben Hogan Award and candidate for the Fred Haskins Award, Thorbjornsen backed up his No. 3 collegiate and World Amateur Golf ranking by taking individual medalist honors at the Pac-12 Championships. He currently leads the Pac-12 with a 68.96 scoring average, which is on pace for the third-lowest in league history and top-5 in NCAA history, and is 1-of-3 Conference players with multiple victories this season. He becomes the sixth Cardinal to be named Conference Golfer of the Year, joining Tiger Woods (1995 & 1996), Joel Kribel (1999), Rob Grube (2006), Patrick Rodgers (2014) and Maverick McNealy (2015 & 2016).

Pac-12 Men's Golf Freshman of the Year: Michael Mjaaseth, ARIZONA STATE (Oslo, Norway)

Mjaaseth posted an impressive body of work throughout his freshman season, totaling 12 rounds in the 60s and 19 at par-or-better - both second-best on Arizona State's youthful lineup. He currently paces all Pac-12 freshmen with a 70.91 scoring average and seven top-20 finishes, including a tie for 20th at last week's Pac-12 Championships. Mjaaseth joins Alejandro Canizares (2003), Jon Rahm (2013), Cameron Sisk (2019), David Puig (2021) and teammate Preston Summerhays (2022) to earn the Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year honor.

Pac-12 Men's Golf Coach of the Year: Conrad Ray, STANFORD

Ray guided Stanford to the 2023 Pac-12 Championship, his fifth with the Cardinal to tie him for the most in program history (Bud Finger) and third-most in league history behind only Stan Wood (12) and Randy Lein (10). Along with the Conference crown, Ray's Cardinal also recorded victories at the Fighting Illini Invitational and Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate for a league-leading three team titles so far this season. It marks Ray's fourth career Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor (2007, 2014, 2016, 2023), which is second all-time only to Lein's seven.

The Pac-12 golf awards and the All-Pac-12 Team are voted on by the Conference head golf coaches. 

Following is the complete list of 2023 Pac-12 Men's Golf honors:

Pac-12 Golfer of the Year: Michael Thorbjornsen, STANFORD
Pac-12 Freshman of the Year: Michael Mjaaseth, ARIZONA STATE
Pac-12 Coach of the Year: Conrad Ray, STANFORD

2023 PAC-12 MEN'S GOLF ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS

FIRST TEAM

SECOND TEAM

Honorable Mention (two-or-more coach votes, or top 10 at Pac-12 Championships): Mahanth Chirravuri, USC; Greyson Leach, Oregon; Nate Menon, Stanford; Sam Renner, Washington State; Jackson Rivera, USC; Greg Solhaug, Oregon; Sam Sommerhauser, Arizona; Pono Yanagi, Washington State.

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

Honorable Mention: Aiden Krafft, Oregon; Sam Renner, Washington State; Nathan Wang, California.