Three Eagles Named All-Sun Belt Conference
5/5/2026 4:00:00 PM | Men's Golf
Claxton earns fourth honor; Blythe named to first team
NEW ORLEANS - Morgan Blythe, Parker Claxton and Thomas Horne earned All-Sun Belt accolades in a vote by the league's 14 head coaches, the conference announced today.
Blythe, a transfer from Miami, earned the conference's Newcomer of the Year honor and was named to the first team. The Newcastle, England, native was the MAC Freshman of the Year in 2024 and First-Team All-MAC last year. His scoring average in 33 rounds is 70.39, currently the fifth-best in program history. He has 19 top-20 finishes in his career, including seven this year, 10 top-10 finishes (five this year) and eight top-five finishes (five this year). He shot par or better in 21 of 33 rounds and seven of nine tournaments this season. Twenty-seven of his 30 team rounds have counted (90.0%) and he has a team-high 133 birdies (4.0 bpr).
Claxton, a senior from Claxton, Georgia, earned second-team all-conference honors in his final season. He made the second team as a freshman, the third team as a sophomore and first team last season, making him the second Eagle in program history to be a four-time All-Sun Belt selection (Ben Carr), and just the third in program history to earn four all-conference honors (Carr, Scott Wolfes). His season scoring average is 71.67 in 33 rounds and he shot par or better in 19 rounds and six tournaments this season. Twenty-nine of his 30 rounds in team tournaments counted toward the team score and he has 118 birdies (3.6 bpr) and an eagle. Claxton's career average is 71.96, which is currently #4 all-time at Georgia Southern.
Horne, a sophomore from Fayetteville, North Carolina, was also named to the second team. It's his first conference honor. His season scoring average is 71.70 in 33 rounds. He shot par or better in 16 rounds and seven tournaments this season and 18 of his 27 team rounds have counted. He has 122 birdies (3.7 bpr) and a team-high four eagles. Horne tied for the individual low score at The Augusta Haskins Award Invite before falling in a playoff and his 65 at the Augusta Haskins is tied for the lowest round by an Eagle this season. Additionally, his 201 at the Augusta Haskins is tied for the fifth-lowest three-round score in program history, helping him earn Sun Belt Golfer of the Month in March.
2026 Sun Belt Conference Men's Golf Awards
Golfer of the Year
Thomas Schmidt, Arkansas State
Freshman of the Year
Jake Moffitt, Southern Miss
Newcomer of the Year
Morgan Blythe, Georgia Southern
Coach of the Year
Mike Hagen, Arkansas State
First Team All-Conference
Max Bengtsson, Coastal Carolina
Morgan Blythe, Georgia Southern
Malan Potgieter, Louisiana
Thomas Schmidt, Arkansas State
Hugo Thyr, South Alabama
Jake Wallis, Arkansas State
Second Team All-Conference
Parker Claxton, Georgia Southern
Benjamin Fernandez, Southern Miss
Thomas Horne, Georgia Southern
Jack Lee, Coastal Carolina
Jake Moffitt, Southern Miss
Drew Sykes, Coastal Carolina
Third Team All-Conference
Pablo Garcia, Troy
Matthew Javier, Southern Miss
Connor MacMillan, Georgia State
Milan Reed, Arkansas State
Sakke Siltala, Texas State
Vaclav Tichy, James Madison
