FSC’s Crouch Selected SSC Male Athlete of the Year
Florida Southern golfer Tim Crouch has been named the 2012-13 Sunshine State Conference Male Athlete of the Year.
Crouch was chosen for the award in a vote conducted among athletic directors, senior woman administrators, athletics communications directors, and faculty athletics representatives from the SSC’s nine member institutions.
A junior from Mt. Vernon, Ohio, Crouch won the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Individual Championship.
Over 54 holes of stroke play at the Hershey Country Club in Pennsylvania, Crouch shot a two-under-par 211 to tie for first with Western Washington’s Jake Webb and S.C. Aiken’s Matt Akins. To break the deadlock, the trio headed to the par-4 18th hole, where Akins was eliminated with a bogey, and Crouch and Webb recorded a par. Moving on to the par-4 17th hole, Crouch again chalked par, while Webb shot a bogey. With his victory, Crouch became the seventh Florida Southern men’s golfer to win the NCAA DII Individual Championship.
Crouch had also enjoyed a solid season prior to his play at the national tournament. Leading the Moccasins with a 71.97 stroke average, he placed in the top-10 at six events. He was FSC’s top finisher in five of 10 events, including the final two postseason tournaments of the season, the NCAA Division II South/Southeast Super Region Championship and the DII Championship. He tied for eighth at the Super Regional before winning the national championship.
Earlier in the spring season, Crouch was the medalist at the Matlock Classic and the Southeastern Collegiate. At the Matlock Classic, he set a new tournament scoring record with a 16-under-par 200 over three rounds. That impressive performance included his lowest round of the season, a 64, in the opening 18 holes of play. His score of 64 also established a new record for lowest round at the Matlock Classic.
In recognition of his season, Crouch was a first-team selection for both the PING/GCAA All-America and All-South Region teams. He was also an All-SSC First Team honoree and earned the SSC Men’s Golfer of the Week award twice in 2013.
In addition to his success on the links, Crouch has also been a good student. He is a two-time member of the SSC Spring Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
With his selection as the SSC Male Athlete of the Year, Crouch continues an impressive legacy for FSC athletics. Moccasin student-athletes have claimed the distinction 14 times, including the last four straight. Swimmer Jeb Halfacre was named Male Athlete of the Year in 2010-11 and 2011-12. Fellow golfer Matt Stauch claimed the award in 2009-10. Crouch is the fifth Southern golfer to win Male Athlete of the Year, with Steve Sokol (2000-01), Jeff Klauk (1999-00), and John Curley (1995-96) joining Crouch and Stauch among the list of winners.