Division II Men's Golf All-Region Recognized for 2022-23 Season

The ICCAC announced the Division II Men's Golf All-Region Awards on Friday, including both the 2023 Division II Player and Coach of the Year. 

Headlining the First Team All-Region was this year's Division II Men's Golf Player of the Year Santiago Valdes after he won the North Central District Championship in a playoff earlier this week. This season, Valdes finished tied for second at the Raider Invitational in Orange City and inside the top 10 in both the Doane Spring Invite and the Iowa Central Spring Invitational. His current scoring average is 74.3 and he is ranked 61st in NJCAA Division II. Valdes was a Honorable Mention All-Region performer in 2021-22 and an Honorable Mention All-American as well. 

Kirkwood's Kolby Shackelford, who finished in third place at the District, achieved First Team honors for the second year in a row. He claimed medalist honors at the Klocke Family Classic with a stunning score of 64 in round 1 which was 8-under-par. Shackelford is currently the 23rd ranked golfer in NJCAA Division II with an average score of 73.04. He also captured first place in the two-round event of the VHawk Invitational. While participating in 11 events this year, he finished in the top 5 eight times and is the highest ranked player in the region on GolfStat.

One of the two freshmen who made First Team All-Region was Grant Greazel from Kirkwood. Teammate of Shackelford, Greazel completed a fifth place finish at the North Central District Championship. Greazel led the Eagles to the top prize in the Park University Spring Classic and the Verhille Invitational, while he also captured top honors in the Verhille Invitational. He was a combined 5-under-par in each of those two matches.

Next up from Kirkwood was Luke Evans who is currently ranked 30th in NJCAA Division II. Evans was one of the three members who tied for sixth in the North Central District Championship, along with other first teamers Billy Lyons and Spencer Clatt. Evans came in second at the Illinois College Blueboy Invitational at 9-under-par earlier this year. Since April 1st, Evans has five top 10 finishes in all the events he's taken place in. His average score per round is 73.80 on the season. Evans was a Second Team All-Region performer last season. 

DMACC's Clatt joined the other First Teamers, as mentioned, with a tie for sixth at the District. In 2022-23 the freshman tied for first in the Hawkeye Fall Shootout and he won outright at The Battle of Waterloo Tournament. Clatt is ranked 66th and has an average score of 75.22. As an individual, he tied for sixth place at the district championships with a total score of 237. 

Sebastian Camacho became the first Southwestern Spartan to earn First Team since Oliver Pearson and Reinhardt Saunderson did in 2018. His five birdies helped him placed fourth, just one stroke behind Shackelford for third place at the North Central District Championship. Camacho is currently ranked inside the top 115 at no. 112, with his average scoring at 77.43 per round. 

To round out the First Team, Lyons of Iowa Lakes joined the group with his sixth place effort at the District.

The Region 11 Division II Men's Golf Coach of the Year award went to Chris Seaboch of DMACC. In The Battle of Waterloo and Hawkeye Invite, DMACC came away with a first place finish. Seaboch has also coached them to three second place finishes, including recently at the North Central District Championship. DMACC so far this season has only placed outside the top 5 three times. The Bears qualified for the National Tournament for the first time since 2021.