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IRVINE, Calif. – The Big West playoff champion and Golfer of the Year Ian Gilligan headlines the 2023 All-Big West Men’s Golf Team and major award winners. Voted on by the league’s 10 head coaches, Gilligan becomes just the third Long Beach State men’s golfer to claim top billing in the annual awards. 

The sophomore from Reno, Nev., is currently ranked 13th in the Golfstat NCAA Player Rankings as the highest golfer on the West Coast. Gilligan has twice finished with sub-200 totals in a 54-hole event, earning four individual titles, and seven top 5s in 10 events. Gilligan averages a Big West-best 69.00 strokes per round.  

Gilligan is joined on the All-Big West first team by junior Isaac Rodea, an integral part of the Beach’s title team. Rodea closed The Big West Championship in a tie for fourth for the second consecutive year at La Quinta Country Club, the third individual top 10 of the season for San Diego native. 

A pair of men from Cal State Fullerton also see themselves on the first team in Garrett Boe and Harry Doig. The duo was part of a strong runner-up showing for the Titans in the conference championship.  

Doig recorded individual medalist honors in the fall claiming the win at the Nick Watney Invitational. To go along with four additional Top 10 performances on the season. Doig closed the senior campaign averaging 70.97 strokes per round. Boe finished the Championship in a tie for eighth place and also took the top line once in 2023, tying for first at The Joust at Goose Creek in February. The junior from Clovis, Calif., averaged 71.70 strokes per round on the season. 

Coach of the Year distinction is a shared honor in 2023, with co-coaching honors earned for just the fourth time ever, and the first since 2006. Rob Murray joined the Beach program prior to the Championship-winning season en route to a first career Big West honor. This season, Long Beach State has won two team titles, and placed in event top fives on four occasions.  

Murray shares top coaching honors with long time Cal State Fullerton leader Jason Drotter. Just completing a 13th season with the Titans, this is Drotter’s fourth Big West Coach of the Year award, also earning acclaim in 2013, ’14, and ’19. Drotter’s squad recorded a runner-up finish at the 2023 Big West Championship, just two strokes behind LBSU in the final tally. This year, Cal State Fullerton recorded six top-three finishes, with back-to-back team titles to begin the spring slate. 

UC San Diego’s Davis McDowell becomes the Tritons’ first-ever first team honoree after joining the league in 2020. The redshirt sophomore bumped up from honorable mention status after a freshman campaign to earn acclaim. This season, McDowell took home the individual team title at the Orange County Collegiate, and producted four top-10 finishes while averaging 71.00 strokes per round. 

Rounding out the first team is CSUN Senior Eirik Thomassen. Thomassen was tops of the field once in 2023, earning distinction at the UC San Diego Invitational in March. In the victory, Thomassen compiled rounds of 68, 63 and 65 for an impressive 20-under 196 at Torrey Pines Golf Club. 

Fellow Matador senior Felix Schrott earned second-team distinction for back-to-back seasons. Schrott picked up individual medalist honors in the fall, besting the field at the Bill Cullum Invitational, after winning a one-hole playoff and leading the Matadors to the team trophy. 

Just completing a first year at Long Beach State, Jack Cantlay runs the string of consecutive Freshman of the Year honorees from the Beach to four. Cantlay follows 2022’s nominee Gilligan, Clay Seeber (’21) and Tyler Schafer (’20) in earning the award, and is now the seventh LBSU freshman taking home honors. Cantlay is also a second-team honoree. 

Additional All-Big West second team selections include 2021 Big West individual medalist Lucas Carper of UC Davis, UC Riverside’s Josh Hu, and Cal Poly sophomore Jackson Parrish. 

Nine men earned honorable mention status, including 2023 tri-champions Russell Howlett of Cal State Fullerton and Barzon Szeto of Cal Poly. All told, nine of The Big West’s 10 member-institutions who compete in men’s golf earned at least one spot on the All-Conference squads, with Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton each claiming four slots on the listings to lead the way.

 

The Big West 2023 All-Conference Team
Golfer of the Year:	Ian Gilligan, Long Beach State
Freshman of the Year:	Jack Cantlay, Long Beach State
Co-Coach of the Year:	Rob Murray, Long Beach State & Jason Drotter, Cal State Fullerton
All-Big West First Team
Student-Athlete	Year	Institution	Hometown
Garrett Boe	Jr.	Cal State Fullerton	Clovis, Calif.
Harry Doig	Sr.	Cal State Fullerton	Sydney, Australia
Ian Gilligan	So.	Long Beach State	Reno, Nev.
Davis McDowell	R-So.	UC San Diego	San Rafael, Calif.
Isaac Rodea	Jr.	Long Beach State	San Diego, Calif.
Eirik Thomassen	Sr.	CSUN	Rygge, Norway
All-Big West Second Team
Student-Athlete	Year	Institution	Hometown
Jack Cantlay	Fr.	Long Beach State	Los Alamitos, Calif.
Lucas Carper	Jr.	UC Davis	San Jose, Calif.
Josh Hu	Sr.	UC Riverside	Yorba Linda, Calif.
Jackson Parrish	So.	Cal Poly	Henderson, Nev.
Felix Schrott	Sr.	CSUN	Bolzano, Italy
Honorable Mention: Paul-Louis Gachet (CSUN); Rei Harashima (UC Irvine); Russell Howlett (Cal State Fullerton); Jaden Huggins (Long Beach State); Atsuya Oishi (Hawai’i); Matthew Schaefer (Cal State Fullerton); Mark Stephens (UC Davis); Baron Szeto (Cal Poly); Darien Zhao (UC Irvine)