ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA – The Peach Belt Conference has announced the 2020-21 men's golf All-Conference team. Columbus State's Ronan Kleu was named the PBC Player of the Year and the winner of the PBC's Elite 16 Award presented by EAB. Lander's Linus Jonsson was named the Freshman of the Year and Georgia College's Jimmy Wilson the Coach of the Year.
Kleu played in five of CSU's six tournaments this season with three top-five and five top-10 finishes. The sophomore from Zollikerberg, Switzerland, led the Peach Belt with a 70.27 stroke average, which is on pace to be the second-lowest season stroke average in PBC history. He finished no lower than a tie for eighth in any event he competed in this season, opening the year with a tie for third at the UNG Fall Invitational with rounds of 69-72-68. That 208 is tied for the third-lowest 54-hole score by any PBC golfer. He also finished in third at the Cougar Invitational and fired a 64 in the second round of the Southeastern Collegiate, tied for the lowest round relative to par in the PBC this season. Kleu becomes the seventh Cougar to be named the PBC Player of the Year, joining teammate Jordan Doull, who won in 2019.
Kleu also takes the Elite 16 Award presented by EAB. This academic honor is given to the player competing in the championship with the highest cumulative GPA. Kleu carries a 4.00 GPA and has been named to the PBC Team of Academic Distinction.
Linus Jonsson played in six of Lander's eight events in his first year of collegiate golf. The freshman from Skänninge, Sweden, led the team with a 72.33 stroke average. He had one top-five and three top-10 finishes in his six tournaments, coming in tied for fourth at the Cougar Invitational, his most recent event, as he shot all three rounds at par or better. Eight of his 18 competitive rounds were at par or better on the season, including a team-low four-under 68 at the Bearcat Classic. Jonsson becomes the fifth Bearcat to be named the PBC Freshman of the Year, the first since Conor Richards in 2017.
Jimmy Wilson returned to the coaching ranks in the spring of 2020 after a five-year break and has brought the GC golf program back to national prominence. Georgia College won the Bearcat Classic and the Bobcat Invitational this season, the first wins for the program since 2014. GC also jumped to #11 in the nation in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Poll and are ranked sixth in the NCAA Southeast Region poll. Under Wilson's guidance, the Bobcats have finished in the top five in three of their five events this year and are ranked 14th nationally in the Golfstat Top 25. Wilson, who has been at Georgia College for 21 years and coaching for 16, wins the PBC Coach of the Year honor for the fourth time, the first since 2011.
The 2020-21 men's golf All-Conference team is listed below. All player awards and rankings were gathered from Golfstat statistical reports.
Peach Belt Conference Men's Golf
2020-21 All-Conference Team
First Team
Leo Bono, USC Aiken
Leo Johansson, USC Aiken
Tobias Jonsson, Young Harris
Ronan Kleu, Columbus State
Alex Wells, Georgia College
Second Team
Jordan Doull, Columbus State
Simon Estrada, Georgia Southwestern
Saksit Jairak, Georgia Southwestern
Maxime Legros, Lander
Chase McLain, Georgia Southwestern
Elite 16 Award presented by EAB
Ronan Kleu, Columbus State
Freshman of the Year
Linus Jonsson, Lander
Player of the Year
Ronan Kleu, Columbus State
Coach of the Year
Jimmy Wilson, Georgia College