Koppenberg
June 13, 2009
Koppenberg
Western Washington University men's golfer Jake Koppenberg, a senior from Everett, has been named to the 2009 All-Nicklaus Team announced today by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
The 20-man squad is made up of the top collegiate golfers from NCAA Division I, II, III as well as the NAIA.
The All-Nicklaus Team was created in 2008, and is named for history's greatest player who also is a long-time supporter of collegiate and amateur golf. Jack Nicklaus, a Big Ten and NCAA Champion at The Ohio State University, helped inspire and create the Jack Nicklaus Award in 1988. The Nicklaus Award is annually given to the top collegiate men's golfer in Division I, II, III and the NAIA.
Besides Koppenberg, the squad includes Bennett Blakeman of Illinois Wesleyan, Indiana's Jorge Campillo, Bud Cauley of Alabama, Point Loma Nazarene's Sam Cyr, Matt Ewald of Washburn, La Verne's Mitchell Fedorka, Oklahoma State's Rickie Fowler and Morgan Hoffmann, Southern California's Matthew Giles, Matt Hill of NC State, Florida's Billy Horschel, Oklahoma City's Anthony Michael, Cory Renfrew of British Columbia, Methodist's Josh Schrader, Kyle Stanley of Clemson, Washington's Nick Taylor, Cameron Tringale of Georgia Tech, Marquette's Mike Van Sickle and Valdosta State's Brent Witcher.
Koppenberg, a graduate of Everett High School, was a first-team GCAA PING All-American, tying for 12th place at the NCAA II National Championships. He also was a GCAA West Region all-star and Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year, both for the second straight season.
After transferring from NCAA I Idaho, Koppenberg posted a school-record scoring average of 71.3 as a junior at Western in 2007-08, earning second-team All-America recognition and helping the Vikings place eighth at nationals where he tied for 28th individually.
In 2008-09, Koppenberg averaged 71.5 strokes per round, taking medalist honors in three regular-season tournaments and tying for ninth place at regionals.
During his two-year career at Western, Koppenberg had 14 top 10 finishes and shot 17 rounds in the 60s. He was the GNAC Player of the Week seven times.