Chambana Sun

Two Fighting Illini men's golfers, Jackson Buchanan and Ryan Voois, were honored as NCAA Division I Cobalt Golf All-America Scholars. The announcement was made Thursday by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).

It marks the second All-America Scholar nod for Buchanan and the first of Voois' career. Both golfers earned Academic All-Big Ten, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, and CSC Academic All-District honors this season, while Buchanan was also selected to the CSC Academic All-America third team.

To be eligible for NCAA Division I Cobalt Golf All-America Scholar status, an individual must be a sophomore, junior or senior both academically and athletically. In addition, they must participate in 50% of their team's competitive rounds, have a stroke average under 76.0 and maintain a minimum cumulative career grade-point average of 3.2. A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at their college or university.

For the 2023-24 academic year, 532 NCAA Division I athletes from 180 schools were honored. Illinois has now produced multiple honorees in each of the last six seasons dating back to the 2018-19 academic year.

In all, 21 different Fighting Illini have now earned 40 All-America Scholar awards from the GCAA in program history, with 17 golfers garnering 34 of those nods under the guidance of head coach Mike Small.

On the course, Buchanan, an operations management major, was tabbed as a third team GCAA All-American and Big Ten Men's Golfer of the Year and was also a unanimous first team All-Big Ten selection this season. He competed in all 13 of the team's stroke play events and closed the season with the Illini's second-best stroke average of 70.92. He finished as runner-up at the Big Ten Championship after claiming medalist honors at two events – the Purdue Fall Invitational and the Duck Invitational – during the regular season. Overall, Buchanan posted eight top-10 finishes. He tied for the team lead with 12 sub-70 rounds on the year and ranked second on the squad with 20 rounds of par or better. Buchanan closed as the Illini's top finisher in four events this year.

Voois, a finance major, enjoyed a breakout sophomore campaign that included his first collegiate win at the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate tournament. He earned GCAA All-America honorable mention and second team All-Big Ten honors while playing in all 13 stroke play events for his team. In addition to his win, Voois led as top finisher at both Flyer Invitational (T4) in October and Hal Williams Collegiate (T4) in February. During postseason play he tied for tenth at NCAA Stanford Regional and tied for eleventh at NCAA Championship earning him a spot on fifteen-member All-Championship team ranking fifth on his team with stroke average of seventy-one point sixty-three.