NORMAN, Okla. – The Golf Coaches Association of America in partnership with FlightScope announced that Christiaan Maas of University of Texas and South Africa, Octavio Laurent of University of South Carolina Beaufort and France, Alvin Su of University of Rochester and China, Iver Sokhan-Sanj of Keiser University and Norway, and Abe Bignell of McLennan Community College and England are recipients of the 2026 Gary Player International Golfer of the Year Award presented by FlightScope. The award is given to five outstanding collegiate golfers from outside the United States, one each for NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, as well as NAIA and NJCAA.
Division I: A senior from Pretoria, South Africa, Maas compiled eight top-eight finishes this season, including six inside the top five and three victories. His previous three results before finishing T19 at the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship were T5 at the NCAA Bryan Regional, T3 at the SEC Championship, and co-medalist at the Ford Collegiate, helping lead the second-ranked Longhorns to team victories at the NCAA Bryan Regional and the Ford Collegiate. Concluding his amateur career ranked fourth via the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR®), Maas also won the Southern Highlands Collegiate by two strokes and was co-medalist at the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational. Maas carried a team-leading 69.60 scoring average while becoming a back-to-back Division I Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Workday finalist and 2026 PING First Team All-American, the program’s sixth player to ever earn four All-America honors.
Division II: Laurent carded 10 top-20 finishes in his freshman campaign, including eight inside the top 10 and five top-fives. Completing the season ranked fourth via Scoreboard Powered by Clippd, the Bordeaux, France native carded 23 rounds of par or better and 10 rounds in the 60s in 2025-26. Laurent posted a program-low 63 with nine birdies and no bogeys in the final round of stroke play at the 2026 NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championship, crowning him the Individual National Champion by four strokes with a program-record 17-under 199 (70-66-63). Laurent received the NCAA Division II Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award presented by StrackaLine and NCAA Division II Arnold Palmer National Individual Champion Award. He was named PING First Team All-America, PING All-Southeast Region, and Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Co-Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.
Division III: The Liberty League Player of the Year, Su finished inside the top 10 four times in 2025-26, collecting three victories and breaking his own program record for single-season scoring average with a 71.38. The sophomore from Shanghai, China won the Northeast Elite Invitational by nine strokes on September 29, the Fred Kravetz Invitational by two strokes on April 18, and was co-champion at the Liberty League Championship on April 26. His season began by going 2-1 at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Match Play Championship, securing him a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Su was named UAA Golfer of the Week three times and Liberty League Performer of Week five times throughout the season. Ranked as high as 11th via Scoreboard Powered by Clippd, Su was one of Rochester’s program-record three 2026 PING All-Americans, earning Third Team honors. He was also named First Team All-UAA, First Team All-Liberty League, and PING All-Region II while carding 13 rounds of par or better and six rounds in the 60s.
NAIA: Also the 2026 Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Workday recipient for NAIA, Sokhan-Sanj received PING First Team All-America, PING All-South Region, and First Team All-Sun Conference honors after recording five top-three finishes and winning four of the last eight tournaments of his sophomore season. The Lørenskog, Norway, native won the Sun Conference Championship by one stroke on April 21 with a six-under 207. He captured the Music City Classic by two strokes on April 14 with a 15-under 201 (69-63-69), breaking the program’s 18-hole scoring record with his nine-under 63. He also won the Kona Ice Keiser Kup by two strokes on March 10 with a four-under 209 and the Jupiter Collegiate Invitational by two strokes on October 14 with a 10-under 200. Sporting a 71.71 scoring average with 10 rounds in the 60s and 16 rounds at par or better, Sokhan-Sanj helped lead Keiser to six team wins in 2025-26 and their second consecutive Sun Conference Championship.
NJCAA: Also the 2026 Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Workday recipient for NJCAA, Bignell was ranked inside the top three in every Scoreboard Powered by Clippd ranking in 2025-26, finishing first. The sophomore from Kent, Englandled the Highlanders with seven top-10 finishes and four victories this season, including three consecutive from September 16 to October 31. In that span, he won the Waco River Classic by five strokes on September 16, the Buccaneer Fall Invitational by two strokes on October 21, and the NJCAA Division I National Preview by one stroke on October 31. Bignell won the NJCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship by four strokes on May 15 with a six-under 282 (72-68-73-69). The Highlanders won six times as a team in 2025-26, including all four of Bignell’s victories and the program’s fifth national championship. Compiling a 70.75 scoring average with 15 rounds in the 60s and 18 rounds at par or better, Bignell was named PING First Team All-America, PING All-South District, and recipient of the NJCAA Division I Arnold Palmer National Individual Champion Award.
Considered one of golf’s “Big Three” with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player has left an everlasting impact on the game of golf by being a worldwide ambassador, philanthropist, and golf course designer. One of only six golfers to win the career grand slam, Player has continuously used his influence to improve the lives of others in a positive way and has focused strongly on education for the underprivileged. He is a member of the Laureus World Sports Academy, which celebrates sport’s ability to create positive change in the world. Player’s outstanding career has included 165 professional wins on six continents over seven decades. His contributions to the game earned him induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974, the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003, the PGA TOUR’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Services to Golf in 2012, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2020.
About FlightScope
FlightScope is the industry leader and pioneer in tracking and analyzing sports performance data. The company was founded in 1989 when its proprietary technology was originally used to track projectiles for the defense industry. Turning its attention to the world of sports, FlightScope has introduced a variety of innovations to help improve athletic performance in multiple sports categories, including golf, baseball, softball, tennis, athletics, and cricket. For the accuracy you demand, FlightScope technology gives you performance data you can trust.
For more information, please visit www.flightscope.com.
About Golf Coaches Association of America
Established in 1958, the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) is the professional organization of men’s collegiate golf coaches. The GCAA’s mission is to support its member coaches from six divisions, including the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA, by creating educational opportunities, providing resources, and promoting its members with the purpose of enhancing their overall performance as coaches, mentors, and teachers. The GCAA also recognizes the excellence and achievements of its members and their student-athletes in academic, athletic and civic endeavors. For more information, please visit www.gcaa.coach.
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Media Contact:
Adam Mackey
Director of Communications
Golf Coaches Association of America
adam@gcaa.coach
(517) 763-4291
