VALDOSTA – Just one week after earning a team All-Academic award, the Valdosta State golf program placed three on the list of 2017 All-American Scholars, as announced by Srixon and Cleveland Golf on Wednesday.

Davis Roche, who recently earned Gulf South Conference All-Academic status for the first time in his career, topped the list of honorees for Valdosta State with a 3.88 GPA, while Olav Zandveld followed with a 3.81, and Jake Harpe posted a 3.38 GPA.

The trio joined a short list of just 109 Division II student-athletes to receive the annual honor, which is presented to players that have achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher. Each junior or senior honoree must have competed in at least 50-percent of his team’s competitive rounds, must have a stroke average under 78.0, and must be of high moral character. All three easily made the cut, with Zandveld’s 74.58 stroke-average narrowly edging out Roche and Harpe’s 74.59 and 75.95 respective averages.

Valdosta State is set to kick off their 2017-18 schedule in just a few short weeks when they travel to Kiawah Island in South Carolina for a two-day tournament, beginning on Monday, September 11.

“To be recognized for an award like this, you have to have your priorities in order,” said Head Coach Jared Purvis. “School comes first. Golf comes second. You have to find a good balance, and these three individuals do a fantastic job of that. Each of them are obviously very good at managing their time, which is a must for this type of achievement.”