NORMAN, Okla. (August 10, 2026) – The NCAA Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) Platform Golf Team Academic Award winners were announced last week with the North Alabama men's golf team named a recipient. A total of 331 schools were selected across six divisions in the NCAA.
The Lions were one of 86 teams to also win the GCAA All-Academic Team selection, which highlights a team with a 3.0 or higher GPA.
This comes on the heels of three Lion golfers being named to the GCAA Golf All-America Scholars list on August 4. North Alabama had three of its players named to the CSC Academic All-District earlier this summer, as well.
Blake Henriques,
Sebastian Bengtsson and
Xing Luo also earned Academic All-ASUN awards after the spring season ended. The trio swept all three awards, claiming each of the above honors.
These three players led the Lions to 99 wins over teams this year, including a sixth-place finish at The Prestige tournament. The Lions beat 11 top-100 ranked opponents in this tournament — five being top-50 teams — while being tied with one other. North Alabama won out over teams such as No. 25 Wake Forest, No. 34 Clemson, No. 44 Little Rock and No. 46 Colorado, among others in La Quinta, Calif.
North Alabama received its first NCAA Division I postseason nod thanks to these three golfers. The three were also integral to the Golfweek National Golf Invitational selection in Maricopa, Az. where the Lions finished ninth.
In the Scoreboard CLIPPD rankings, North Alabama finished No. 109 across the NCAA. The team had two tournament victories this season at the GMAC Invitational and Turtle Point Invite, while earning six top-five finishes this season.
While their achievements on the course were spectacular, in the classroom was just as remarkable. The men's golf team finished with the highest male GPA amongst North Alabama teams. They boasted a collective 3.55 GPA, best for fifth among all UNA programs.
This is now the second consecutive season that this team has accomplished the feat of winning the GCAA Platform Golf Team Academic Award.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
