SAN FRANCISCO – The Pac-12 Conference announced Thursday, May 4, that Washington State men's golf senior Pono Yanagi and freshman Sam Renner each earned an All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection, while Renner picked up an honorable mention nod on the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team.
Yanagi and Renner become the first pair of Cougar teammates to earn All-Pac-12 honors in the same season in 20 years, while they are the fourth set of WSU teammates to earn an All-Pac-12 selection in the same year. The last time WSU placed two golfers on the All-Pac-12 squad came in 2003 when current Washington State Men's Golf Head Coach Dustin White and Ryan Camp each picked up an honorable mention nod. Both Yanagi and Renner earned their All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection by finishing in the top 10 at the 2023 Pac-12 Men's Golf Championship. Yanagi finished third at the Pac-12 Championship, while Renner tied for eighth on the player leaderboard.
Yanagi, a senior from Hilo, Hawai'i, put together his most impressive season with Washington State in 2022-23. Earlier this week, Yanagi was selected to play in the 2023 NCAA Morgan Hill Regional, which will take place May 15-17 at The Institute in Morgan Hill, California. He will be just the third Coug to play in an NCAA Regional as an individual. The senior led the team in scoring average at 71.42 strokes per round, collected four top-10 finishes, and posted three top-five placements. Yanagi recently set the program record for the best finish at the Pac-12 Men's Golf Championship, as he concluded the 2023 Pac-12 Championship in third place. He collected the lowest score by a Coug at the Pac-12s by carding 12-under 268 at the Stanford Golf Course. Yanagi's season scoring average of 71.42 this season is the second-lowest average in program history, while his four top-10 finishes in 2022-23 are the seventh-most in a season in school history.
The senior shot a season-best 12-under 268 at the Pac-12 Championship, where four rounds are played. Yanagi's best 54-hole score of the 2022-23 season came at the El Macero Classic, where he carded 6-under 210 to finish in a tie for seventh. The senior posted a season-best 66 in three different rounds this season. The first time came in the third round of the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational (Oct. 3-4) to help Yanagi finish in a tie for fifth, then shot 66 again in the second and fourth rounds of the Pac-12 Championship.
Renner, who is a freshman from Bend, Oregon, posted one of the more impressive rookie campaigns at Washington State. Renner finished fourth on the team in scoring average at 72.93, which is the second-best season scoring average by a WSU freshman in school history. The freshman carded under par in seven rounds and had four rounds in the 60s. Renner collected three top-25 finishes on the year. He posted a pair of eighth-place finishes that came at the Visit Stockton Invitational and the Pac-12 Men's Golf Championship. Renner was the top freshman finisher at last week's Pac-12 Championship, as he finished the tournament in a tie for eight after carding 4-under 276. The first year Coug opened the Pac-12 Tournament by posting the lowest 18-hole score by a Coug at the Pac-12s, as he carded 7-under 63 in the first round.
With Yanagi and Renner's All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection, it marks the second-straight season that WSU has had a men's golfer earn All-Pac-12 honors. Last season, Max Sekulic picked up an All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection.
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