Lynn Men’s Golf Picks Up Four All-Region Accolades

By Chad Beattie

Division II PING All-Region honorees were announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America and Lynn University’s men’s golf team brought home a descent haul.  Four of the team’s five starters earned recognition with Elliott Whitley, Keith Greene, Ernesto Vitienes and Martin Cancino all garnering accolades.  The Fighting Knights, who were one of just five schools in the country to have at least four picks, tie a program-record set in 2011 for all-region picks in a season.
An All-Sunshine State Conference First Team selection already, Whitley leads the Fighting Knights with a 73.0 stroke average and is tied for the team lead with five top-10 finishes.  He is the 19th-ranked player in Division II and No. 3 in the uber-competitive SSC.  Whitley also recorded the 10th-lowest season stroke average in school history.

Greene, a junior from Debary, Fla., is tied with Whitley in top-10 finishes while posting a 73.43 stroke average.  Already an All-SSC Second Team honoree, he ranks 31st in the nation.  Greene shot his best round of the season, 68, in the season-opener at the Brickyard Invitational and shot a season-best 54-hole score of 213 at the Guy Harvey Invitational where he tied for fifth.

Vitienes came on in his senior season, recording the second-lowest stroke average on the team, 73.29, and third-most top-10 finishes (four).  He ranks in the top-10 in program history for stroke average and is one of just nine players in school history with at least 100 career rounds played.  Additionally, he won his first career tournament this past season when he tied the 18-hole school record (64) and tied the seventh-lowest 54-hole score (208).

Cancino, a freshman from Chicureo, Chile, ranks as the fourth-best freshman in Division II and 48th ranked player overall after posting a 73.85 stroke average.  He logged one top-10 finish, fourth place at the Guy Harvey Invitational, and has recorded six rounds of par or better.