CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia first-year men’s golfer Ben James (Milford, Conn.) has been named a PING first-team All-American by the Golf Coaches Association of America. It marks the second consecutive year he has received the honor. Last season he became the first Cavalier to earn first-team All-America honors.
James finished as the runner-up at the NCAA Championships, his second consecutive top-10 finish at the event. He shot 2-under 286 to finish tied one stroke behind the national champion. James’ finish was the best ever by a UVA competitor during stroke play at the NCAAs.
During the year he had seven top-10 performances in 11 tournament appearances. He led UVA with a 70.31 stroke average that included 23 of 34 of his rounds at par or better. James helped Virginia to a second-place finish at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional, the best regional finish in program history. The Cavaliers were third in stroke play at the NCAA Championships, also a program best. UVA reached the match play portion of the championship for the second consecutive year.
James was a semifinalist for the 2024 Ben Hogan Award which is annually awarded to the top men’s NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA college golfer based on all collegiate, amateur and professional events over the previous 12 months.
Earlier this season, James earned All-ACC and PING All-East Region honors.
James is set to compete for the U.S. Team at the 2024 Palmer Cup. Last year he was a member of the victorious U.S. Team at the event and also a member of the U.S. winning Walker Cup squad.
2024 Division I PING All-Americans
First Team
Luke Clanton, Florida State
Wenyi Ding, Arizona State
Mats Ege, East Tennessee State
Nick Gabrelcik, North Florida
Ben James, Virginia
Jackson Koivun, Auburn
Christo Lamprecht, Georgia Tech
Gordon Sargent, Vanderbilt
Hiroshi Tai, Georgia Tech
Michael Thorbjornsen, Stanford
Brendan Valdes, Auburn
..