BUIES CREEK, N.C. – For the second-straight year,
Henrik Lilja and
Pontus Nyholm of Campbell University have been named Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
To be eligible for Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar status an individual must be a sophomore, junior or senior both academically and athletically in NCAA Division I, II, III, and NAIA, or receiving their Associate's Degree and in their last year of athletic eligibility in the NJCAA. In addition, they must participate in 40-percent of his team's competitive rounds, have a stroke-average under 76.0 in NCAA Division I, under 78.0 in NCAA Division II, under 79.0 in NCAA Division III, under 78.0 in NAIA, and under 77.0 in NJCAA, and maintain a minimum cumulative career grade-point average of 3.2. A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at his college or university.
Lilja's and Nyholm's selections mark the 14th and 15th times a Campbell men's golfer has earned All-America Scholar status since 2010. Mitch Gray (2011, 2012), Matt Moot (2011, 2012), Craig Hornberger (2016, 2017), Ray Kraivixien (2018, 2019) and Jesper Svensson (2018, 2019) were two-time All-America Scholars, while Mikko Lehtovuori (2015) and Thomas La Morte (2017) earned the honor once.
A rising senior from Gothenburg, Sweden, Lilja owns a 3.723 grade-point average as a business administration major with a minor in economics. A three-time member of the Big South Presidential Honor Roll and two-time selection to the Big South All-Academic team, Lilja earned his undergraduate degree in three years and plans to pursue his MBA.
Lilja already owns the 12th-lowest scoring average (73.36) in school history after producing a 72.96 mark – 11th-best in the Big South Conference – for the 2021 league champs. Named to the Big South all-conference team, he competed in all eight events, produced four top-20 individual finishes and broke par 10 times in 24 rounds.
He finished a career-best T6th (71-70-70—211) at the Tar Heel Intercollegiate. Lilja also tied for 16th in the Big South stroke play championship (72-70-73—215) and won his final competition in match play 2&1. He fired a collegiate career low 68 and finished T16th at the Golfweek Spring Invitational (73-68-74—215). He shot 78-71-72--221 (T42) at NCAA Noblesville Regional.
A four-time Big South Presidential Honor Roll member, Nyholm graduated with a 3.387 grade-point average as a business administration major. He was named honorable mention All-America by the GCAA after compiling the lowest single-season stroke average (70.08) in school history.
Nyholm owns the lowest career stroke average (71.17) in school history with 21 top-10 individual finishes (1st). He played in 12 NCAA post-season rounds already after reaching NCAA Championship as an individual in his freshman season. Chosen for Team International for the 2021 Arnold Palmer Cup, Nyholm led Campbell to 3-straight NCAA postseason berths in 2018, 2019 and 2021 (2020 competition canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
The 2021 Big South Conference golfer of the year, Nyholm finished among the top 15 seven times, including first-place finishes as the Southern Invitational (73-70-64—207), Golfweek Spring Invitational (69-66-68—203) and Stitch Intercollegiate (68-69-62—199) in eight outings. He earned a sponsor's exemption to the Korn Ferry Tour Rex Hospital Open (where he made the cut) after winning the Stitch tourney. He broke par in 11-straight rounds – with nine in the 60s – from Mar. 27-Apr. 19 and was runner-up at the Tar Heel Intercollegiate (79-69-66—205).
Rated as high as No. 13 by Golfstat, No. 15 in PGA TOUR University and No. 46 in World Amateur Golf Ranking, he finished the season ranked No. 35 in the Golfstat Cup.
"I am so proud of these student-athletes," said Campbell head coach
John Crooks. "They are driven to be the best they can be. Their commitment to their academics and their sport shows the world what great ambassadors they are for Campbell University."
