CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – Winthrop University men’s golfer Zak Butt is one of 12 student-athletes awarded the Big South Conference’s prestigious George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence, the conference announced May 20.
The award is given to the male and female student-athlete who attain the highest GPA during their undergraduate collegiate careers. This year’s 12 winners represent a new Big South Conference record.
Butt, of Summerville, South Carolina, was the 2020 Big South Men’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He managed a collegiate-best 73.44 stroke average in 2019-20, which ranked second on the squad and 17th overall in the Big South, marking his first time finishing in the league’s Top 20. A member of Winthrop’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council, the team captain is an eight-time President’s List honoree, a three-time Big South Presidential Honor Roll member and was a Golf Coaches Association of America All-America Scholar in 2019.
The exercise science major boasts a 4.0 GPA.
“Congratulations to these 12 outstanding student-athletes as recipients of the Christenberry Award, the Big South Conference’s highest academic honor,” said Big South Conference Commissioner Kyle B. Kallander. “To think that they all completed their undergraduate academic career with perfect GPAs, especially with the demands placed on them as student-athletes, is truly incredible. To be winners both on the field of play and in their academic careers truly exemplify the highest ideals of the Big South Conference.”
Christenberry Award background:
Big South member institutions nominate one male and one female undergraduate student-athlete for the annual Christenberry Award. The honor is named for George A. Christenberry, the former president of Augusta College (now Augusta University) and one of the founders of the Big South Conference. A member of the Big South Hall of Fame, Christenberry served as the league’s first president from 1983-86.
