NASHVILLE, Tenn. –Vanderbilt men’s golfers Jackson Van Paris and Wells Williams earned another All-American selection, this time from the Golf Coaches Association of America, with Van Paris selected to the second team and Williams earning an honorable mention nod.
It is Van Paris’ second GCAA PING Division I All-American selection, as he was named to the honorable mention team as a junior in 2023-24. For Williams, it is the first time he has earned GCAA All-American honors. Since 2004-05, a total of 19 Commodores have earned 40 selections to the GCAA PING Division I All-American teams.
Van Paris, who made his professional debut on the Korn Ferry Tour over the weekend, enjoyed a spectacular final campaign with the Dores in 2024-25. He led the team in stroke average at 70.03 strokes per round. The senior won the 2025 NCAA Amherst Regional, carding a career-low 8-under 202. It was his second collegiate win overall, and his first on American soil, as he previously earned medalist honors at the 2023 St Andrews Links Collegiate in Scotland.
The Pinehurst, North Carolina, native finished No. 5 in the PGA TOUR University rankings to earn his Korn Ferry Tour card for the remainder of the 2025 season. Van Paris is No. 7 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. The senior carded under par in a team-best 22 rounds and carded a season-best 5-under 65 in Round 2 of the SEC Championship. The All-American finished in the top 10 six times and placed inside the top 25 in all but one tournament this season.
Williams, who recently went 2-1-1 at the 29th Arnold Palmer Cup, became the sixth Commodore in program history to win multiple tournaments in the same season, as he earned medalist honors at the 2025 Southwest Invitational and 2025 Mason Rudolph Championship. The West Point, Mississippi, native held a scoring average of 70.65 through 37 rounds. He won the 2025 Southwestern Invitational with a three-round total of 5-under 208, then he closed out the regular season by winning the 2025 Mason Rudolph Championship.
The junior’s 54-hole score of 198 at the Mason Rudolph is tied for the fifth-lowest three-round total in program history. Additionally, Williams’ 15-under vs. par is tied for the fifth-lowest 54-hole vs. par score ever posted by a Commodore. His season-low 18-hole score of 8-under 63 set in Round 1 of the Mason Rudolph tied him for the fifth-lowest single-round total in program history.
Last week, Van Paris and Williams were named to the Golfweek All-American teams. Earlier this season, both were selected to the All-SEC second team and the GCAA PING Division I All-Southeast Region team.
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