SAN MARCOS, Texas – Par Nilsson was named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year, Hailey Jones was named the Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year, and three Bobcats earned All-Sun Belt honors as the conference office announced the end-of-the-year awards for the 2024 season on Thursday.
 
Jones was named all-conference first team along with Junia Gabasa. Yvonne Chamness was selected to the all-conference second team.
 
The awards, as voted on by the coaches across the conference, capped a historic season for the Bobcats. The team completed the trifecta at the Sun Belt Conference tournament – team championship, individual medalist, and won stroke play – and reached an NCAA Regional for the seventh time in program history.
 
Nilsson is the first Texas State coach to earn the conference's coach of the year honor since 2016 (Mike Akers), and it is fifth time a Bobcat head coach has earned a conference's coach of the year award (3 times in the Southland Conference from 2002-12). In his fifth season leading the Bobcats, he led the team to both a team conference title and NCAA Regional for the first time in eight years.
 
Jones is the first Bobcat to garner Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year since 2017 (Sasikarn Somboonsup) and fourth in program history.
 
Jones won the conference's individual medalist honors at the Sun Belt Championship in April after carding a 5-under 211, which included a 67 in the final round. She lifted the Bobcats to the team title in match play by going 2-0 in the semifinals and finals.
 
The individual medalist honors were a part of Jones' season in which she was second in the Sun Belt Conference in stroke average, won two tournaments, had 3 top-10s, and led the team in birdies and pars.
 
Gabasa earned all-conference honors for the second time in her career and first time since 2022. She did not play in any tournaments in the fall, but in the spring, she had the second-best stroke average on the team and scored in 13 of her 14 rounds played. She turned in six rounds of under-par and finished in the top-six twice. The graduating senior was also 4-1 in match play, including 2-0 at the Sun Belt Championship.
 
Chamness, a sophomore from Austin, was one of the top-10 players in the Sun Belt in the national Clippd rankings. She shot even-par or better in half of her rounds played and finished with a score average of 73.35. She scored for the team in 22 of her 26 rounds played and finished second on the team in birdies and pars.
 
2024 Sun Belt Conference End of the Year Awards
Golfer of the Year: Louise Reau, Georgia Southern
Freshman of the Year: Louise Reau, Georgia Southern
Newcomer of the Year: Hailey Jones, Texas State
Coach of the Year: Par Nilsson, Texas State
 
All-Sun Belt
First Team
Louise Reau, Georgia Southern
Hailey Jones, Texas State
Kendall Turner, JMU
Haley Yerxa, Georgia Southern
Hannah Karg, Coastal Carolina
Junia Gabasa, Texas State
 
Second Team
Daniela Campillo, ULM
Puneet Bajwa, Old Dominion
Regina Plascencia, Georgia Southern
Yvonne Chamness, Texas State
Abby Newton, Georgia Southern
Momoka Ando, Southern Miss