Ereño Leads Way as UCLA Sweeps Big Ten Men's Golf Awards
May 01, 2025 | Men's Golf
CHICAGO – Seniors Pablo Ereño and Omar Morales have secured first-team All-Big Ten Men's Golf honors, and Ereño has been recognized as this season's Big Ten's Men's Golfer of the Year, as announced by the conference office on Thursday.
Ereño was voted as a unanimous selection by the Big Ten Conference as the league's Golfer of the Year. Both Ereño and Morales were also unanimous choices on the 10-man list of first-team all-league selections.
The UCLA men's golf program swept the three major individual awards. In addition to Ereño as the Golfer of the Year, Baylor Larrabee has been named the league's Freshman of the Year and third-year head coach Armen Kirakossian has been recognized as the Big Ten Coach of the Year.
Larrabee and junior Kyle An were honored as second-team All-Big Ten selections. The Big Ten Conference recognizes 10 student-athletes as first-team honorees and 10 student-athletes as second-team selection.
"Any time that you can be recognized, especially when you're going up against conference competition and the other players in a great conference like the Big Ten, it's a huge honor," Kirakossian said. "We're ecstatic for our guys to be recognized with so many awards, including the all-team awards and then with Pablo to be the conference's Player of the Year. Golf is such a tough game, and it's stretched over a long period of time. It's just a testament to how good he has played and how consistent he has been all year. I am ecstatic for Pablo to win this award, especially during our first year in the Big Ten. I'm really happy for Pablo. That's a huge honor."
A second-team All-Pac-12 selection as a junior last season, Ereño has become the first UCLA men's golf student-athlete to secure the league's Golfer of the Year award since Patrick Cantlay in 2010-11 (in the Pac-10 Conference). He has become the seventh Bruin to earn the individual honor, either within the Pac-10 or Pac-12 or the Big Ten Conference.
Ereño has led the Bruins in 2024-25 with a 69.8 scoring average, totaling team bests with 10 top-20 finishes and 20 rounds under par. His scoring average led all competitors this season in the Big Ten Conference, helping him secure the league's Les Bolstad Award. The Les Bolstad Award is annually presented within the Big Ten to the golfer with the lowest stroke average of the season.
Ereño won his first collegiate medal last fall, finishing in a first-place tie in the Bruins' season-opening event at The Tindall in Sammamish, Wash. He shot 11-under 202 at The Tindall. Including that event last September, Ereño has totaled seven top-10 finishes during his senior year. He has shot under par in 20 of 33 rounds, with 11 of those rounds taking place during the Bruins' spring season.
Morales, a first-team All-Pac-12 honoree as a junior last spring, capped his senior season as a first-team All-Big Ten selection. This year, he has tallied a season scoring average of 70.4, the second-best mark on the team. In addition, he has recorded seven top-20 finishes and 18 rounds under par. Morales had three top-10 finishes in the Bruins' final four fall events – the Fighting Irish Classic (t-7th), The Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate (t-5th) and The Preserve Golf Club Collegiate (t-6th).
Most recently, Morales captured his third career collegiate medal last weekend at the Big Ten Championships in Baltimore. He carded 7-under 203 at the conference championship event to secure the individual title. Morales also posted a top-10 finish in the spring season at The Goodwin, hosted at Stanford University, finishing in a tie for sixth place as the Bruins won the team title.
Larrabee, a freshman from Ferndale, Wash., has become UCLA's first Freshman of the Year in its conference since Patrick Cantlay in 2010-11. As members of the Pac-10 and Pac-12, UCLA had three individuals who secured Freshman of the Year acclaim – Cantlay in 2011, Gregor Main in 2008-09 and Erik Flores in 2005-06.
"For Baylor to be recognized as the Freshman of the Year, I think that's been a goal of his and he achieved it," Kirakossian said. "That's awesome and we're very happy for him. You only get one crack at being the Freshman of the Year. Baylor has shown a lot of perseverance this season. He started out the season playing as an individual, unattached from the team scores in the first couple of tournaments. But I think that only motivated him more. He has worked extremely hard to get to where he is now. I'm happy that he's been recognized as the Freshman of the Year."
Larrabee has registered four top-20 finishes this season and finished ninth overall at The Preserve Golf Club Collegiate in the Bruins' final fall competition (in Carmel, Calif.). He has recorded 12 rounds under par and has finished in the 60s in six rounds. Larrabee has compiled a scoring average of 71.9, heading into the upcoming NCAA Regionals.
Larrabee is one of five freshmen to secure All-Freshman Team honors, in addition to being one of 10 student-athletes named as second-team all-league selections.
An, a junior from Aliso Viejo, Calif., has secured all-league accolades for the first time in his collegiate career. He has compiled a season scoring average of 71.3, including an average of 70.9 in the Bruins' seven spring events. He enters the upcoming NCAA Regionals with seven top-20 finishes and 12 rounds under par. An has registered eight rounds in the 60s and a season-low round score of 65 (first round of three) at the Thunderbird Collegiate on April 11. An's best individual finish took place in Hawai'i at the Amer Ari Intercollegiate (Feb. 6-8), finishing in sixth place on the leaderboard.
Kirakossian, in his third year leading UCLA's program, has guided the Bruins to three team tournament wins this season. In the fall, UCLA won The Preserve Golf Club Collegiate in Carmel, Calif. Within the past five weeks, UCLA has won team championships at The Goodwin (hosted at Stanford) and at the Big Ten Championships in Baltimore.
Kirakossian has become the fifth head coach in the history of the UCLA men's golf program to secure conference Coach of the Year honors. Prior to Kirakossian, Derek Freeman was honored as the Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 2010-11. He has secured the conference Coach of the Year award for the first time in his career. As an assistant coach at Arizona State, prior to his time at UCLA, Kirakossian was recognized as the Strickland Award Winner in 2019 as the top assistant men's golf coach in the nation.
Through seven spring events this season, UCLA has recorded several notable team finishes. UCLA finished in sixth place (out of 20 teams) in February at the Amer Ari Intercollegiate before finishing third, out of 12 teams, less than two weeks later at the Watersound Invitational in Panama City Beach, Fla. UCLA finished in first (out of 30 teams) at The Goodwin, hosted at Stanford in late March. Three weeks ago, the Bruins finished third out of nine competitors at the Calusa Cup in Florida. UCLA closed its regular-season schedule with a conference championship, taking first place at the Big Ten Championships in Baltimore, Md.
The Bruins will return to action at the NCAA Auburn Regional from Monday, May 12, through Wednesday, May 14, competing at Auburn University Club. UCLA will be competing as one of 13 golf programs in the Auburn Regional. The top five teams and the low individual not on an advancing team (six individuals total) will advance to the national round (NCAA Championships) at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
