ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) announced the recipients of the 2026 men’s golf awards on Wednesday. The awards are nominated and voted on by the conference's head coaches.
Andrew Slatten of UW-Superior was named the UMAC Player of the Year. The sophomore was the Individual Champion at the UMAC Championship. He carded a 223 over the three-rounds which included a tournament-low of 71 in the second round. Slatten had the best scoring average in the league at 74.8 through 12 rounds (adjusted to 73.39 for awards voting per the coaches’ guidelines.)
Kaden Burshiem of Minnesota Morris was selected UMAC Rookie of the Year. The freshman had a season scoring average of 76.8 through 11 rounds, which ranked seventh in the conference (adjusted to 75.7 for awards voting per the coaches’ guidelines.)
Billy Aune of Northwestern was voted as the UMAC Coach of the Year by his peers. In his 32
nd season as the men’s head coach, the Eagles won their fifth UMAC Championship, and first since 2016. Northwestern won the conference title with a team score of 934 over the three-round tournament to finish eight strokes ahead of the runner-up.
Minnesota Morris won the team sportsmanship award, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season, including the championship event.
Sixteen student-athletes were named All-Conference. Each team also had one representative named to the All-Sportsmanship team.
Player of the Year: Andrew Slatten, UW-Superior
Rookie of the Year: Kaden Burshiem, Minnesota Morris
Coach of the Year: Billy Aune, Northwestern
Team Sportsmanship: Minnesota Morris
First-team All-Conference
| Andrew King |
Bethany Lutheran |
Fr. |
New Prague, Minn. |
| August Waxin |
Bethany Lutheran |
So. |
Dalarö, Sweden/Fredrika Bremergymnasiet |
| Kaden Burshiem |
Minnesota Morris |
Fr. |
Flandreau, S.D./Flandreau Indian School |
| Carson Besonen |
Northwestern |
So. |
Madison, Minn./Lac qui Parle Valley |
| Andrew Slatten |
UW-Superior |
So. |
Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing |
Second-team All-Conference
| Anthony Nicholai |
Bethany Lutheran |
Jr. |
Saint Peter, Minn./Saint Peter |
| Steven Dimmel |
Crown |
Jr. |
Janesville, MN/JWP |
| Benjamin Pearson |
Martin Luther |
Jr. |
New Ulm, Minn./Minnesota Valley Lutheran |
| Joe Stanton |
North Central |
Sr. |
Inver Grove Heights, MN/Inver Hills Community College |
| Carson Moscoso |
Northwestern |
So. |
Maple Grove, Minn./Maranatha Christian Academy |
| Blu Anderson |
UW-Superior |
Sr. |
Amery, Wis./Amery |
Honorable Mention All-Conference
| John Martin |
Martin Luther |
Sr. |
Newburg, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran |
| Paxton Sivonen |
Minnesota Morris |
Fr. |
International Falls, Minn./Falls |
| Tanner Doeden |
Northwestern |
So. |
Fargo, N.D./Park Christian |
| Luke Frazell |
Northwestern |
So. |
Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock |
| Matthew Unger |
UW-Superior |
Jr. |
New Richmond, Wis./New Richmond |
All-Sportsmanship:
Bethany Lutheran: August Waxin
Crown: Grant Oakland
Martin Luther: Benjamin Pearson
North Central: Joe Stanton
Minnesota Morris: Nick Thompson
Northwestern: Carter Dilly
UW-Superior: JD Glampe
The UMAC is an NCAA Division III member comprised of seven full-time member schools from Minnesota and Wisconsin: Bethany Lutheran College, Crown College, Martin Luther College, North Central University, University of Minnesota Morris, University of Northwestern, and University of Wisconsin-Superior.