GREENWOOD, Ind. - For the first time in program history, the Illinois Wesleyan University men's golf team saw three Titans earn First Team Academic All-America status from College Sports Communicators as the organization announced its at-large teams Wednesday, July 9. Seniors Quinn Clifford (Chicago, Ill.-Brother Rice) and Griffin Pohl (Western Springs, Ill.-Lyons Township) along with junior Juney Bai (Mokena, Ill.-Lincoln-Way Central) each garnered the honor, while the program saw a student-athlete earn the prestigious distinction for the sixth consecutive year.

Clifford becomes the first three-time recipient in the program history, repeating as a first team selection after earning third team recognition in 2023. He, Pohl, and former Titan great Rob Wuethrich are IWU's only men's golfers to earn the award multiple times. Pohl reeled in the award for the second consecutive year, bumping up to the first team after earning third team honors a year ago. Bai burst onto the list for the first time in his career, while IWU runs its school total to 172 and the all-time men's golf tally to 11.

Furthermore, IWU's all-time Academic All-America list now sits at 172, which is top-25 across NCAA Division I, II, and III, as well as top-10 in Division III. To date, 12 Titans have reeled in CSC Academic All-America honors during the 2024-25 academic year, breaking the previous mark of 10 set in 2023-24. The trio joins Billy McHugh (at-large - men's lacrosse), Sam Weinberg (at-large - men's lacrosse), Macy Ludwig (at-large - women's golf), Jen Kuhn (softball), Ava Khoury (softball), Nick Roper (men's basketball), Mallory Powers (women's basketball), Lauren Huber (women's basketball), and Kannyn Boyd (women's volleyball) as the eighth, ninth, and 10th Titans to receive the distinguished honor this academic year. To view the list of Illinois Wesleyan's all-time awardwinners, click here.

Earning his degree in business, Clifford boasted a 4.00 GPA during his undergraduate career. A three-time College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Elite 26 Award recipient, Clifford shared the honor alongside Bai each of the past two seasons. Competing in 11 tournaments this year, he posted an average of 72.8 strokes per round over 31 rounds. He finished in the top-20 in nine tournaments, highlighted by five top-10 finishes. Clifford carded 13 rounds of par-or-better, and picked up the fourth win of his career as he topped the 116-player field at the Take Back the Night Challenge, April 26. He earned All-CCIW honors and was named to the Golf Coaches Association of America PING All-Region squad. Outside of competition, Clifford was recognized as a NACDA Allstate Good Works Spring Team nominee and IWU's CCIW Merle Chapman Award recipient. He concludes his career with the fifth-best career scoring average, checking in at 73.45 over 98 career rounds.

Pohl polished off his career with one of the best seasons in Titan men's golf history. Voted a PING Second Team All-American by the GCAA, he turned in a career-best 72.1 scoring average over 31 rounds in his senior season as the CCIW Men's Golfer of the Year. He tied the program's single-round to-par record with an eight-under 64 at the Take Back the Night Challenge, April 25, and scored a hole-in-one en route to taking home medalist honors at the Wabash Fall Invitational, Oct. 7-8. Pohl posted nine top-20 finishes with six top-10 efforts. He tied for the team lead with 16 rounds of par-or-better. After placing runner-up at the CCIW Championship to earn all-conference honors, Pohl grabbed seventh-place at the NCAA Division III Championship. 

Bai, who maintains a 4.00 grade point average as a business major, shared the CCIW Elite 26 Award with Clifford for the second straight season. He earned All-CCIW and GCAA PING All-Region honors in his junior season. Bai played in 11 tournaments, compiling an average of 73.4 strokes per round over 31 rounds of competition. He posted eight top-10 finishes and placed in the top-10 four times. The Mokena, Ill. native picked up the second win of his career, March 23, topping the field at the Jekyll Island Collegiate Individual Tournament, where he notched a career-low 54-hole tally of 213. Bai capped off a strong season with a 29th-place finish at the NCAA Division III National Championship, carding a career-best 72-hole score of 298 (70-78-74-76).

Together, the trio helped lead the Titans to one of the best seasons in program history as IWU won a total of five tournaments on the season and finished with its best NCAA Championship performance since winning the 2021 national title.