Dutkowski Named TU's Male Athlete of the Year
UPLAND, Ind. – On the heels of a second-place showing on the individual leaderboard at the 2019 NAIA National Men's Golf Championships, four-time NAIA All-American, Alec Dutkowski, has been named the Taylor Male Athlete of the Year for 2018-2019.
The award is designed to recognize TU's top male student-athlete among freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors based on athletic accomplishments throughout the current year. Athletes are nominated for the award by their head coach and voted on by members of the TU Athletics Department.
"Alec has been an incredible ambassador for Taylor University and our men's golf program over the last four years," said TU head men's golf coach Cameron Andry. "His accomplishments on the course speak for themselves but what is so impressive about Alec is the way he cares for others and lives out his faith authentically. He has lifted our program to new heights and has set the standard for what being a great player and a great teammate looks like."
Dutkowski closed his record-setting career on the links with the Trojans by claiming his fourth NAIA All-American honor, third Crossroads League Player-of-the-Year nod, fourth All-CL selection and fourth Ping All-Region Team award, while leading TU to a fourth-straight Crossroads League Championship and a second-straight top-10 team finish at NAIA Nationals during the 2018-2019 year.
The senior closed his final season with three tournament wins and ranked No. 11 in the NAIA individual ratings. Dutkowski put an exclamation point on his career by firing a school-record round of 64 in the final round of the 2019 NAIA National Championships to force a playoff for the individual national championship.
During his four years in Upland, Dutkowski rewrote the men's golf record books at Taylor, setting new records with 10 tournament titles, a career scoring average of 73.11, 122 rounds played, 47 rounds of par or better, 399 birdies and 21 eagles. In addition to also owning the program record for the best 18-hole score, Dutkowski carded nine of the 10 lowest rounds in Taylor history and was named a finalist for the NAIA Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award as a junior.