NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. --- Averett University men's golf freshman Max Pettersson was named the 2023 NCAA Division III Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award presented by StrackaLine, the Golf Coaches Association of America announced Friday following the completion of the 2023 NCAA Division III National Championships.

Pettersson, who placed fourth at the national championships, was presented with his award at the tournament. In addition, Pettersson was named to the GCAA All-Freshman Team.

"It's been a great year — much better than I expected it to be," Pettersson said. "I've been really confident the whole year and that's why I've played well."

Pettersson is the second golfer from Averett to earn the Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award, joining former Cougar Elias Haavisto, who won the award in 2020.

"We are super excited for Max being named national freshman of the year," Averett Director of Golf Ben Potter said. "That's two out of the last four for Averett. That's always a good thing to see. I'm excited to see what his future can be. He's worked really hard all year and I think he definitely deserved it."

Pettersson, the 2023 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year and First Team All-ODAC selection, was named to the PING All-Region Team earlier this week. The native of Bastad, Sweden, had a scoring average of 72.59 this season in 27 rounds with two top-fives, six top-10 finishes and nine top-20 finishes in 10 events.