SAN BRUNO, Calif. -- Gonzaga men's golfer Sean Walsh became the first player in program history to be named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year. He shared the 2015-16 honor with Saint Mary's Jonathan De Los Reyes the conference office announced Thursday. The all-conference teams and major award winners were voted on solely by the league's nine head coaches.

Walsh is in the midst of the best season in program history. His 71.50 season average is the lowest in program history by nearly two strokes. The lone senior on this season's roster also owns the lowest career average in program history at 73.17.

"Being named the WCC Player of the Year has always been one of my goals from the start of the year, and to share it with a player of Johnny's caliber is an honor," Walsh said.

Walsh has finished in the top-20 in each of the 10 events he has played in this season. He became the first Bulldog in eight years to take medalist honors at a tournament, winning the Saint Mary's Invitational early in the season. The Keller, Texas native later won the Wyoming Desert Invitational. He has four top-10 finishes and three top-five finishes this season. Walsh has finished at par or better in 18 of the 30 rounds he has played this season.

"This is such a great honor for Sean and I couldn't be happier for him," GU Men's Golf Head Coach Robert Gray said. "Both he and Johnny had such great years, they definitely both deserved it. Going into the WCC Championship, I know Sean wanted to win, but Johnny was just untouchable this week with how he played. It was so impressive."

Walsh tied for 14th at this year's conference championship at two-over (218) in the tournament. He finished 10th at last year's championship and was named honorable mention All-WCC. In 2014, he was also honorable mention after an 11th place finish in the WCC Championships. Walsh nearly won the championships in his first season in 2013, placing third and being named the WCC Freshman of the Year.

"Sean will play in Regionals in a few weeks with the goal of advancing to the National Championship at the Eugene Country Club," Gray said. "He'll be the first to say he didn't hit the ball very well this week, so it's back to work!"

Individual qualifiers for the NCAA Championships will be selected on May 5. Walsh would be the second GU men's golfer to ever participate in the NCAA Championships after James Fahy played in the Regionals last season.

"It's been a great season with a great group of guys, and I am sad to see it come to an end," Walsh said. "But, I am also looking forward to representing Gonzaga as an individual at NCAA Regionals, and really look forward to that challenge coming up in just a few weeks."

The regional rounds of the NCAA Championships are May 16-18. A live selection show of this year's field of golfers will be revealed on the Golf Channel on May 5 at 6:30 a.m. Pacific Time.