Golf Coaches Association of America

FORT WORTH, Texas – Baird Private Wealth Management, in association with Colonial Country Club, The Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), has announced that sophomore Patrick Cantlay (UCLA), freshman Patrick Rodgers (Stanford) and freshman Jordan Spieth (Texas) are the three finalists for the 2012 The Ben Hogan Award.

The most prestigious award in men’s college golf, The Ben Hogan Award is presented annually to the top men’s NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the past 12-month period. The Ben Hogan Award Selection Committee represents leaders in professional, amateur and collegiate golf.

This is the youngest group of finalists in the award’s history. Only one freshman, Oklahoma State’s Rickie Fowler in 2008, has ever won The Ben Hogan Award, and no sophomore has ever been crowned.

Cantlay, the world’s number one ranked amateur according to the World Amateur Golf Rankings and the Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings, is a finalist for the award for the second straight season. Last month, the sophomore from Los Alamitos, Calif., made the cut at the 2012 Masters and won the Silver Cup for finishing as the low amateur (T-47th).

He also was the low amateur at the 2011 U.S. Open after tying for 21st place. The runner up at the 2011 U.S. Amateur Championship at Erin Hills, Cantlay played on the U.S. Walker Cup team last summer. During the collegiate season, the first-team All-Pac-12 selection secured four top-10 individual finishes for the Bruins, including a pair of runner-up showings.

Rodgers, a native of Avon, Ind., is currently among the top four in all four major rankings systems: WAGR, Scratch Players, Golfweek/Sagarin and Golfstat. Last summer, he represented the United States at the 2011 Walker Cup, finished second at the Players Amateur, took fourth at the Northeast Amateur and reached the round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur.

In his first collegiate season, Rodgers was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and first-team all-conference after earning eight top-10 finishes, including wins at the Fighting Illini Invitational and the Western Intercollegiate. He was also recently named to the United States team that will compete in the 2012 Palmer Cup at the Royal County Down Golf Club in Newcastle, Northern Ireland.

Spieth, who hails from Dallas, Texas, is the nation’s top-ranked golfer in the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings as well as the Golfstat rankings. He was recently named the Big 12’s Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.The freshman captured three tournament wins and five additional top-six finishes in just nine events during his inaugural year at Texas.

Last summer, Spieth reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur and the Western Amateur and also competed for the United States’ Walker Cup team.This April, he made the weekend at a PGA TOUR event, tying for 41st at the Valero Texas Open. He also competed in the Northern Trust Open in February, missing the cut by just two shots.

The three finalists will attend a black-tie banquet at Colonial Country Club on Monday, May 21, where the winner will be crowned prior to the start of the PGA TOUR’s Crowne Plaza Invitational. The awards ceremony will air live on Golfweek TV on Golfweek.com beginning at 7 p.m. (CT).
The winner’s university will receive a $20,000 grant to its men’s golf scholarship program while the other finalists’ schools will each receive$10,000 grants. In addition, the winner receives an exemption into the2013 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

The award, which was first issued in 1990 and also included academic achievement in its original list of standards, revised its criteria for the 2001-02 collegiate season to its current standard of honoring the outstanding amateur collegiate golfer.

Since that time, the winners have been: D.J. Trahan (Clemson, 2002), Ricky Barnes (Arizona, 2003), Hunter Mahan (Oklahoma State, 2003), Bill Haas (Wake Forest, 2004), Ryan Moore (UNLV, 2005), Matt Every (Florida, 2006), Chris Kirk (Georgia, 2007), Rickie Fowler (Oklahoma State, 2008), Kyle Stanley (Clemson, 2009), Nick Taylor (Washington, 2010) and Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State, 2011).

In addition to the above list of winners, the prestigious list of previous finalists includes current PGA TOUR players Bud Cauley, Anthony Kim, Spencer Levin, Graeme McDowell, Michael Thompson, Camilo Villegas and Nick Watney.

To find the latest information on The Ben Hogan Award, its candidates and its previous winners, visit www.BenHoganAward.org, like www.Facebook.com/BenHoganAward and follow @BenHoganAward on Twitter.

For table and ticket information for the 2012 banquet, call (817) 927-4280. Individual tickets cost $250 and tables are available for $2,000 and up. Finalists Notes
• Patrick Cantlay is a finalist for the second consecutive year, becoming the first player named in back-to-back years since Oklahoma State’s Rickie Fowler (2008, 2009). The only other golfer named multiple years since the paring down of three finalists in 2005 was Georgia’s Chris Kirk (2006, 2007).
• Including Rickie Fowler and Chris Kirk, six players have been named finalists multiple times, and all ultimately won The Ben Hogan Award during their careers. Bill Haas (2002, 2003, 2004), Ryan Moore (2003, 2005), Hunter Mahan (2002, 2003) and D.J. Trahan (2002, 2003) each were finalists at least twice in years when the finalist list included more than three individuals.
• Prior to this season, just two freshmen had ever been named a finalist for The Ben Hogan Award: Oklahoma State’s Rickie Fowler in 2008 and UCLA’s Patrick Cantlay in 2011.
• The Big 12 Conference is represented by a finalist for the sixth time in the past seven years (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012) while the Pac-12 Conference has now had a finalist for three consecutive seasons and four times in the last five years (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012).
• The Pac-12 has two nominees, meaning that one conference has boasted multiple finalists three consecutive years (SEC, 2010; Big 12, 2011; Pac-12, 2012).• Texas (Jordan Spieth) and Stanford (Patrick Rodgers) each boast a finalist for the first time since the award criteria was updated in 2002.
• Texas is the only one of the three schools to have a Ben Hogan Award winner, as former Longhorn Jeff Fahrenbruch, a voter on the selection committee, won the award in 1997.
• This is just the second time that the award, based in Fort Worth, Texas, has a finalist playing for a university in the state of Texas (Chris Stroud, Lamar, 2005).
• The three finalists are the top three amateurs in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and comprise three of the top six spots in the Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings.
• In addition, the three are all among the top 10 in the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings and in the top 25 according to Golfstat.

About Baird
• Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, capital markets, private equity and asset management firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Established in 1919, Baird has more than 2,600 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients. Baird oversees and manages client assets of nearly $82 billion. Committed to being a great place to work, Baird ranked number 21 on FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” in 2012 – its ninth consecutive year on the list. Baird’s principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. in the United States and Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird’s private equity operations. For more information, please visit Baird’s Web site at www.rwbaird.com.

ORLANDO – Brad Schneider of UCF has been named recipient of the David Toms Award. The Toms Award is presented to a men’s collegiate golfer who has overcome adversity to achieve collegiate excellence.

The day before Thanksgiving in 2006 - just a couple of weeks after deciding to sign with UCF - Schneider was playing a game of pick-up football when he was pulled down from behind by his shoulders and his right leg caught awkwardly behind him. The right side of his shoe came within inches of his face and Schneider knew instantly something was wrong. After paramedics arrived on the scene they explained Schneider has fractured his right femur. It was last day for the next six months that Schneider was able to walk on his own two feet without assistance.

Surgery was the next day and a procedure scheduled to last three to three-and-half hours lasted over eight. The night of the surgery Schneider began to complain of pain in his lower left leg, opposite of his original injury. The next morning doctors discovered he had developed Compartment Syndrome. Compartment Syndrome is a pressure build-up of fluids and air in the compartments of your muscles and can cause serious damage to muscle, tissue and nerves in which it develops.
 
Five more surgeries occurred over the next eight days, the first being a double fasciotomy - foot-long incisions to release the pressure built up in Scheider’s lower left leg. The pressure killed approximately 80 percent of the muscle and tissue and the perennial nerve was also permanently severed. The perennial nerve is the nerve that runs from your knee down to your ankle and is responsible for telling your brain to fire the muscles that control foot movement.

After three-and-half weeks in the hospital Schneider dropped from 150 pounds to less than 100 due to a lack of appetite caused by three different types of pain medication. His injuries kept him in a hospital bed for four months but with his mother being a registered nurse Schneider was transferred home by ambulance after a month.

It took another two months for the wound vacuum to shrink and clean out all of the dead tissue from his leg. A plastic surgeon closed the wound by skin graft. Finally after four months Schneider was able to get out of his hospital bed and sit in a chair in his family’s living room. Two months later he learned to walk again. Eight months after his injury he was able to step foot on the golf course and chip and putt.

After months of doubt of whether he would be able to walk or play golf again Schneider felt he had left the bad news in his life behind. However, around the same time he made his way back to the golf course he learned his mother had been diagnosed with cancer and given six months to a year to live. The pain of watching his mother suffer was much worse than the physical pain he had endured. His mother would battle cancer for two years. The summer before his sophomore year both his mother and grandmother passed away in the same week.

After learning to walk again Schneider attended physical therapy every other day and after a year finally played his first round of 18 holes of golf during his freshman year at UCF. Using a golf cart at Rio Pinar Country Club, he was able to post two-under 70. This gave him the confidence that he could come back and be competitive in college golf.

Schneider has played in every tournament for UCF in his four-year career. He helped lead UCF to NCAA regionals four times. He was named to the Conference USA All-Freshmen Team and was All-Conference USA Second Team three times. So for his senior season he has five top-20 finishes and earned medalist honors at the Northern Intercollegiate.

"This award is a great honor and very meaningful to me. It is really neat to be recognized along with such a great player and person in David Toms and I would like to thank him and the GCAA greatly for this award," said Schneider. "None of this would be possible without the support from my family, friends, coaches, and teammates and I want to thank them greatly for their belief in me throughout my collegiate career.”

NORMAN, Okla. – Jim Anderson of Texas A&M has been named recipient of the 2012 Jan Strickland Award presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf as selected by the GCAA. The Strickland Award is presented to the NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA or NJCAA assistant coach that, among other things, has excelled in working with their student-athletes both on the course and in the classroom.

"It’s humbling just to be selected as a semifinalist and finalist because there are a lot of great candidates for this award and I consider it a great honor to receive the Strickland Award,” said Anderson. “I’d like to thank J.T. Higgins because he has taught me a lot about college golf. I also played for J.T. in college and he’s someone that I’ve looked up to as a great example.”

In his third season as assistant men’s golf coach at Texas A&M, Jim Anderson has been instrumental in the program’s continued rise to become one of the elite in the collegiate game. In Anderson’s two years in College Station, the Aggies have posted back-to-back top-5 finishes in the final national rankings and six players have earned All-America accolades. Academically, the golf team had the highest GPA of any men’s sport at Texas A&M in 2011 while seven players earned awards for academic distinction. He also serves as director of the Aggie Golf Association - the Texas A&M men’s golf booster club - and is director of the Aggie Golf School. Anderson also serves annually as the tournament director of the Aggie Invitational and was tournament director for the 2010 NCAA Regional Championship at Traditions Golf Club. Anderson, who came to A&M after two years as an assistant at New Mexico, was a semifinalist for the Strickland Award in 2009 after the Lobos finished sixth at the NCAA West Regional.

A native of Sioux Falls, S.D., Anderson was a four-year letter-winner at New Mexico from 2001-04. He was recruited by current Texas A&M Head Coach J.T. Higgins and played for him for two seasons before Higgins became A&M’s head coach in 2001. Anderson played in 38 rounds in his career, posting a 75.45 average. His best outing was a tie for second at the 2001 Border Olympics, where he carded a 5-under total of 211.

“TaylorMade-adidas Golf is proud and honored to be associated with the Jan Strickland Assistant Coach of the Year Award and even prouder to know that a coach like Jim Anderson is this year’s recipient,” said Jason Werner, TaylorMade-adidas Golf tour representative, player development. “Jim embodies everything that the award stands for and has many bright days ahead of him. Our congratulations go out to Jim and the Texas A&M golf program!”

The Strickland Award recipient will have the opportunity to further his professional development by receiving an invitation to the TaylorMade-adidas Golf Kingdom in Carlsbad, Calif.

TaylorMade-adidas Golf has sponsored the Strickland Award since its inception in 2003.

NORMAN, Okla. – Dylan Frittelli of Texas and Georgia Tech’s James White have been named co-recipients of the 2012 Byron Nelson Award presented by Cleveland Golf/Srixon, in cooperation with the Four Seasons Resort and Club Las Colinas, the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, Friends of Golf (FOG) and the GCAA.  Candidates for the Nelson Award must be a graduating senior and the selection committee considers equally a nominee’s entire collegiate academic and golf career and his character and integrity while in college. Particular consideration will be given to a nominee’s good citizenship, as portrayed by Mr. Byron Nelson over the course of his life and golf career.

A native of Pretoria, South Africa, Frittelli is a two-time All-America selection. During his senior campaign, Frittelli has recorded nine top-10 finishes in 11 events - including sharing medalist honors at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate and was named a semifinalist for the Ben Hogan Award presented by Baird Private Wealth Management. He is a two-time All-Big 12 recipient and was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2010. Frittelli has tallied three career victories. The geography major was a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar after his junior season and has been named Academic All-Big 12.

Frittelli is also active in the Austin, Texas, community. He works with the Marbridge Foundation, a group that is active in the Special Olympics. He also volunteers with Longhorn Halloween, Marathon Kids, Pancakes for Parkinson’s and the Neighborhood Longhorns Banquet.

“Obviously it is a huge honor to receive the Byron Nelson Award,” said Frittelli. “Coming from Texas you hear all that Byron Nelson stood for on and off the golf course. I see this as recognition of my efforts on the golf course and in the community as well. It’s an honor to be recognized by the selection committee and earn such a prestigious honor.”

White is Georgia Tech’s third Byron Nelson Award recipient joining Troy Matteson (2003) and Roberto Castro (2007). He earned first-team All-America and All-Nicklaus Team honors last season. White was also recipient of Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Award for most outstanding student-athlete at Georgia Tech. The two-time All-ACC selection has five-top finishes in eight team events and has only place outside the top 20 once this season. White was also named a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar as well as ACC Scholar-Athlete of the year in golf as a junior.

As a two-year member of Georgia Tech’s Student-Athlete Advisory Board, White has been active in the athletic department’s local elementary school reading program. He is also been very involved in the Special Olympics. During Friday nights in the winter he volunteers with his church program providing clothing and food to the homeless. He’s also active in junior golf assisting The First Tee and the Atlanta Junior Golf Clinic at the Dogwood Invitational.

“I’m extremely excited to be one of the winners of the Byron Nelson Award this year,” said White. “I couldn’t be happier to share it with a guy like Dylan Frittelli. I couldn’t be more excited or honored to be a part of this award.

Portland, Ore. -The First Tee held the first program in a spring series of one-day events with The First Tee of Greater Portland Saturday, April 7 at The Children’s Course in Gladstone, Ore.  This event brought together collegiate players and their coaches with youngsters from The First Tee in an effort to promote involvement between college golf and the next generation of players in the game.  The Greater Portland chapter brought together more than 50 participants for the Saturday clinic.

The two and a half-hour event was broken down into stations that included a questions and answer session, long, short game and putting instructions for all participants.  College coaches and players from the Oregon State men’s and women’s golf teams conducted the question and answer session with each group as well as one-on-one instruction at each station.

“The GCAA appreciates the outstanding efforts by all parties involved to put on this event,” said GCAA CEO Gregg Grost.  “A special thank you to the student athletes from Oregon State, who are certainly very busy this time of year and gave up their time to give back to the community.”

"On behalf of The First Tee of Greater Portland, we are excited that we were able to provide invaluable insight into the world of college golf to 60 of our The First Tee students, on a beautiful, sun filled Saturday at The Children’s Course, in Gladstone, OR", said Cathy Porter, Director of Programs and Community Outreach for The First Tee of Greater Portland.  "Our participants were able to see firsthand the results of goal setting and perseverance from the Oregon State University college men’s and women’s golf teams.  They were in awe and truly inspired by their interactions with the student athletes.  Not only did they learn proper golf techniques but they also learned how to prepare mentally and physically for competing in golf and staying healthy in life.  Thank you to the staff from Oregon State University, to the College golf teams, and to the Golf Coaches Association of America for making this great event possible!"

Chapters interested in being involved in this partnership with the GCAA can contact GCAA CEO Gregg Grost for further information at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Make sure to follow the GCAA on our Facebook and Twitter accounts, presented by the Gateway Pro Tour. 


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