25 contenders named to The Ben Hogan Award watch list

FORT WORTH, Texas (Feb. 10, 2016) – Twenty-five collegiate golfers have been named to the 2016 Ben Hogan Award watch list, according to a joint announcement made by Colonial Country Club, the Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).

The most prestigious award in men’s college golf, The Ben Hogan Award presented by Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta) is issued 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, which votes during each stage of the process, is comprised of leaders in professional, amateur and collegiate golf.

The 2016 Ben Hogan Award watch list, as determined by the award subcommittee, includes: Dawson Armstrong (Lipscomb), Derek Bard (Virginia), Sean Crocker (Southern California), Charlie Danielson (Illinois), Thomas Detry (Illinois), Jonathan Garrick (UCLA), Nick Hardy (Illinois), Rico Hoey (Southern California), Sam Horsfield (Florida), Beau Hossler (Texas), Michael Johnson (Auburn), Hank Lebioda (Florida State), Lee McCoy (Georgia), Maverick McNealy (Stanford), Matthew NeSmith (South Carolina), Jordan Niebrugge (Oklahoma State), Corey Pereira (Washington), Jon Rahm (Arizona State), Antoine Rozner (UMKC), Matthias Schwab (Vanderbilt), Robby Shelton (Alabama), Aaron Wise (Oregon), Adam Wood (Duke), Cameron Young (Wake Forest) and Will Zalatoris (Wake Forest).

The list of 10 semifinalists, which could include individuals not on the watch list, will be unveiled on Wednesday, April 13. On Tuesday, May 3, that group will be pared down to three finalists. The finalists will attend a black-tie banquet at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday, May 23, prior to the start of the PGA TOUR’s Colonial National Invitation Tournament, where the winner will be crowned.

Rahm, the 2015 Ben Hogan Award winner, is trying to become the first player ever to win the award twice. Other top returnees to the list include McNealy, who was a finalist for the award last year, and a trio of semifinalists in Hossler, McCoy and Shelton. Nine of the golfers–Danielson, Detry, Hoey, Hossler, McCoy, McNealy, Rahm, Shelton and Zalatoris–appear on the watch list for the second straight season.

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 at Colonial Country Club.

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), Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State, 2011), Patrick Cantlay (UCLA, 2012), Chris Williams (Washington, 2013), Patrick Rodgers (Stanford, 2014) and Rahm (Arizona State, 2015).

To find the latest information on The Ben Hogan Award, its candidates and its previous winners, visit TheBenHoganAward.org and follow @BenHoganAward on Twitter.

About the Watch List
• The Ben Hogan Award watch list includes 10 seniors, seven juniors, six sophomores and two freshmen.
• The list includes each of the top five players in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin individual rankings and 16 are currently ranked among the top 20. It also contains each of the top four players and 15 of the top 20 golfers in the Golfstat rankings.
• The list contains eight of the top 10 golfers and 13 of the top 20 players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. It also boasts seven of the top 10 golfers and 14 of the top 20 players in the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking.
• A total of 21 universities are represented on the watch list. Three schools—Illinois (3), Southern California (2) and Wake Forest (2)—have multiple honorees. It is the second straight year that Illinois has led the nation with three members.
• This is the 11th consecutive year that Stanford has had a player named to the watch list, the longest active streak by any school. The next longest active streaks are owned by Alabama (9) and Illinois (7).
• The Pac-12, which has produced each of the past four The Ben Hogan Award winners, leads the way among conferences with seven watch list members. Other leagues with multiple honorees include: SEC (6), ACC (5) Big Ten (3) and Big 12 (2).
• Three schools have a member on the watch list for the first time ever (Lipscomb, South Carolina and UMKC).
• Fifteen of the 25 golfers are appearing on the watch list for the first time. Those previously named are: Charlie Danielson (2015), Thomas Detry (2014, 2015), Rico Hoey (2015), Beau Hossler (2015), Lee McCoy (2015), Maverick McNealy (2015), Jordan Niebrugge (2014), Jon Rahm (2015), Robby Shelton (2014, 2015) and Will Zalatoris (2015).
• Jon Rahm won the 2015 Ben Hogan Award. The last player to reach the finalist round after previously winning the award was Oklahoma State’s Rickie Fowler (2008 winner, 2009 finalist).
• Wake Forest has a freshman on the watch list for the second straight year (Will Zalatoris, 2015). Only three freshmen have been named over the past two years–Zalatoris last year and Wake Forest’s Cameron Young and Florida’s Sam Horsfield in 2016.

Watch List Candidates
Name – School, Year, Hometown
Dawson Armstrong – Lipscomb, So., Brentwood, Tenn.
Derek Bard – Virginia, Jr., New Hartford, N.Y.
Sean Crocker – Southern California, So., Westlake Village, Calif.
Charlie Danielson – Illinois, Sr., Osceola, Wis.
Thomas Detry – Illinois, Sr., Brussels, Belgium
Jonathan Garrick – UCLA, Sr., Atherton, Calif.
Nick Hardy – Illinois, So., Northbrook, Ill.
Rico Hoey – Southern California, Jr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Sam Horsfield – Florida, Fr., Davenport, Fla.
Beau Hossler – Texas, Jr., Mission Viejo, Calif.
Michael Johnson – Auburn, Sr., Birmingham, Ala.
Hank Lebioda – Florida State, Sr., Winter Springs, Fla.
Lee McCoy – Georgia, Sr., Clarkesville, Ga.
Maverick McNealy – Stanford, Jr., Portola Valley, Calif.
Matthew NeSmith – South Carolina, Sr., North Augusta, S.C.
Jordan Niebrugge – Oklahoma State, Sr., Mequon, Wis.
Corey Pereira – Washington, Jr., Cameron Park, Calif.
Jon Rahm – Arizona State, Sr., Barrika, Spain
Antoine Rozner – UMKC, Sr., Paris, France
Matthias Schwab – Vanderbilt, Jr., Rohrmoos, Austria
Robby Shelton – Alabama, Jr., Wilmer, Ala.
Aaron Wise – Oregon, So., Lake Elsinore, Calif.
Adam Wood – Duke, So., Zionsville, Ind.
Cameron Young – Wake Forest, Fr., Scarborough, N.Y.
Will Zalatoris – Wake Forest, So., Plano, Texas

About Konica Minolta
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is a leader in information management focused on enterprise content, technology optimization and cloud services. Our portfolio of offerings deliver solutions to improve our customers’ speed to market, manage technology costs, and facilitate the sharing of information to increase productivity. The All Covered IT Services division offers a range of IT strategy, support, project and cloud computing solutions across all verticals. Konica Minolta has won numerous awards and recognition, including placement in the Leaders Quadrant on the Gartner 2014 Magic Quadrant for Managed Print Services (MPS) and Managed Content Services (MCS). Konica Minolta has been recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for eight consecutive years. Konica Minolta, Inc. has also been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for four years in a row. For more information, please visit: www.kmbs.konicaminolta.us and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter @konicaminoltaus.