Collin Morikawa (Todd Drexler, SE Sports Media)
The Ben Hogan Award Watch List was announced on Wednesday, which includes a list of 28 of the top college and amateur golfers in the game. The award is annually given 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 a 12-month period from June to May. It’s been one of the most coveted awards in college and amateur golf since its inception in 1990.
The 28 golfers on this year’s Watch List represent 23 schools. Four schools (Oklahoma State, Duke, Georgia Tech and Stanford) have multiple representatives. Those list follows:
Zach Bauchou, Oklahoma State, Sr., Forest, Va.
Callum Bruce, Midland College, So., Banff, Scotland
Quade Cummins, Oklahoma, Jr., Weatherford, Okla.
Chandler Eaton, Duke, Jr., Alpharetta, Ga.
Steven Fisk, Georgia Southern, Sr., Stockbridge, Ga.
Stephen Franken, NC State, Sr., Raleigh, N.C.
Luis Gagne, LSU, Sr., Orlando, Fla.
Will Gordon, Vanderbilt, Sr., Davidson, N.C.
Will Grimmer, Ohio State, Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio
Cole Hammer, Texas, Fr., Houston, Texas
Viktor Hovland, Oklahoma State, Jr., Oslo, Norway
Philip Knowles, North Florida, Sr., Bradenton, Fla.
Peter Kuest, BYU, Jr., Fresno, Calif.
Brandon Mancheno, Auburn, So., Jacksonville, Fla.
Collin Morikawa, California, Sr., La Canada Flintridge, Calif.
Bryson Nimmer, Clemson, Sr., Bluffton, S.C.
Chandler Phillips, Texas A&M, Sr., Huntsville, Texas
Trent Phillips, Georgia, Fr., Inman, S.C.
Peng Pichaikool, Mississippi State, Jr., Bangkok, Thailand
Isaiah Salinda, Stanford, Sr., South San Francisco, Calif.
Matthias Schmid, Louisville, So., Maxhvette, Germany
Luke Schniederjans, Georgia Tech, Jr., Powder Springs, Ga.
Alex Smalley, Duke, Sr., Wake Forest, N.C.
Tyler Strafaci, Georgia Tech, Jr., Davie, Fla.
Justin Suh, Southern California, Sr., San Jose, Calif.
Matthew Wolff, Oklahoma State, So., Agoura Hills, Calif.
Brandon Wu, Stanford, Sr., New York, N.Y.
Chun An Yu, Arizona State, Jr., Taoyuan, Taiwan
Only eight of those players (Bauchou, Fisk, Gordon, Morikawa, Nimmer, Phillips, Suh and Wu) are repeat members of the watch list. Six schools (Arizona State, Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Texas) are home to previous Ben Hogan Award winners, and perhaps most interestingly, this is the 14th consecutive year that Stanford has had a player named to the Watch List. That’s the longest active streak by any school.
From here, the list will be narrowed down to 10 semifinalists – which could also include individuals not on the Watch List. Semifinalists will be announced April 17.
Four players have strong ties to the Ben Hogan Award, most notably Morikawa, who was finalist in 2018 after being named a semifinalist in 2017. Meanwhile, Bauchou, Hovland and Suh were among the 10 semifinalists a year ago.
On May 2, the list will be further whittled to three finalists, who will then attend a black-tie dinner at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, prior to the start of the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge, where the winner will be crowned.
The Ben Hogan Award Selection Committee votes during each stage of the process. It is comprised of leaders in collegiate, amateur and professional golf.
Information from the Ben Hogan Award committee used in this report