News
The Ben Hogan Award selects 10 semifinalists
The Ben Hogan Award is arguably the biggest individual award in collegiate golf. Given annually to the most outstanding amateur college golfer, the award is unique in that it considers the players collegiate, amateur and professional competitions during the previous 12-month period. And today, the Award Foundation listed its 10 semifinalist for the 2019 trophy.
They are : senior Will Gordon of Vanderbilt, Texas freshman Cole Hammer, junior Viktor Hovland of Oklahoma State, California senior Collin Morikawa, senior Bryson Nimmer of Clemson, Duke senior Alex Smalley, senior Justin Suh of Southern California, Oklahoma State sophomore Matthew Wolff, senior Brandon Wu of Stanford and Arizona State junior Chun An Yu.
All 10 players are currently ranked among the top 25 in each of the four major ranking systems—Golfstat NCAA Player Ranking, Golfweek/Sagarin Collegiate Individual Ranking, Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking and World Amateur Golf Ranking.
First given in 1990 at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, the award was created by former Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon. “Harmon had won the Heisman Trophy at the University of Michigan and it was his dream to have a Heisman Trophy type award given to the top collegiate golfer in the nation,” said Dr. Bill Barnes, a chairman with the Ben Hogan Award Foundation. “So, he talked it over with Eddie Merrins, who is now the Pro Emeritus out at Bel- Air, and Eddie knew Ben Hogan. Mr. Hogan gave them his blessing to use his name.”
The award stayed at Bel-Air Country Club for the better part of a decade but never reached the heights that Tom Harmon had envisioned. Dr. Barnes, a member at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, decided to do something about that.
“I made some calls and then found myself out at Bel-Air Country Club with Eddie Merrins talking about this Ben Hogan Award of theirs that they had been giving out for maybe 10 years,” Barnes said. “They would identify the top amateur golfer in the nation and usually, their top golfer wouldn’t even show up for the award ceremonies. They were a little discouraged out there. So, we told them about the history of Colonial and how this was Ben Hogan’s backyard. They were very interested.”
And with that, a partnership between the Ben Hogan Award and Colonial Country Club was born. The award banquet ceremony is hosted by Colonial each year in May during the PGA Invitational event in Fort Worth. That certainly adds some excitement for the award’s finalists and gives them more reason to attend. The black tie banquet resembles the Heisman presentation, with three award finalists receiving invitations before one winner is ultimately selected.
Along with the award itself, the winner also receives the first invitation to play in the Colonial Tournament the following year. Additionally, a substantial amount of scholarship money is given out to the schools of the finalists. Last year, winner Doug Ghim earned $30,000 in golf scholarship funds for the University of Texas. Finalists Collin Morikawa of Cal and Braden Thornberry of Ole Miss earned their schools $17,500 apiece. In total, over $90,000 of collegiate golf scholarship money was raised by the Ben Hogan Award Foundation last year alone.
Initially, the award included academic achievement in its original list of standards. Now, the selection committee works closely with the Golf Coaches of America Association (GCAA) and Friends of Golf (FOG) to select its award recipient. The GCAA watch-list usually begins with 20 to 30 total golfers and then that list is cut down to 10 semifinalists. Finally, on May 2nd, that list is whittled down to three finalists, who all receive an invitation to the award ceremony banquet in May.
“The GCAA contributes by identifying the years initial watch-list and then our selection committee is made up of representatives from the PGA, USGA, PGA Tour, Lance Barrow with CBS Sports, Golf Magazine writers…it’s a pretty good who’s who,” said Foundation Chairman Harold Muckelroy. “And one new change this year is that when we narrow it to the final three, all the past winners will have a vote on who is declared the award winner.” The GCAA provides statistics and tournament results to each member of the selection committee to use in casting their final vote.
“It is ultimately each voter’s responsibility to do as much homework as to satisfy their own personal criteria for selecting a winner,” said Hogan Award Foundation Chairman Clif Overcash. Past winners include 2018 Champion Doug Ghim, Maverick McNealy (2017), John Rahm (2015 & 2016), Patrick Cantlay (2012), and Rickie Fowler (2008).
The banquet at Colonial has also had a history of providing phenomenal special guest speakers. In the past, the event has had the privilege of hearing from Dan Jenkins, Lance Barrow, Peter Kostis, Bruce Lietzke, Corey Pavin, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Lehman, Jim Nantz, Lanny Wadkins, and Pat Summerall. This year’s guest speaker is Jon Rahm, the only two-time award winner and currently the number eight ranked player in the world.
For more information on the award or to see how you can give to the Ben Hogan Foundation, visit their website here.
- LIKE22
- LEGIT14
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
News
SuperStroke acquires Lamkin Grips
SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”
“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”
Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.
According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”
CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.
“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.
Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history
- LIKE6
- LEGIT2
- WOW4
- LOL1
- IDHT1
- FLOP1
- OB1
- SHANK2
News
Tour Rundown: Pendrith, Otaegui, Longbella, and Dunlap soar
Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.
It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.
PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place
The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.
This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.
With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.
360° and in!
A nervy par save by @TaylorPendrith to remain one back as he seeks his first PGA TOUR victory @CJByronNelson. pic.twitter.com/LVFXUSidSg
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 5, 2024
DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four
It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.
It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.
.@adrianotaegui birdies the 16th to tie the lead at -17 ?#VolvoChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/p4tfE5DRJa
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 5, 2024
PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella
Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.
64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.
.@TBalla21 eagles 17, shoots 65 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the KIA Open. pic.twitter.com/TTOL2LxSdh
— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) May 4, 2024
PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win
Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.
The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.
Off the green? No worries for @ScottDu12500063
8-under solo leader @InsperityInvtnl pic.twitter.com/hoj5OujL5C
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 4, 2024
- LIKE0
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
News
Morning 9: Pendrith’s maiden Tour win | Morikawa back with former coach | Brooks victorious
|
- LIKE1
- LEGIT0
- WOW0
- LOL0
- IDHT0
- FLOP0
- OB0
- SHANK0
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
Justin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Report: LIV Golf identifies latest star name they hope to sign to breakaway tour
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Brandel Chamblee has ‘no doubt’ who started the McIlroy/LIV rumor and why
-
19th Hole1 week ago
LET pro gives detailed financial breakdown of first week on tour…and the net result may shock you
-
Equipment3 weeks ago
Jason Day on his recent switch into Srixon ZX5 and ZX7 Mk II irons
-
19th Hole5 days ago
Gary Player claims this is what ‘completely ruined’ Tiger Woods’ career
-
Whats in the Bag1 week ago
Team McIlowry (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry) winning WITBs: 2024 Zurich Classic