STANFORD, Calif. – Maverick McNealy was named a semifinalist for the 2015 Ben Hogan Award, as announced Wednesday by Colonial Country Club, Friends of Golf and the Golf Coaches Association of America.
McNealy is one of 10 semifinalists – and three sophomores – along with Gavin Green (New Mexico), Beau Hossler (Texas), Kyle Jones (Baylor), Lee McCoy (Georgia), Cheng-Tsung Pan (Washington), Jon Rahm (Arizona State), Ollie Schniederjans (Georgia Tech), Robby Shelton (Alabama) and Hunter Stewart (Vanderbilt).
This is the first time since 2005 that 10 different schools are represented on the semifinalist list. Stanford has had a semifinalist for the award in each of the last six seasons.
The Ben Hogan Award, the most prestigious award in men’s college golf, was won last year by Stanford’s Patrick Rodgers.
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 12-month period dating from the previous award’s banquet. The Ben Hogan Award Selection Committee is made up of 25 leaders and experts in amateur, college and professional golf.
The list of 10 semifinalists will be pared down to three finalists on May 6. The three finalists will attend a black-tie banquet at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 18, where the winner will be crowned.
The award, which was first issued in 1990 and 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 prior to the start of the PGA TOUR’s Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.