Holcomb wins Ben Hogan Award monthly honor
1/8/2021 4:29:00 PM | Men's Golf
FORT WORTH — The Ben Hogan Trophy Award Foundation has announced that Sam Houston senior Will Holcomb has been voted the Ben Hogan Award December Golfer of the Month.Â
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Holcomb was the stroke play medalist at the highly-rated Maridoe Amateur with a 54-hole sum of 218 (+2). The native of Crockett, Texas, won medalist honors by three shots in the 96-player field before picking up three match play wins to advance to the event's quarterfinals. In addition, Holcomb tied for 51st at the South Beach International with a 72-hole score of 284 (E).Â
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"This is such a tremendous honor for Will to be named as the best golfer in the country for the month of December," said head coach Brandt Kieschnick. "Will is getting better and better and continues to raise the bar and elevate the image for this program. I don't have the words for how proud I am of him for this accomplishment."
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Holcomb is currently rated 17th in the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking and is No. 73 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He was a semifinalist at the 2019 U.S. Amateur and a finalist at the North and South at Pinehurst. Â
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The Ben Hogan Award's monthly honor counts any college, amateur or professional event completed during the month. The other December finalists were Texas' Cole Hammer and Auburn's Graysen Huff.Â
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Fifteen total ballots were cast, with 12 coming from members of the Hogan Trophy Award Foundation and Friends of Golf and three social media fan ballots. Those votes were issued to the top vote getter on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Holcomb swept all three social media votes.Â
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The Ben Hogan Award is given annually to the top men's college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions over the previous 12 months. The Ben Hogan Trophy was first issued by the Friends of Golf at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles in 1990.Â
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In 2002, the Ben Hogan Award moved to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, and revised its criteria to its current standard of honoring the outstanding amateur and collegiate golfer. Winning a monthly award is not a prerequisite to be named a Ben Hogan Award semifinalist, finalist or winner.Â
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Ben Hogan Award Golfers of the MonthÂ
August 2019 – Andy Ogletree, Georgia TechÂ
September 2019 – Cooper Dossey, BaylorÂ
October 2019 – Chris Gotterup, Rutgers & Peter Kuest, BYUÂ
November 2019 – Parker Gillam, Wake ForestÂ
December 2019 – Noah Norton, Georgia TechÂ
January 2020 – Sahith Theegala, PepperdineÂ
February 2020 – Ricky Castillo, FloridaÂ
July 2020 – Tyler Strafaci, Georgia TechÂ
August 2020 – Tyler Strafaci, Georgia TechÂ
September 2020 – John Pak, Florida StateÂ
October 2020 – Kyle Hogan, Texas TechÂ
November 2020 – Ford Clegg, Mississippi StateÂ
December 2020 – Will Holcomb, Sam Houston
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Holcomb was the stroke play medalist at the highly-rated Maridoe Amateur with a 54-hole sum of 218 (+2). The native of Crockett, Texas, won medalist honors by three shots in the 96-player field before picking up three match play wins to advance to the event's quarterfinals. In addition, Holcomb tied for 51st at the South Beach International with a 72-hole score of 284 (E).Â
Â
"This is such a tremendous honor for Will to be named as the best golfer in the country for the month of December," said head coach Brandt Kieschnick. "Will is getting better and better and continues to raise the bar and elevate the image for this program. I don't have the words for how proud I am of him for this accomplishment."
Â
Holcomb is currently rated 17th in the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking and is No. 73 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He was a semifinalist at the 2019 U.S. Amateur and a finalist at the North and South at Pinehurst. Â
Â
The Ben Hogan Award's monthly honor counts any college, amateur or professional event completed during the month. The other December finalists were Texas' Cole Hammer and Auburn's Graysen Huff.Â
Â
Fifteen total ballots were cast, with 12 coming from members of the Hogan Trophy Award Foundation and Friends of Golf and three social media fan ballots. Those votes were issued to the top vote getter on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Holcomb swept all three social media votes.Â
Â
The Ben Hogan Award is given annually to the top men's college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions over the previous 12 months. The Ben Hogan Trophy was first issued by the Friends of Golf at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles in 1990.Â
Â
In 2002, the Ben Hogan Award moved to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, and revised its criteria to its current standard of honoring the outstanding amateur and collegiate golfer. Winning a monthly award is not a prerequisite to be named a Ben Hogan Award semifinalist, finalist or winner.Â
Â
Â
Ben Hogan Award Golfers of the MonthÂ
August 2019 – Andy Ogletree, Georgia TechÂ
September 2019 – Cooper Dossey, BaylorÂ
October 2019 – Chris Gotterup, Rutgers & Peter Kuest, BYUÂ
November 2019 – Parker Gillam, Wake ForestÂ
December 2019 – Noah Norton, Georgia TechÂ
January 2020 – Sahith Theegala, PepperdineÂ
February 2020 – Ricky Castillo, FloridaÂ
July 2020 – Tyler Strafaci, Georgia TechÂ
August 2020 – Tyler Strafaci, Georgia TechÂ
September 2020 – John Pak, Florida StateÂ
October 2020 – Kyle Hogan, Texas TechÂ
November 2020 – Ford Clegg, Mississippi StateÂ
December 2020 – Will Holcomb, Sam Houston
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