Sunday, June 5, 2022

DUBLIN, Ohio — Chris Gotterup of Oklahoma, AJ Ewart of Barry, Will Hocker of Webster, Jakob Stavang Stubhaug of Keiser, and Cecil Belisle of South Mountain have been named the recipients of the 2022 Jack Nicklaus Award. The Nicklaus Award recognizes the top players at the Division I, II, III, NAIA, and NJCAA levels.

 “I am always impressed with the quality of golf these young men play, but when I meet them, I am even more impressed with the quality of people they are,” Nicklaus said. “If you look up and down the leaderboards on the PGA TOUR, you will see a number of Nicklaus Award recipients who are now stars at the next level—from Division I representatives like our last three Memorial Tournament winners, Patrick Cantlay and Jon Rahm; Justin Thomas, who just won the PGA Championship; and last week’s winner at Colonial, Sam Burns; to 2010 junior college recipient Abraham Ancer. It’s always a highlight for me each Memorial Tournament to celebrate the accomplishments of these future stars in golf and life.”

Division I: Gotterup, who transferred to Oklahoma from Rutgers for his final collegiate season, was named a PING First Team All-American and All-Central Region selection. He ended the season ranked No. 1 in both Golfstat and Golfweek’s individual rankings while compiling 10 top-10 finishes this season. His 69.77 scoring average and -1.90 score vs. par in 2021-22 were both third-best in program history.

Division II: Ewart won seven tournaments this season, including a stretch of four straight and five of his last six regular-season events. His seven victories tied a single-season school record and made him the fastest Buccaneer to reach 10 career wins. The Sunshine State Conference Golfer of the Year ended 2021-22 ranked first by Golfstat in Division II with a 69.77 adjusted scoring average.

Division III: Hocker, the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men’s Golfer of the Year, won seven tournaments this season, including his second-career SLIAC Individual Championship for his 14th-career collegiate victory. He earned PING First-Team All-America and All-Region honors while leading Division III with an adjusted scoring average of 70.45 over 28 rounds played.

NAIA: Stubhaug, a native of Florø, Norway, recorded two wins, including the NAIA National Individual Championship, and 10 top-10s this season. He led the Seahawks with 20 rounds of par or better. The freshman earned numerous postseason accolades, including the NAIA Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award, First-Team PING All-America, PING All-South Region, and First-Team All-Sun Conference honors.

NJCAA: Belisle was instrumental in helping South Mountain win their eighth NJCAA Division II National Championship in 2021-22, winning medalist honors for the second-straight year. The native of Red Wing, Minnesota, received PING First-Team All-America and All-West Region honors for the second time. Belisle finished the season with three wins and as the top-ranked NJCAA Division II player by Golfstat.

Nicklaus, a Big Ten and NCAA Champion at The Ohio State University, helped inspire and create the Jack Nicklaus Award in 1988, and it is now presented to the National Player of the Year in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, as well as NAIA and NJCAA.

Previous Recipients

2021

John Pak, Florida State Division I

Andrew Beckler, Washburn Division II

James Mishoe, Guilford Division III

Ruan Pretorius, Point NAIA

Ben Partridge, Hutchinson NJCAA

2020

Sahith Theegala, Pepperdine Division I

Zach Zediker, Delta State Division II

Rob Wuethrich, Illinois Wesleyan Division III

Ben Rebne, Dalton State NAIA

Jon Hopkins, Mississippi Gulf Coast NJCAA

2019

Matthew Wolff, Oklahoma State Division I

Jorge Garcia, Barry Division II

Josh Gibson, Hope Division III

Mark David Johnson, Coastal Georgia NAIA

Callum Bruce, Midland College NJCAA

2018

Norman Xiong, Oregon Division I

John VanDerLaan, Florida Southern Division II

Josh Gibson, Hope Division III

SM Lee, Dalton State NAIA

Callum Bruce, Midland College NJCAA

2017

Sam Burns, LSU Division I

Chandler Blanchet, West Florida Division II

Logan Lanier, LaGrange Division III

SM Lee, Dalton State NAIA

Marco Maldonado, Tyler JC NJCAA

2016

Jon Rahm, Arizona State Division I

John Coultas, Florida Southern Division II

Addison Lambeth, Huntingdon Division III

Peter French, Johnson & Wales (FL) NAIA

Kerry Sweeney, Eastern Florida State NJCAA

2015

Maverick McNealy, Stanford Division I

Santiago Gomez, Nova Southeastern Division II

Anthony Maccaglia, Oglethorpe Division III

Sean Elliott, Dalton State NAIA

Kerry Sweeney, Eastern Florida State NJCAA

2014

Patrick Rodgers, Stanford Division I

Adam Svensson, Barry Division II

Bobby Holden, Redlands Division III

James Marchesani, Oklahoma City NAIA

Tim Walker, Central Alabama NJCAA

2013

Michael Kim, California Division I

Alex Carpenter, Abilene Christian Division II

Brad Shigezawa, Claremont McKenna Division III

Sondre Ronold, Oklahoma City NAIA

Jake Argento, South Mountain NJCAA

2012

Justin Thomas, Alabama Division I

Ben Taylor, Nova Southeastern Division II

Noah Ratner, Guilford Division III

Nathan Anderson, Texas Wesleyan NAIA

Jimmy Kozikowski, South Mountain NJCAA

2011

Patrick Cantlay, UCLA Division I

Alex Carpenter, Abilene Christian Division II

Chris Morris, Centre College Division III

Oscar Stark, Oklahoma Christian NAIA

Brandt Garon, Meridian CC NJCAA

2010

Eugune Wong, Oregon Division I

Brett Munson, North Alabama Division II

Tain Lee, Claremont McKenna Division III

Justin Lower, Malone NAIA

Abraham Ancer, Odessa College NJCAA

2009

Matt Hill, NC State Division I

Brent Witcher, Valdosta State Division II

Mitchell Fedorka, La Verne Division III

Sam Cyr, Point Loma Nazarene NAIA

2008

Kevin Chappell, UCLA Division I

Jarin Todd, Sonoma State Division II

Scott Harris Jr., St. John Fisher Division III

Sam Cyr, Point Loma Nazarene NAIA

2007

Jamie Lovemark, Southern California Divison I

Jarin Todd, Sonoma State Divison II

Andy Miller, Otterbein Division III

Daniel Mitchell, Oklahoma City NAIA

2006

Pablo Martin, Oklahoma State Division I

Scott Brown, USC-Aiken Division II

Stephen Goodridge, Rochester Division III

2005

Ryan Moore, UNLV Division I

Dane Burkhart, USC-Aiken Division II

Pete Weber, Loras Division III

2004

Bill Haas, Wake Forest Division I

J.J. Jakovac, Chico State Division II

Trent Erb, Oglethorpe Division III

2003

Hunter Mahan, Oklahoma State Division I

Andrew McArthur, Pfeiffer Division II

Ryan Quinn, Wisconsin-Eau Claire Division III

2002

D.J. Trahan, Clemson

2001

Bryce Molder, Georgia Tech

2000

Charles Howell III, Oklahoma State

1999

Luke Donald, Northwestern

1998

Bryce Molder, Georgia Tech

1997

Brad Elder, Texas

1996

Tiger Woods, Stanford

1995

Stewart Cink, Georgia Tech

1994

Alan Bratton, Oklahoma State

Justin Leonard, Texas

1993

David Duval, Georgia Tech

1992

Phil Mickelson, Arizona State

1991

Phil Mickelson, Arizona State

1990

Phil Mickelson, Arizona State

1989

Robert Gamez, Arizona

1988

Bob Estes, Texas

Multiple Recipients

Callum Bruce, Midland College (2018-19)

Alex Carpenter, Abilene Christian (2011, ‘13)

Josh Gibson, Hope (2018-19)

Sam Cyr, Point Loma Nazarene (2008-09)

SM Lee, Dalton State (2017-18)

Phil Mickelson, Arizona State (1990-92)

Bryce Molder, Georgia Tech (1998, ‘01)

Kerry Sweeney, Eastern Florida State (2015-16)

Jarin Todd, Sonoma State (2007-08)

Recipients by School

Abilene Christian (2)

Alabama (1)

Arizona (1)

Arizona State (4)

Barry (3)

California (1)

Central Alabama (1)

Centre College (1)

Chico State (1)

Claremont McKenna (2)

Clemson (1)

Coastal Georgia (1)

Dalton State (4)

Delta State (1)

Eastern Florida State (2)

Florida State (1)

Florida Southern (2)

Georgia Tech (4)

Guilford (2)

Hope (2)

Huntingdon (1)

Hutchinson (1)

Illinois Wesleyan (1)

Johnson & Wales (1)

Keiser (1)

La Verne (1)

Loras (1)

LSU (1)

Malone (1)

NC State (1)

Meridian CC (1)

Midland College (2)

Mississippi Gulf Coast (1)

North Alabama (1)

Northwestern (1)

Nova Southeastern (2)

Odessa College (1)

Oglethorpe (2)

Oklahoma (1)

Oklahoma Christian (1)

Oklahoma City (3)

Oklahoma State (5)

Oregon (2)

Otterbein (1)

Pepperdine (1)

Point University (1)

Point Loma Nazarene (2)

Pfeiffer (1)

Redlands (1)

Rochester (1)

St. John Fisher (1)

Sonoma State (2)

South Mountain CC (3)

Southern California (1)

Stanford (3)

Texas (3)

Texas Wesleyan (1)

Tyler JC (1)

UCLA (2)

UNLV (1)

USC-Aiken (2)

Valdosta State (1)

Wake Forest (1)

Washburn (1)

Webster (1)

West Florida (1)

Wisconsin-Eau Claire (1)

2022 Arnold Palmer Cup – July 1-3, Golf Club de Geneve, Vandœuvres, Switzerland

2022 Folds of Honor Collegiate – September 25-28, American Dunes GC, Grand Haven, MI 

2022 GCAA National Convention – December 4-7, Las Vegas, Nevada

2022 GCAA Summer Series Presented by John T. Reis Foundation

COURTESY GOLF COACHES ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA