2022 Jack Nicklaus Award Recipients Announced
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)