2017 Division III Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Barbasol Finalists Announced
NORMAN, Okla. – Five finalists have been named for the 2017 Division III Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award presented by Barbasol. Addision Lambeth of Huntingdon, 2016 Division III Nicklaus Award recipient, was joined by Jarrod Brown of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Berry’s Ryan Elmore, Logan Lanier of LaGrange, and Illinois Wesleyan’s Conner O’Neil as finalists for the award. The winner will be announced June 1. The Award presentation will be held at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, and presented by award namesake Jack Nicklaus during the final round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide.
In addition to receiving the Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award, the five recipients will compete in the Barbasol Shootout for an exemption into the PGA TOUR’s Barbasol Championship, held July 20-23, at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Grand National in Opelika, Ala. The Barbasol Shootout will be held Saturday, June 3 at the storied Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio - the same club where Jack Nicklaus first learned the game of golf as a young boy.
Brown, a senior from Groves, Texas, has four runner-up finishes this season. He has nine top-nine finishes in 10 tournaments. He has just three rounds of 75 or higher in 23 rounds played on the year. Brown was voted the American Southwest Conference Men’s Golf Co-Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year.
A native of Dunwoody, Ga., Elmore tied for medalist honors at both the Rhodes College Fall Classic and the Southern Athletic Association Championship this season. He was also runner-up twice. The senior earned seven top-10 finishes in nine events. Elmore was SAA Golfer of the Year for the second consecutive season.
The reigning Nicklaus Award winner, Lambeth posted back-to-back victories at the Wynlakes Intercollegiate and Discover Dekalb Emory Invitational. The senior from Greensboro, N.C., was also runner-up twice and placed inside the top seven in seven of nine events. Lambeth’s 71.09 stroke average is on pace to shatter his own school record by over a stroke. He was previously named USA South Golfer of the Year.
Lanier is a Nicklaus Award finalist for the second straight year. A senior from St. Augustine, Fla., he tied for medalist honors at the Royal Lakes/Oglethorpe Fall Invitational and won the USA South Athletic Conference Championship. Lanier’s only finish outside the top five in nine tournements was tied for 11th. A first-team USA South All-Conference Selection, he led the conference with a 70.82 stroke average.
The only non-senior finalist, O’Neil is a junior from Green Bay, Wis. He tallied four victories on the season, including the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championship. Additionally, O’Neil posted top five showings in six of nine events. Entering the NCAA Championships, he has recored a stroke average of 72.00 and has shot par or better in 12 of 22 rounds.
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.
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