Haskins Award: First spring watch list for men's college golf player of the year
10 Mar 2023
by Golfweek
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With every passing week, the men’s college golf season creeps closer to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Haskins Award announced Friday its first spring watch list, featuring 15 of the best men’s college golfers this season. Gordon Sargent, a sophomore at Vanderbilt who has risen to No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, is having a stellar season, but there are plenty of other big names in contention.
The Haskins Award honors the player of the year in college men’s golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media. The players are listed alphabetically. Players on the Haskins Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel reporters.
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Ludvig Aberg, Texas TechAberg, a senior who finished T-24 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour last week, won The Prestige at PGA West and has also recorded finishes of 2, T-5 and T-8.
Cole Anderson, Florida StateCole Anderson has been a model of consistency. In six starts, the junior hasn’t finished worse than T-22 and has collected a second, T-6 and T-8, as well.
David Ford, North CarolinaFord, a sophomore who won the Jones Cup in January, also won the Stephens Cup and has five top-10 finishes in six starts for the Tar Heels.
Nick Gabrelcik, North FloridaGabrelcik, a junior, has an impressive record this year. He has one win, five top-five finishes and seven top-10s in eight starts.
Ian Gilligan, Long Beach StateThe stellar sophomore has recorded two victories, four top-three finishes and six finishes in the top 15.
Austin Greaser, North CarolinaGreaser missed some time because of injury, but when the senior has been in the lineup, he has been dominant. His finishes: T3, T4, T5, T16, T20.
Ben James, Virginia James is having a stellar start to his college career. He has won twice, two of his first three starts, and has finished in the top three in five of his six tournaments.
Tommy Kuhl, IllinoisIn six starts this season, Kuhl has finished outside of the top five once. He has a T-2, T-3, T-4, fifth and T-5.
Christo Lamprecht, Georgia TechThe junior won the Inverness Intercollegiate and has finished inside of the top 10 four times. His stroke average is 70.51.
Yuxin Lin, FloridaLin has gotten stronger as the season has gone on. He won the Southern Highlands Collegiate and has three top fives and four top 10s, all coming in his last four starts.
Christiaan Maas, TexasMaas finished runner-up at the Southern Highlands and also has a T-3 at the Ben Hogan and a T-5 at the Southwestern Invitational. His worst finish is a T-20 in six starts.
Matthew Riedel, VanderbiltRiedel has three top-five finishes and four top-10s in seven starts for the No. 1 Commodores. He also won the stroke play portion of the SEC Match Play tournament.
Gordon Sargent, VanderbiltSargent, the reigning NCAA champion, has risen to No. 2 in the WAGR. He has two victories, five top fives and has finished in the top 10 in all seven of his starts. Calum Scott, Texas Tech Scott, a sophomore, has a solo second and three top-10 finishes. He also had big wins in the Big 12 match play final and against North Carolina in Hawaii last month.
Michael Thorbjornsen, Stanford The junior won his first start at the Fighting Illini Invitational and has since recorded no worse than a T-8 in seven starts, including a pair of T-3s.
by Cameron Jourdan, Golfweek