June 21, 2001
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech senior golfer Bryce Molder added yet another award to his growing list of accolades, as he was named the recipient of the Fred Haskins Collegiate Player of the Year Award by the Fred Haskins Award Committee on Thursday.
The Haskins award is considered to be the Heisman Trophy of men’s collegiate golf and is voted on each year by coaches, players and members of the media. Molder becomes the fourth player in Georgia Tech history to win the award, joining David Duval (1993), Stewart Cink (1995) and Matt Kuchar (1998). Molder, the three-time Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, also was the 2001 recipient of the Jack Nicklaus, Golfweek and Dave Williams National Player of the Year awards.
“I’m very happy for Bryce,” said Tech head coach Bruce Heppler. “This is the award that he truly set out to win this year after just missing out as a freshman. I think if you look at the people that have won this award there is a very strong correlation between the award and players that have gone on to successful pro careers. It’s a great way for Bryce to end his college career.”
Along with the player of the year awards, Molder became only the fourth player in NCAA history to be named a four-time first-team All-American by the Golf Coaches Association of America, joining Tech’s David Duval, Arizona State’s Phil Mickelson and Wake Forest’s Gary Hallberg in that select company.
Molder recently completed arguably the most outstanding career in the history of collegiate golf, setting numerous NCAA, ACC and Georgia Tech records along the way. In 2001, Molder capped a stellar career by finishing the year with a 69.43 stroke average, the best in NCAA history. Along with that, he tied the NCAA record with his third-round score of 12-under-par, 60 at the Golf World Invitational, en route to a second-place finish. He also won three events during the year, including the Ping/Golfweek Preview, the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate and the Morris Williams Intercollegiate. He finished outside the top 10 only once and set a new school record with 20 rounds in the 60s.
For his career, Molder finished with the best stroke average in NCAA history at 70.69, bettering Tiger Woods’ mark of 71.10 at Stanford. He also tied Duval with eight career victories and holds nearly every individual scoring record in school history.
