THE FLATS – Georgia Tech’s Christo Lamprecht, the world’s top-ranked amateur player, is one of 10 of the nation’s most accomplished collegiate golfers across all levels who have been named semifinalists for the 2023 Ben Hogan Award presented by PNC Bank. The joint announcement was made Wednesday by the Hogan Trophy Award Foundation, the Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).
The Ben Hogan Award presented by PNC Bank annually awards the top men’s NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA college golfer based on all collegiate, amateur and professional events over the previous 12 months.
Determined by voting from the award’s selection committee, the 2024 Ben Hogan Award semifinalists also include Luke Clanton (Florida State), Wenyi Ding (Arizona State), David Ford (North Carolina), Nick Gabrelcik (North Florida), Ben James (Virginia), Jackson Koivun (Auburn), Gordon Sargent (Vanderbilt), Preston Summerhays (Arizona State) and Michael Thorbjornsen (Stanford).
In the last year, Lamprecht won The Amateur Championship and finished as the low amateur at The Open Championship, ascending to the top position in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and earning exemptions into the fields of the Masters Tournament and the U.S. Open. He also represented his home country of South Africa in the Arnold Palmer Cup and the World Amateur Team Championship.
The 6-foot-8 senior won two collegiate events in the fall, the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational and the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational. He has since earned three more top-10 finishes and is No. 6 in the most recent Scoreboard NCAA Golf rankings.
Christo Lamprecht has two collegiate events and is ranked No. 6 in the Scoreboard NCAA Golf ranking.
The 2024 semifinalists include three seniors, three juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen. Four conferences are home to semifinalists, led by the ACC with four honorees. The other leagues represented are the Pac-12 (three), SEC (two) and ASUN (one).
Sargent and Thorbjornsen were two of the three Ben Hogan Award finalists last year, while Ford (2023), Gabrelcik (2021, 2023) and Lamprecht (2023) are previous semifinalists. Arizona State is the lone school with multiple semifinalists (Ding, Summerhays).
The three finalists selected from this list of 10 golfers will be named on Tuesday, May 7. The finalists will attend a black-tie dinner Monday, May 20, at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, where the winner will be crowned as the Charles Schwab Challenge week kicks off.
The Ben Hogan Award presented by PNC Bank has honored the outstanding amateur collegiate golfer at Colonial Country Club since 2002. Prior to its move to Fort Worth, the original Ben Hogan Trophy, which was awarded based on a different list of criteria, was issued at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles beginning in 1990.
Recipients of the Ben Hogan Award presented by PNC Bank have combined to accumulate 85 worldwide victories, including 64 PGA TOUR wins, and have amassed more than $395 million in prize money on the PGA TOUR. Additionally, the group has appeared in 17 Ryder Cups and a dozen Presidents Cups.
Past recipients are Ludvig Åberg (‘22, ‘23), Ricky Barnes (‘03), Patrick Cantlay (‘12), Matt Every (‘06), Rickie Fowler (‘08), Doug Ghim (‘18), Bill Haas (‘04), Viktor Hovland (‘19), Chris Kirk (‘07), Hunter Mahan (‘03), Maverick McNealy (‘17), Ryan Moore (‘05), John Pak (‘21), Jon Rahm (‘15, ‘16), Patrick Rodgers (‘14), Kyle Stanley (‘09), Nick Taylor (‘10), Sahith Theegala (‘20), D.J. Trahan (‘02), Peter Uihlein (‘11) and Chris Williams (‘13).
Since 2002, the Hogan Trophy Award Foundation has awarded over $875,000 in scholarships to more than 30 universities. For more information on the Ben Hogan Award presented by PNC Bank, visit TheBenHoganAward.org and follow @BenHoganAward on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Lamprecht remains the world’s top-ranked amateur after winning The Amateur Championship and winning low amateur honors as the Open Championship (photo courtesy of the R&A)
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ABOUT GEORGIA TECH GOLF
Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 29th year under head coach Bruce Heppler, winning 72 tournaments in his tenure. The Yellow Jackets have won 19 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, made 33 appearances in the NCAA Championship and been the national runner-up four times. Connect with Georgia Tech Golf on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on Twitter (@GTGolf) and Instagram. For more information on Tech golf, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
