Fort Worth, Texas – Georgia Tech’s Noah Norton has been named the Ben Hogan Award Golfer of the Month for December by the Ben Hogan Trophy Award Foundation, the organization announced Friday. He is the second Yellow Jacket to win the award this season, joining Andy Ogletree.
Norton, a junior from Chico, Calif., claimed the Patriot All-America Invitational title by one stroke with a 3-round sum of 203 (-7) in late December. The field consisted of 84 decorated collegiate players, many of whom have earned PING All-America honors in NCAA Divisions I, II and III as well as the NAIA and NJCAA Divisions I and II.
Norton claimed the monthly honor over fellow finalists James Leow of Arizona State and Benjamin Shipp of NC State. Norton joins the season’s previous winners: Georgia Tech’s Andy Ogletree (August), Baylor’s Cooper Dossey (September), Rutgers’ Christopher Gotterup (October), BYU’s Peter Kuest (October) and Wake Forest’s Parker Gillam (November).
Fifteen total ballots were cast, with 12 coming from members of the Hogan Trophy Foundation and Friends of Golf and three social media fan ballots. Those votes were issued to Shipp, the top vote getter on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
In line with the yearly Ben Hogan Award, voters consider all college, amateur and professional event results. Winning a monthly award is not a prerequisite to be named a Ben Hogan Award semifinalist, finalist or winner.
Norton won the Patriot All-America Invitational in late December in Arizona.
The Ben Hogan Award is given each May to the top men’s college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions over the past 12 months. The Ben Hogan Trophy was first issued by the Friends of Golf at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles in 1990. In 2002, the Ben Hogan Award moved to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, and revised its criteria to its current standard of honoring the outstanding amateur and collegiate golfer.
The Patriot All-America victory was the culmination of a strong 2019 for Norton, ranked No. 22 in the Scratch Players Amateur Ranking and No. 85 in the World Amateur Golf ranking. He made the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team for the second time in the spring, then qualified for the U.S. Open in Pebble Beach, Calif., reached the finals of the North & South Amateur in Pinehurst, N.C., and reached match play in the U.S. Amateur, also at Pinehurst.
Norton helped the Yellow Jackets finish the fall season No. 3 in the Bushnell Coaches Poll by the Golf Coaches Association, and No. 3 in the Golfstat rankings, which determines seeding for NCAA regional play in May. Tech is No. 2 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Index.
Norton tied for ninth at the Olympia Fields event for his high finish in the fall, and won two matches to help the Jackets bring home the title at Cypress Point.
Tech opens its spring season Feb. 6-8 with the Amer Ari Invitational on the Big Island of Hawai’i.
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Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 25th year under head coach Bruce Heppler, winning 62 tournaments in his tenure. The Yellow Jackets have won 18 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, made 29 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.
