March 1, 2006
LAS VEGAS - UNLV senior golfer Andres Gonzales has been included on the 2006 Ben Hogan Award watch list, which was announced Wednesday by Bank of America, in cooperation with Colonial Country Club, the Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).
The most prestigious award in men's college golf, the Hogan is presented annually to the top men's NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or junior college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the last 12 months.
Gonzales has played in five tournaments during the 2005-06 season, has two top-5 finishes and one top-20. He has a scoring average of 71.87 and has 11 rounds at par or better out of 15 total rounds played. He was the individual champion at the William H. Tucker in Albuquerque, N.M., in September.
Returning PING First-Team All-America selections Ryan Blaum of Duke, Arizona State's Alejandro Cañizares, Roberto Castro of Georgia Tech, East Tennessee State's Rhys Davies, Matt Every of Florida, Oklahoma's Anthony Kim, James Lepp of Washington and Oklahoma State's Pablo Martin highlight the list.
Others on the 27-player watch list include Scott Brown and Dane Burkhart - defending NCAA Division II national champion - of South Carolina-Aiken, Jay Choi of New Mexico, U.S. Amateur runner-up Dillon Dougherty of Northwestern, Texas Tech's Oscar Floren, Erik Flores of UCLA, Gonzales, Jake Grodzinsky of Duke, Stanford's Rob Grube, Brian Harman - the nation's top-ranked amateur - and Chris Kirk of Georgia, Coastal Carolina's Dustin Johnson, Kevin Larsen of Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt's Luke List, U.S. Public Links champion Clay Ogden of BYU, Kyle Reifers and Webb Simpson of Wake Forest and North Carolina's Martin Ureta.
The Hogan Award selection committee will announce 10 semifinalists on March 29 and name three finalists on May 2. The three finalists will attend the Hogan Award banquet on Saturday, May 13 at Colonial Country Club - the Saturday prior to the Bank of America Colonial - with the recipient announced that evening.
Former UNLV golfer Ryan Moore was last year's Hogan Award winner, which marked the first time a UNLV golfer was named the national player of the year.
2006 Ben Hogan Award Watch List (in alphabetical order)
Ryan Blaum, DukeScott Brown, South Carolina-AikenDane Burkhart, South Carolina-AikenAlejandro Cañizares, Arizona StateRoberto Castro, Georgia TechJay Choi, New MexicoRhys Davies, East Tennessee StateDillon Dougherty, NorthwesternMatt Every, FloridaOscar Floren, Texas TechErik Flores, UCLAAndres Gonzales, UNLVJake Grodzinsky, DukeRob Grube, StanfordBrian Harman, GeorgiaDustin Johnson, Coastal CarolinaAnthony Kim, OklahomaChris Kirk, GeorgiaKevin Larsen Georgia TechJames Lepp, WashingtonLuke List, VanderbiltPablo Martin, Oklahoma StateClay Ogden, Brigham YoungKyle Reifers, Wake ForestWebb Simpson, Wake ForestMartin Ureta, North Carolina
