Feb. 11, 2010
LAS VEGAS - UNLV sophomore golfers Derek Ernst has been included on the Ben Hogan Award watch list, which was announced Thursday in Norman, Okla., by Chesepeake Energy, in association 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 NJCAA college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during a 12-month period.
Defending NCAA Division I champion Matt Hill of North Carolina State highlights a list that also includes returning PING First-Team All-America selections Morgan Hoffmann of Oklahoma State and Washington's Nick Taylor along with Walker Cup teammates Bud Cauley of Alabama, Wake Forest's Brendan Gielow, Hoffmann and Peter Uihlein of Oklahoma State.
Others on the 25-player watch list include Knut Borsheim of Arizona State, David Chung, Sihwan Kim and Steve Ziegler of Stanford, Ernst, Oscar Floren of Texas Tech, Wichita State's Dustin Garza, John Hahn of Kent State, Alabama's Hunter Hamrick, Russell Henley of Georgia, SMU's Kelly Kraft, Scott Langley of Illinois, Florida State's Seath Lauer, Corey Nagy of Charlotte, LSU's John Peterson, Jonathan Randolph of Mississippi, Oklahoma State's Kevin Tway and Trent Whitekiller and Oregon State's Diego Velasquez.
The Hogan Award semifinalists will be announced April 14. The three finalists named on May 11 will be invited to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, for the Hogan Award presentation on the evening of May 24.
Eddie Olson was named to the watch list in 2009, while former Rebel golfer Seung-Su Han also was named to the watch list in both 2007 and 2008. Former UNLV golfer Ryan Moore was the 2005 Hogan Award winner, which marked the first time a UNLV golfer was named the national player of the year. In 2006, UNLV's Andres Gonzales was a semifinalist for the award.
Ernst has played in all six tournaments for UNLV this season and leads the team with a stroke average of 70.44 per round. He has recorded three top-five finishes, including winning two individual titles. He has shot par or better in 12 of his 16 rounds this season.
The No. 23 Rebels will be back in action Feb. 17-19 at the John Burns Intercollegiate in Wahiawa, Hawaii.
2010 The Ben Hogan Award Watch List (in alphabetical order)
Knut Borsheim, Arizona State
Bud Cauley, Alabama
David Chung, Stanford
Derek Ernst, UNLV
Oscar Floren, Texas Tech
Dustin Garza, Wichita State
Brendan Gielow, Wake Forest
John Hahn, Kent State
Hunter Hamrick, Alabama
Russell Henley, Georgia
Matt Hill, NC State
Morgan Hoffmann, Oklahoma State
Sihwan Kim, Stanford
Kelly Kraft, SMU
Scott Langley, Illinois
Seath Lauer, Florida State
Corey Nagy, Charlotte
John Peterson, LSU
Jonathan Randolph, Mississippi
Nick Taylor, Washington
Kevin Tway, Oklahoma State
Peter Uihlein, Oklahoma State
Diego Velasquez, Oregon State
Trent Whitekiller, Oklahoma State
Steve Ziegler, Stanford
