Alabama Ties Record with Four Players on 2014 Hogan Award Watch List

University of Alabama golfers Trey Mullinax, Robby Shelton, Cory Whitsett and Bobby Wyatt have been named to the 2014 watch list for the prestigious Ben Hogan Award the Golf Coaches Association of America announced this week, in conjunction with Colonial Country Club and The Friends of Golf (FOG).

The award 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. The Ben Hogan Award selection committee represents the leaders in professional, amateur and collegiate golf.

With four players on the 2014 Ben Hogan Award Watch List, Alabama has matched the most ever by one school, tying Oklahoma State (2010) and California (2013). It also marks the seventh consecutive year the Crimson Tide have had a player represented on the team, which is the second-longest active streak (Stanford; 9).

Mullinax, a senior from Birmingham, enters the spring schedule as the No. 1 player in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. He leads the team with a 69.17 scoring average (1.33 strokes below par) while posting a top-six finish in each of Alabama’s four fall events, including a win at the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational.

Shelton, from Wilmer, Ala., is a true freshman who became the second player in school history to win his first collegiate event, sharing medalist honors at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational in the fall of 2013. He has two top five showings in four career events and has never finished outside of the top 15 while boasting a 70.42 scoring average.

Whitsett, a senior from Houston, is the world’s No. 2 ranked amateur and tied for second in program history with five medalist honors. He is averaging 71.2 strokes per round this season and 71.27 during his career, which ranks second in Tide annals.

Wyatt, a senior from Mobile, who was a member of the watch in in 2013 as well, returns to the list in 2014. The All-American is second on the team with a 70.40 (three strokes below par) and has three top-six finishes, including a third-place showing at the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational.

The 2014 The Ben Hogan Award Watch List also includes, as determined by the award’s subcommittee: Anders Albertson (Georgia Tech), Julien Brun (TCU), Sebastian Cappelen (Arkansas), Corey Conners (Kent State), Ian Davis (Oklahoma State), Bryson Dechambeau (SMU), Thomas Detry (Illinois), Greg Eason (UCF), Joey Garber (Georgia), Oliver Goss (Ten­nessee), Gavin Green (New Mexico), Brandon Hagy (California), Toni Hakula (Texas), Chase Koepka (USF), Denny McCar­thy (Virginia), Jordan Niebrugge (Oklahoma State), Cheng-Tsung Pan (Washington), Taylor Pen­drith (Kent State), J.T. Poston (Western Carolina), Patrick Rodgers (Stanford), Ollie Schniederjans (Georgia Tech), Bradley Shigezawa (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps), Joel Stalter (California), Scott Vincent (Virginia Tech), Michael Weaver (California) and Cameron Wilson (Stanford).

The 10 Hogan Award semifinalists, which could include individuals not on the current list, will be unveiled on Wednesday, April 16, with three finalists chosen on May 7. The three finalists will be invited to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, for the black-tie Hogan Award presentation on the evening of May 18.

Marten Olander won the 1993 Ben Hogan Award and is the only Alabama player to claim the honor.

The award, which was first issued in 1990 and included academic achievement in its original list of standards, revised its criteria for the 2001-02 collegiate season to its current standard of honoring the outstanding amateur collegiate golfer.

To find the latest information on The Ben Hogan Award, its candidates and its previous winners, visit the official web site www.TheBenHoganAward.org and follow @BenHoganAward on Twitter.