About the Award

Initially given to a player exhibiting excellence in academics, as well as college golf, the inaugural Ben Hogan Award was presented April 23, 1990 to Kevin Wentworth of Oklahoma State University. The Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) selected the winner just a few weeks after the creator of the award, 1940 Heisman Trophy winner and golf enthusiast, Tom Harmon, passed away.

In the summer of 2001, FOG and the GCAA were approached by representatives of Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, wanting to expand the award named for Hogan to make the presentation during the week of the MasterCard Colonial Invitational PGA TOUR event.

While the three parties collaborated on the award, the decision was made to revise the criteria to more accurately reflect Harmon's original idea for the Ben Hogan Award. Although the criteria for selection changed to recognize the outstanding male amateur and collegiate golfer of the year, the first 12 recipients will remain as part of the Hogan Award's history. Additionally, FOG continues to present the honoree with a replica of the Waterford crystal trophy displayed at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles.

In 2002, Colonial Country Club commissioned a new Hogan sculpture on permanent display in the Hogan Room at Colonial. A replica of this sculpture is presented to the honoree.

"I think that Colonial joining FOG and the Golf Coaches Association in the Ben Hogan Award has been very positive," said FOG Executive Director Eddie Merrins. "The award is now truly the Heisman of college golf."

Since 2005, the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial has invited the Ben Hogan Award recipient to compete in the next year's championship. Also beginning in 2005 the Hogan Award invited the three finalists to the Ben Hogan Award Banquet held prior to the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial with the recipient named that evening.

Recent Hogan recipients include Bill Haas, D.J. Trahan, Hunter Mahan, Ricky Barnes, Matt Every, Chris Kirk and Rickie Fowler.  

2009 Ben Hogan Award Selection Committee

Name

Organization

Name

Organization

Ron Balicki

Golfweek

Eddie Merrins

Friends of Golf

Lance Barrow

CBS Sports

Dr. Wally Schmuck

Colonial Country Club

Peter Dawson

The R&A

Fred Soloman

Scratch Players

Jeff Fahrenbruch

Past Recipient

Jim Vernon

USGA

Tim Finchem

PGA TOUR

Steve Denn

Porter Cup

Chris Haack

Georgia Golf Coach

Denny Glass

Northeast Amateur

Ryan Herrington

Golf World

Michael Jonson

Sahalee Players Championship

J.T. Higgins

Texas A&M Golf Coach

John Kaczkowski

Western Golf Association

Dan Jenkins

Acclaimed Author

Buford McCarty

Southern Golf Association

Mark Laesch

Golfstat

Steve Wilmot

Players Amateur

Peter Mattsson

English Golf Union