FORT WORTH, Texas -- Fighting Illini fifth-year senior golfers Adrien Dumont de Chassart and Tommy Kuhl have each been named to the 2023 Ben Hogan Award Watch List, as announced Friday (Jan. 27) by the Hogan Trophy Award Foundation, the Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).
The Illini duo is among 37 collegiate golfers named to the watch list for the prestigious award, and Illinois is one of just nine schools to have multiple golfers on the watch list, joining Florida, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Pepperdine, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt.
Dumont de Chassart, the reigning two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, continued his stellar play to open the 2022-23 season in the fall. The native of Villers la Ville, Belgium, opened the year with a tie for second at the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational (Sept. 16-18), followed by a tie for third at the Folds of Honor Collegiate (Sept. 26-28). He closed out the early season with a tie for 14th at the Dayton Flyer Invitational (Oct. 17-18), and an 11-place finish at the Isleworth Collegiate (Oct. 23-25). Dumont de Chassart has also risen up the PGA Tour University rankings, ascending from an initial ranking of No. 7 to sit at No. 5 in the most recent release.
Kuhl has also continued a hot streak that dates back to last season when he closed as the Illini's top finisher at the NCAA New Haven Regional and narrowly missed an individual berth to the NCAA Championship. This fall, Kuhl, a 2022 All-Big Ten first team honoree from Morton, Ill., opened the year with three-consecutive top five finishes; he recorded a solo fifth at Olympia Fields, followed by a tie for fifth at the Folds of Honor and a share of fourth at the Dayton Flyer Invite, both Illinois team wins. He closed the Illini's fall slate with a tie for 15th at Isleworth. Kuhl is currently 30th in the PGA Tour University rankings.
Through 12 fall rounds, each of the veteran golfers has posted eight rounds of par or better, and sit in a tie for the team lead with a season stoke average of 70.9. In October, both were also named to the Haskins Award watch list. Kuhl is currently ranked No. 10 nationally, just ahead of Dumont de Chassart at No. 13 in the latest Golfstat NCAA player rankings released Nov. 15.
The Ben Hogan Award presented by PNC Bank annually awards the top men's NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA college golfer based on all collegiate, amateur and professional events over the previous 12 months. The Ben Hogan Award Selection Committee, which votes during each stage of the process, is comprised of 30 leaders in collegiate, amateur and professional golf.
This year's list of 10 semifinalists, which could include individuals not on the watch list, will be unveiled Friday, April 14. That group will be pared down to three finalists on Thursday, May 4. The finalists will attend a black-tie dinner Monday, May 22, at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, where the winner will be crowned.
2023 BEN HOGAN AWARD WATCH LIST
- Ludvig Aberg, Texas Tech, Senior, Eslov, Sweden
- Leon Acikalin, Arizona Christian, Senior, London, England
- Cole Anderson, Florida State, Junior, Camden, Maine
- Sam Bennett, Texas A&M, Senior, Madisonville, Texas
- Fred Biondi, Florida, Senior, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Ryan Burnett, North Carolina, Senior, Lafayette, Calif.
- Dominic Clemons, Hutchinson Community College, Sophomore, Cambridge, England
- Charles DeLong, Grand Valley State, Sophomore, DeWitt, Mich.
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Illinois, Senior, Villers la Ville, Belgium
- Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, Arkansas, Senior, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- David Ford, North Carolina, Sophomore, Peachtree Corners, Ga.
- Nick Gabrelcik, North Florida, Junior, Trinity, Fla.
- Austin Greaser, North Carolina, Senior, Vandalia, Ohio
- Derek Hitchner, Pepperdine, Senior, Minneapolis, Minn.
- Ben James, Virginia, Freshman, Milford, Conn.
- Connor Jones, Colorado State, Senior, Westminster, Colo.
- Tommy Kuhl, Illinois, Senior, Morton, Ill.
- Christo Lamprecht, Georgia Tech, Junior, George, Western Cape, South Africa
- Bryce Lewis, Tennessee, Junior, Hendersonville, Tenn.
- Yuxin Lin, Florida, Senior, Beijing, China
- Christiaan Maas, Texas, Freshman, Pretoria, South Africa
- Dylan Menante, North Carolina, Senior, Carlsbad, Calif.
- Maxwell Moldovan, Ohio State, Junior, Uniontown, Ohio
- William Mouw, Pepperdine, Senior, Chino, Calif.
- Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Oklahoma State, Senior, Niva, Denmark
- Greg Odom, Howard, Senior, Memphis, Tenn.
- Alex Price, Christopher Newport, Senior, Hillsboro, Va.
- Gordon Sargent, Vanderbilt, Sophomore, Birmingham, Ala.
- Calum Scott, Texas Tech, Sophomore, Nairn, Scotland
- Herman Sekne, Purdue, Junior, Oslo, Norway
- Cole Sherwood, Vanderbilt, Junior, Austin, Texas
- Garrison Smith, New Mexico State, Senior, Mansfield, Texas
- Ross Steelman, Georgia Tech, Senior, Columbia, Mo.
- Preston Summerhays, Arizona State, Sophomore, Scottsdale, Ariz.
- Caleb Surratt, Tennessee, Freshman, Indian Trail, N.C.
- Michael Thorbjornsen, Stanford, Sophomore, Wellesley, Mass.
- Travis Vick, Texas, Senior, Houston, Texas
