Release from Kennesaw State Athletics:

Kennesaw State standout senior Jimmy Beck was one of 24 collegiate golfers named to the 2015 Ben Hogan Award Watch List, Colonial Country Club, The Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) announced on Friday (Mar. 13).

The most prestigious award in men’s college golf, The Ben Hogan 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 the past 12-month period. The Ben Hogan Award Selection Committee, which votes during each stage of the process, is comprised of leaders in professional, amateur and collegiate golf.

“I am very humbled to be selected to this great list, named after one of golf’s legends, and alongside the top players in college golf,” Beck said. “To win this award would be a phenomenal way to end my college career.

“However, there is plenty of golf to be played and I’m going to do my best to stay in the present and take it one step at a time,” Beck added.

“It is quite an honor for Jimmy to be named to the Hogan Award Watch List,” Kennesaw State head coach Jay Moseley said. “This is the best of the best among college golf and the list of former winners of the award is incredible.

“I’m very proud of Jimmy for all that he has done at KSU and I’m excited to see what the next few months have in store for him as he finishes out his career here,” Moseley added.

The list of 10 semifinalists, which could include individuals not on the current list, will be unveiled on Wednesday, April 15. The group will be paired down to three finalists on Wednesday, May 6. The winner will be crowned at a black-tie banquet at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday, May 18, prior to the start of the PGA TOUR’s Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

The award, which was first issued in 1990 and also 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.

Since that time, the winners have been: D.J. Trahan (Clemson, 2002), Ricky Barnes (Arizona, 2003), Hunter Mahan (Oklahoma State, 2003), Bill Haas (Wake Forest, 2004), Ryan Moore (UNLV, 2005), Matt Every (Florida, 2006), Chris Kirk (Georgia, 2007), Rickie Fowler (Oklahoma State, 2008), Kyle Stanley (Clemson, 2009), Nick Taylor (Washington, 2010), Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State, 2011), Patrick Cantlay (UCLA, 2012), Chris Williams (Washington, 2013) and Patrick Rodgers (Stanford, 2014).

During his career at Kennesaw State, Beck has distinguished himself as one of the top players in program history as he currently ranks No. 2 in Owls history with a 72.82 scoring average and his 2014-15 stroke average of 70.50 is No. 1 on the school’s single-season list.

The Columbus, Ga. native, who is No. 26 in the latest Golfstat rankings, has recorded 13 of 18 rounds under par, posted seven rounds in the 60s and totaled 11 rounds under par. In six events this season, Beck has six Top 20 finishes and five Top 10s, and for his career, has registered 25 Top 20 showings and 15 Top 10s while collecting a pair of individual titles.

Beck is the first Kennesaw State individual to be named to the Ben Hogan Award Watch List.