Trahan Named Semifinalist for Hogan Award

April 15, 2003

Clemson, SC – Clemson, SC-Clemson senior D.J. Trahan is one of 11 college golfers named as semifinal candidates for the 2003 Ben Hogan Award. The list was announced Tuesday by the Golf Coaches Association of America. The honor is presented to the top men’s golfer in the nation, taking into account all college and amateur competitions from May 1, 2002 to May 1, 2003.

Trahan won the award last year, the first Clemson golfer so honored. This year, Trahan has led Clemson to the number-one ranking in the nation with a 70.31 stroke average and seven top 10 finishes in nine tournaments. He won the Mercedes Benz Collegiate in Jacksonville in February and has four second-place finishes this year, including each of his last three events. In addition to holding down the number-one ranking among college golfers in the Sagarin/Golfweek poll, he is also the number-one ranked amateur in the world according to Golfweek and Titleist.

For his career, Trahan is Clemson’s leader in stroke average (71.38), rounds in the 60s (41) and rounds under par (74). He needs three rounds at par or better to tie John Engler’s career record in that category. He will lead the Tigers into the ACC Tournament this weekend at The Old North State Club in New London, NC.

The list of Hogan Award semifinalists for 2003 includes four ACC players. In addition to Trahan, Dustin Bray of North Carolina, Bill Haas of Wake Forest and Justin Walters of NC State are also among the 11. The others on the list are Ricky Barnes of Arizona, Hunter Mahan of Oklahoma State, Ryan Moore of UNLV, Chris Nallen of Arizona, Adam Rubinson of TCU, Nick Watney of Fresno State and Oliver Wilson of Augusta State.

The Hogan Award selection committee will name five finalists on April 25. The winner will be announced on May 9 and the presentation banquet will be held at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, TX on May 19. That will be the Monday prior to the Bank of America Colonial PGA Tour event.