College golf is back, which means it’s time to look at Player of the Year candidates.

The Haskins Award presented by Stifel honors the player of the year in college men’s golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media.

Last year, Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg took home the honor. This season, a new host of players will vie for the Heisman Trophy of college golf, including the world’s top-ranked amateur and the reigning U.S. Amateur champion.

On Tuesday, the Haskins Foundation announced its 2023-24 Haskins Award preseason watch list. The players are listed alphabetically. Players on the Haskins Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel writers.

Here’s a look at the 25 golfers on the preseason watch list.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — As the calendar turned to 2023, Ludvig Aberg went on a tear. And he’s being recognized for his incredible season.

On Tuesday, Aberg was named winner of the 2023 Haskins Award presented by Stifel, which goes to the best male golfer in college golf. Aberg is the first Haskins winner from Texas Tech and the first Swedish player to win.

The winner of the Haskins Award is selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media and has been handed out annually since the 1971 season.

“It’s unbelievable,” Aberg said. “I’m just super fortunate to be in this position. I’m super happy and just looking forward to the future.”

This year, Aberg received more votes than any winner in the history of the Haskins Award, and there were more total votes this year than ever.

Aberg’s senior year was special. He became the first male golfer in Big 12 history to win the conference title in back-to-back seasons. He also won the Norman Regional, making him the only player in Division I golf to win both a conference and regional title this season.

He claimed the Big 12 individual title at Prairie Dunes in Kansas by eight shots, shooting a tournament-record 15-under 265. He also had victories at the Valspar Collegiate and The Prestige. On the year, he had nine top-10 finishes.

“I’m super fortunate to have my name on this trophy,” Aberg said. “This validates a lot of things, but I’m just getting started. That’s the fun part.”

The award is another impressive milestone for Aberg’s career. On Monday, he placed T-29 at the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club, securing the top spot in the PGA Tour University standings and becoming the first collegiate player to automatically lock up a PGA Tour card thanks to his play in college. Aberg has a card through the 2024 season.

He’s currently the top-ranked amateur in the world, but he will make his professional debut next week at the PGA Tour’s RBC Canadian Open.

“If there was ever a guy you could just add water and stir, it’s him,” Texas Tech coach Greg Sands said. “He’ll figure it out, and I really believe he’ll win a major. And I’d be surprised if he didn’t win more than one.”

While the Haskins Award is considered the Heisman Trophy of college golf, it’s not the only award Aberg has won this year. He also won the Ben Hogan Award last Monday, becoming the second two-time winner there, joining Jon Rahm.

List of Haskins Award winners

2023 – Ludvig Aberg, Texas Tech

2022 – Chris Gotterup, Oklahoma

2021 – John Pak, Florida State

2020 – Sahith Theegala, Pepperdine

2019 – Matthew Wolff, Oklahoma State

2018 – Norman Xiong, Oregon

2017 – Braden Thornberry, Ole Miss

2016 – Beau Hossler, Texas

2015 – Maverick McNealy, Stanford

2014 – Patrick Rodgers, Stanford

2013 – Michael Kim, California

2012 – Justin Thomas, Alabama

2011 – Patrick Cantlay, UCLA

2010 – Russell Henley, Georgia

2009 – Matt Hill, North Carolina State

2008 – Kevin Chappell, UCLA

2007 – Jamie Lovemark, USC

2006 – Pablo Martin, Oklahoma State

2005 – Ryan Moore, UNLV

2004 – Bill Haas, Wake Forest

2003 – Hunter Mahan, Oklahoma State

2002 – Graeme McDowell, Alabama-Birmingham

2001 – Bryce Molder, Georgia Tech

2000 – Charles Howell III, Oklahoma State

1999 – Luke Donald, Northwestern

1998 – Matt Kuchar, Georgia Tech

1997 – Brad Elder, Texas

1996 – Tiger Woods, Stanford

1995 – Stewart Cink, Georgia Tech

1994 – Justin Leonard, Texas

1993 – David Duval, Georgia Tech

1992 – Phil Mickelson, Arizona State

1991 – Phil Mickelson, Arizona State

1990 – Phil Mickelson, Arizona State

1989 – Robert Gamez, Arizona

1988 – Bob Estes, Texas

1987 – Billy Mayfair, Arizona State

1986 – Scott Verplank, Oklahoma State

1985 – Sam Randolph, USC

1984 – John Inman, North Carolina

1983 – Brad Faxon, Furman

1982 – Willie Wood, Oklahoma State

1981 – Bob Tway, Oklahoma State

1980 – Bobby Clampett, BYU

1979 – Bobby Clampett, BYU

1978 – Lindy Miller, Oklahoma State

1977 – Scott Simpson, USC

1976 – Phil Hancock, Florida

1975 – Jay Haas, Wake Forest

1974 – Curtis Strange, Wake Forest

1973 – Ben Crenshaw, Texas

1972 – Ben Crenshaw, Texas

1971 – Ben Crenshaw, Texas

The postseason is underway in men’s college golf, and after the NCAA Regionals, the NCAA Div. I Men’s Golf Championship field is set for May 26-31 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

With that, the race for the 2023 Haskins Award presented by Stifel is starting to heat up.

A handful of players have made their case throughout the season as front-runners for the Haskins Award, which honors the player of the year in men’s college golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media.

If you fit one of the listed criteria, use this link to cast your vote.

Players on the Haskins Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel writers. The players are listed alphabetically.

Golfweek/Sagarin rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual

With every passing week, the men’s college golf season creeps closer to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Haskins Award announced Friday its first spring watch list, featuring 15 of the best men’s college golfers this season. Gordon Sargent, a sophomore at Vanderbilt who has risen to No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, is having a stellar season, but there are plenty of other big names in contention.

The Haskins Award honors the player of the year in college men’s golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media. The players are listed alphabetically. Players on the Haskins Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel reporters.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual

As the fall season winds to a close, it’s time to recognize players who set themselves apart as frontrunners in men’s college golf over the past two and a half months.

Gordon Sargent, who won the NCAA individual title as a freshman at Vanderbilt last season, has started strong in his sophomore campaign, but there’s plenty of other golfers who are off to strong starts, too.

The Haskins Award honors the player of the year in college men’s golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media. The players are listed alphabetically. Players on the Haskins Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel reporters.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual

The bad news? School is back in session for student-athletes across the country. The good news? College golf is officially back, as well.

After a busy summer amateur schedule, it’s time to focus back in on the college game. What better way to celebrate than with preseason award watch lists?

The Haskins Award honors the player of the year in college men’s golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media. The players are listed alphabetically. Players on the Haskins Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel writers.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual

It’s been a stretch of golf unlike anything ever produced by a Jersey Shore player.

And it looks like just the start for Little Silver’s Chris Gotterup.

On Tuesday, Gotterup, who played his final season at Oklahoma after a standout career at Rutgers, was named the recipient of the Haskins Award, given annually to the top college golfer in the country.

“I definitely thought I could come in and play well. But I don’t think I expected to end up being No. 1,” he said.

Gotterup, ranked as the nation’s top player by Golfweek, won the East Lake Cup and the Puerto Rico Classic, while finishing runner-up at the Big 12 Championship and one stroke back at the NCAA Championships.

And that victory at the Puerto Rico Classic earned him a spot in the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open, where he finished tied for seventh.

Heading to the PGA Tour

Speaking of the PGA Tour, Gotterup will turn pro this week and has sponsor’s exemptions into three events over the next month, including next week’s RBC Canadian. And he’ll be looking to secure a spot two weeks from now at the U.S. Open at Monday’s sectional qualifier in Purchase, New York.

And by finishing seventh in the PGA Tour University rankings, he has an exemption on a PGA Tour international tour waiting for him.

Clearly, the decision to transfer to Oklahoma was a life-changing decision for Gotterup, the 2019 Big Ten Player of the Year.

“The toughest part wasn’t picking Oklahoma. The toughest part was leaving Rutgers,” he said. “Because I built myself there, I changed who I was and changed my game there. And with the COVID year we were given I felt it was the best decision for me to try something else. I did my four years at Rutgers and I loved it, but the opportunity was there and I felt like I had to take it.”

To say he took advantage of that opportunity would be an understatement.

Oklahoma head coach Ryan Hybl and Chris Gotterup. (Photo: Oklahoma Men’s Golf)

In all, the former CBA standout had 10 top-10 finishes for the Sooners. And at the NCAA Championship that concluded earlier this week in Scottsdale, Arizona, he finished one shot out of a playoff to decide the individual champion, while the Sooners finished tied for the lowest team score.

The move to the deep end of the college golf talent pool was simply a necessary step in his development of a player whose resume includes wins at the New Jersey Open and MGA Amateur.

“That was my whole thought process,” Gotterup said. “I grew up in New Jersey, I played in New Jersey at school. I knew if I wanted to take the next step, I’ve got to challenge myself. Travel somewhere else pretty far away from home and test myself against the best players, and in difficult conditions. Oklahoma, it can be pretty brutal conditions and it definitely made me more well-rounded.”

Next-level performance

Nothing showcased the level of the former Shore Conference champion’s play like his performance against PGA Tour-caliber competition in Puerto Rico in early March, finishing at 11-under-par while hanging at or near the top of the leaderboard throughout.

“That was a crazy week,” he said. “We’re traveling all over the place, I was not sure what was going on. And then to get down there and play well on the big stage was awesome.

“It’s funny. I’ve always had people telling me ‘you’re going to play well, you’re going to do amazing things,’ and you never really believe it because it hasn’t really happened. But then for it to kind of happen it’s kind of wild, it’s a weird feeling — I don’t know how to describe it but it definitely gives you confidence and you feel like you’re in a better spot.”

And given what Gotterup accomplished during his final college season, the sky’s the limit as he makes the jump to the sport’s highest level.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — When Chris Gotterup transferred from Rutgers to Oklahoma at the end of last season, he wasn’t guaranteed a spot in the lineup for the Sooners, who had just finished runner-up to Pepperdine at the national championship.

So the Little Silver, New Jersey, native did what he does best and got to work. And he kept working and improving all season long. His coaches noticed, his teammates noticed, and his peers noticed, too. Despite finishing just one shot out of a playoff for the individual title at this year’s NCAA Div. I Men’s Golf Championship on Monday evening, Gotterup had done enough to impress the voters and earned the 2022 Haskins Award, given annually to the player of the year in men’s college golf.

“It’s a weird day, but it’s fun, I had a good chance to win coming down the stretch, I gave myself the chances, I hit the shots when it mattered, just didn’t make the putts, but that’s golf and that’s how it goes,” said Gotterup on learning he was the Haskins Award winner shortly after his costly bogey at the end of regulation. “And then to lead up to this, to be named player of the year, it’s a weird feeling, you know? It’s pretty cool.”

“I think the evolution of his understanding of who he is, you go back to the fall, he knew how good he was, but I don’t know if he quite understood he could be the best player in the country,” said Oklahoma head coach Ryan Hybl. “It took the fall for him to be able to go, ‘I’m the man, I can beat all these guys.’ So it’s been fun because this whole spring, he’s been a different guy. As far as mentally he’s just known that he’s gonna be the best guy in the country. He’s worked his ass off for it, too.”

In 12 starts this season, Gotterup has two wins at the East Lake Cup and Puerto Rico Classic and finished in the top five in six events, including a second-place showing at the Big 12 Championship and T-5 at the NCAA Championship.

“I definitely knew I had a good chance, I’ve had a good year I’m not going to deny that but if I go out and win (the national championship), I would assume it’s a for sure thing, but then to not win, you never know,” the senior said of his unique situation. “It’s up to the people to vote and it’s an awesome position to be in.”

Gotterup is the first Sooner to win the Haskins Award, which dates back to 1971 and has been given to the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas, David Duval and Ben Crenshaw, to name a few. This year’s award set a record for voting and featured an impressive pool of future professional talent.

“It’s obviously super important for our program to have things like this happen,” explained Hybl. “It’s no different than guys getting on the PGA Tour, it’s just a very proud moment.”

Gotterup has professional aspirations, and after finishing in the top 15 of the final PGA Tour University standings, he’ll have status on PGA Tour Canada as soon as his week in the desert with the Sooners ends.

“I don’t like to think too far ahead,” said Gotterup on what the award could do for his career. “I’m sure it will do something, this is a big deal, but I’m just gonna keep playing good golf and it’ll take care of itself.”

“His leadership and his confidence in himself I think totally bleeds into the rest of the guys, there’s no doubt about it,” said Hybl, who praised Gotterup’s preparation and work ethic. “He doesn’t come to the office every day to just slap it around. He knows he has a lot of room for growth in his game and hasn’t evened sniff how good he can really be. It’s gonna be fun to watch him over the next 10 years, I think you’re gonna see some big things.”

List of Haskins Award winners

2022 – Chris Gotterup, Oklahoma

2021 – John Pak, Florida State

2020 – Sahith Theegala, Pepperdine

2019 – Matthew Wolff, Oklahoma State

2018 – Norman Xiong, Oregon

2017 – Braden Thornberry, Ole Miss

2016 – Beau Hossler, Texas

2015 – Maverick McNealy, Stanford

2014 – Patrick Rodgers, Stanford

2013 – Michael Kim, California

2012 – Justin Thomas, Alabama

2011 – Patrick Cantlay, UCLA

2010 – Russell Henley, Georgia

2009 – Matt Hill, North Carolina State

2008 – Kevin Chappell, UCLA

2007 – Jamie Lovemark, USC

2006 – Pablo Martin, Oklahoma State

2005 – Ryan Moore, UNLV

2004 – Bill Haas, Wake Forest

2003 – Hunter Mahan, Oklahoma State

2002 – Graeme McDowell, Alabama-Birmingham

2001 – Bryce Molder, Georgia Tech

2000 – Charles Howell III, Oklahoma State

1999 – Luke Donald, Northwestern

1998 – Matt Kuchar, Georgia Tech

1997 – Brad Elder, Texas

1996 – Tiger Woods, Stanford

1995 – Stewart Cink, Georgia Tech

1994 – Justin Leonard, Texas

1993 – David Duval, Georgia Tech

1992 – Phil Mickelson, Arizona State

1991 – Phil Mickelson, Arizona State

1990 – Phil Mickelson, Arizona State

1989 – Robert Gamez, Arizona

1988 – Bob Estes, Texas

1987 – Billy Mayfair, Arizona State

1986 – Scott Verplank, Oklahoma State

1985 – Sam Randolph, USC

1984 – John Inman, North Carolina

1983 – Brad Faxon, Furman

1982 – Willie Wood, Oklahoma State

1981 – Bob Tway, Oklahoma State

1980 – Bobby Clampett, BYU

1979 – Bobby Clampett, BYU

1978 – Lindy Miller, Oklahoma State

1977 – Scott Simpson, USC

1976 – Phil Hancock, Florida

1975 – Jay Haas, Wake Forest

1974 – Curtis Strange, Wake Forest

1973 – Ben Crenshaw, Texas

1972 – Ben Crenshaw, Texas

1971 – Ben Crenshaw, Texas

The postseason is underway in college golf, and after last week’s NCAA Regionals, the NCAA Division I Men’s Championship field is set for May 27-June 1 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

With that championship field set, the race for the Haskins Award is wide open and white-hot. A handful of players have shone throughout the season as front-runners for the Haskins Award, which honors the player of the year in men’s college golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media.

The players are listed alphabetically. Players on the Haskins Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel writers.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual

As the spring season winds to a close, teams and players across the country are gearing up for conference and the NCAA championships. What better time to recognize the players who set themselves apart as frontrunners in men’s college golf this season?

The Haskins Award annually honors the player of the year in men’s college golf, as selected by the college players, coaches and members of the college golf media. The players are listed below alphabetically. Players on the Haskins Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel writers.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual