FORT WORTH, Texas – Garrison Smith has been named to the watch list for the 2023 Ben Hogan Award presented by PNC Bank. Smith is the only golfer from the Western Athletic Conference to be named to the 37 member watch list, which was jointly announced by the Hogan Trophy Award Foundation, the Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).

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. Three of the top 12 players in the Official World Golf Ranking—No. 3 Jon Rahm (2015, 2016), No. 5 Patrick Cantlay (2012) and No. 11 Viktor Hovland (2019) —are past recipients of the honor, while No. 8 Collin Morikawa (2018, 2019) was a two-time finalist.

The 2023 Ben Hogan Award watch list, as determined by the award's subcommittee, features Ludvig Aberg (Texas Tech), Leon Acikalin (Arizona Christian), Cole Anderson (Florida State), Sam Bennett (Texas A&M), Fred Biondi (Florida), Ryan Burnett (North Carolina), Dominic Clemons (Hutchinson Community College), Charles DeLong (Grand Valley State), Adrien Dumont de Chassart (Illinois), Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (Arkansas), David Ford (North Carolina), Nick Gabrelcik (North Florida), Austin Greaser (North Carolina), Derek Hitchner (Pepperdine), Ben James (Virginia), Connor Jones (Colorado State), Tommy Kuhl (Illinois), Christo Lamprecht (Georgia Tech), Bryce Lewis (Tennessee), Yuxin Lin (Florida), Christiaan Maas (Texas), Dylan Menante (North Carolina), Maxwell Moldovan (Ohio State), William Mouw (Pepperdine), Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Oklahoma State), Greg Odom (Howard), Alex Price (Christopher Newport), Gordon Sargent (Vanderbilt), Calum Scott (Texas Tech), Herman Sekne (Purdue), Cole Sherwood (Vanderbilt), Garrison Smith (New Mexico State), Ross Steelman (Georgia Tech), Preston Summerhays (Arizona State), Caleb Surratt (Tennessee), Michael Thorbjornsen (Stanford) and Travis Vick (Texas).

The list includes 20 seniors, seven juniors, seven sophomores and three freshmen. Two award finalists from 2022 return with Aberg, the reigning Ben Hogan Award winner, and Bennett. In addition, Thorbjornsen was a semifinalist last year.

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.

Award winners at Colonial have combined to accumulate 76 worldwide victories, including 54 PGA TOUR wins, and have amassed more than $365 million in prize money on the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour. More than $330 million has come on the PGA TOUR. Additionally, the group has appeared in 12 Ryder Cups and a dozen Presidents Cups.

Past recipients include: Aberg (2022), Ricky Barnes (2003), Cantlay (2012), Matt Every (2006), Rickie Fowler (2008), Doug Ghim (2018), Bill Haas (2004), Hovland (2019), Chris Kirk (2007), Hunter Mahan (2003), Maverick McNealy (2017), Ryan Moore (2005), John Pak (2021), Rahm (2015, 2016), Patrick Rodgers (2014), Kyle Stanley (2009), Nick Taylor (2010), Sahith Theegala (2020), D.J. Trahan (2002), Peter Uihlein (2011) and Chris Williams (2013).
Since 2002, the Hogan Trophy Award Foundation has awarded over $850,000 in scholarships to more than 30 universities. For more information on the Ben Hogan Award presented by PNC Bank, visit TheBenHoganAward.org and follow @BenHoganAward on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Smith and the NM State men's golf team begin their spring season on Monday, January 30 at the Arizona Thunderbirds Intercollegiate, hosted by the University of Arizona. The Aggies will compete seven times before the 2023 WAC Men's Golf Championships begin on Friday, April 28 at the Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder, Nevada.

After the fall season, Smith is ranked sixth nationally in the Golfstat Individual Player Rankings. Throughout NM State's four fall tournaments, Smith posted a 68.73 adjusted scoring average.