CCU

Men's Golf Moves Up National Rankings, Johnson Named To Hogan Award Watch List

       

Men's Golf Moves Up National Rankings, Johnson Named To Hogan Award Watch List

CONWAY, SC – The Coastal Carolina University men’s golf team continues to move up the major national ratings, announced today, while senior Dustin Johnson (Myrtle Beach, S.C./Dutch Fork) was named to the 2007 Ben Hogan Award Watch List, by Colonial Country Club and the Friends of Golf.

College golf uses three major barometers for rankings -- the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings, the Golf Coaches Association (GCAA) of America/Bridgestone Coaches’ Poll and the Golfstat ratings. Coastal Carolina is currently No. 4 in the Golfstat ratings, No. 6 in the GolfWeek/Sagarin Performance Ratings Index, No. 8 in the GCAA/Bridgestone Coaches’ Poll of Oct. 12, up from No. 15 two weeks ago, and No. 15 in the GolfWorld Coaches' poll. The No. 4 ranking is the highest ever for any sport at Coastal Carolina or in the Big South Conference.

The GolfWeek/Sagarin ratings and Golfstat Ratings are both computer indexes based on various performance factors. The GCAA/Bridgestone Coaches’ Poll is voted on by a panel of head coaches at Division I institutions that are also members of the Golf Coaches Association of America and is released every two weeks.

The Chanticleers earned the national award with last week’s win at the Coca-Cola Duke Classic in Durham, N.C., Oct. 8-9. Coastal led by four shots through 36 holes and dominated the field in the final round, posting the best round of the tournament with a 281. This was nine shots better on the final round than the next squad, with all five CCU players posting under-par scores.

Johnson is now the top-ranked individual collegiate golfer according to the GolfWeek/Sagarin Performance index and was just named to the Hogan Award Watch List this week. He is the first golfer in Big South Conference and school history ever to achieve the top individual ranking. Johnson also moved up to 15th in the Golfstat Cup individual ratings among all levels of collegiate golf. Last week, the two-time All-American and two-time Big South Player of the Year was ranked second in the GolfWeek/Sagarin collegiate ratings and 25th in the Golfstat Cup individual ratings among all levels of collegiate golf. He posted a win at the Duke Classic, finished fourth at the Inverness Intercollegiate and placed second at the International Collegiate (top American collegiate) and currently has a 70.56 scoring average. In his career, he ranks second in CCU career scoring average at 72.81 strokes per round.

Additionally, Coastal’s freshmen are currently rated sixth by Golfstat through the first three tournaments and the Chanticleers have three players ranked in the top 40 nationally, as sophomore Cameron Hooper (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny) is 34th in the GolfWeek/Sagarin ratings and junior Zack Byrd (Calabash, N.C./Byrd Academy) is 38th, while freshman Dan Obremski (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) is 89th.

Coastal is next on the course as the No. 6 seed for the upcoming Callaway Golf Collegiate Match Play Championship, Oct. 29-31. The invitation-only event is being hosted by the Golf Coaches Association of America at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.