Frittelli named as a semi-finalist for 2010 Ben Hogan Award

Dylan Frittelli (left) with SA Open Champion Scot Ramsay. Frittelli won the Freddie Tait Cup as leading amateur in SA Open.Dylan Frittelli, one of South Africa’s most prominent young amateur golfers, has been nominated as one of ten semi-finalists for the prestigious 2010 Ben Hogan Award.

The Ben Hogan Award is presented annually, in the United States of America, 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 a twelve month period.

The nineteen year old Gauteng North golfer, who is a member of Irene Golf Club in Pretoria, is currently playing most of his golf on the US collegiate golf circuit. He is a sophomore, second year under graduate student, at the University of Texas where he was awarded a golf scholarship.

“We are very proud of Dylan’s performances on the collegiate circuit. He works hard at his game and to be nominated for this award is not only recognition of this fact but testimony to the exceptional talent he possesses. Congratulations and we hope he is nominated as a finalist next month,” said Enver Hassen, President of the South African Golf Association.

A committee is tasked with deciding who are the semi-finalists. The committee is made up of representatives of the Friends of Golf, Golf Coaches Association of America, representatives from both R&A and USGA and numerous other statisticians and supporters of collegiate golf.

Frittelli was announced as a semi-finalist on Golfweek TV on 14 April 2010.

The former number one ranked amateur on the South African Golf Association Player Rankings, prior to his departure at the end of 2008, recently recorded his second win in the US when he won the National Invitational Tournament in Tuscon, Arizona last month. Frittelli has had a number of top ten finishes this year, his consistency and recent victory, earned him the recognition he has received through this nomination.

The finalists will be announced on 11 May 2010 and will be invited to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas for the twenty second annual Hogan Award presentation on the evening of 24 May 2010. This coincides with the staging of the Crowne Plaza Invitational, a professional golf tournament on the US PGA Tour.

Past winners of this award include Anthony Kim, Nick Watney, Rickie Fowler and Camilo Villegas.

The records show that from 1990 no South African has won this award.

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