Matthew Wolff of Oklahoma State, a sophomore from Agoura Hills, Calif., has been named winner of the Fred Haskins Award, given annually to the best men’s college golfer in the nation since 1971.
The 6-foot Wolff claimed five victories for the Cowboys during the regular schedule and capped off his season by winning the NCAA Men’s Champion last week at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.
Wolff, whose scoring average of 68.69 was the best in the nation this season, beat out teammate Viktor Hovland, the U.S. Amateur champion and a four-time winner this season, as well as senior Steven Fisk of Georgia Southern, who won six times, for the Haskins Award.
The award, presented by the Haskins Commission, honors the late Fred Haskins, who was a teaching pro at the Country Club of Columbus, Ga. Wolff is the eighth Oklahoma State player to claim the award and first since 2006.
Previous winners of the Haskins Award include Ben Crenshaw of Texas, Curtis Strange of Wake Forest, Jay Haas of Wake Forest, Scott Simpson of USC, Bobby Clampett of BYU, Bob Tway of Oklahoma State, Brad Faxon of Furman, Scott Verplank of Oklahoma State, Billy Mayfair of Arizona State, Robert Gamez of Arizona, Phil Mickelson of Arizona State, David Duval of Georgia Tech, Justin Leonard of Texas, Stewart Cink of Georgia Tech, Tiger Woods of Stanford, Matt Kuchar of Georgia Tech, Luke Donald of Northwestern, Charles Howell III of Oklahoma State, Graeme McDowell of Alabama Birmingham, Hunter Mahan of Oklahoma State, Jamie Lovemark of USC, Kevin Chappell of UCLA, Russell Henley of Georgia, Patrick Cantlay of UCLA, Justin Thomas of Alabama, Michael Kim of Cal, Patrick Rodgers of Stanford, Maverick McNealy of Stanford and Beau Hossler of Texas.
Last year, Wolff received the Phil Mickelson Award as the nation’s outstanding freshman and was named to the All-American team after helping Oklahoma State win the NCAA Championship.
Wolff lost to Noah Goodwin, 1 down, in the final of the 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, finished second in the 2016 CIF State Championships, and was named Ventura County Star Boys Golfer of the Year as a senior at Westlake High after posting a 69.2 scoring average for the season.
Westlake captured CIF titles when Wolff was a freshman and sophomore, and finished second in his junior year.
