Stanford’s Maverick McNealy of Portola Valley was named a semifinalist for the 2015 Ben Hogan Award, as announced Wednesday by Colonial Country Club, Friends of Golf and the Golf Coaches Association of America.
McNealy is one of 10 semifinalists — and three sophomores — along with Gavin Green (New Mexico), Beau Hossler (Texas), Kyle Jones (Baylor), Lee McCoy (Georgia), Cheng-Tsung Pan (Washington), Jon Rahm (Arizona State), Ollie Schniederjans (Georgia Tech), Robby Shelton (Alabama) and Hunter Stewart (Vanderbilt).
This is the first time since 2005 that 10 different schools are represented on the semifinalist list. Stanford has had a semifinalist for the award in each of the past six seasons.
The Ben Hogan Award, the most prestigious award in men’s college golf, was won last year by Stanford’s Patrick Rodgers.
The Ben Hogan Award is presented annually 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 the 12-month period dating from the previous award’s banquet. The Ben Hogan Award Selection Committee is made up of 25 leaders and experts in amateur, college and professional golf.
The list of 10 semifinalists will be pared down to three finalists on May 6. The three finalists will attend a black-tie banquet at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 18, where the winner will be crowned.
Women’s tennis
Nationally No. 11 Stanford visits No. 4 California on Saturday at noon to conclude the regular season.
The Cardinal (15-4, 7-2 Pac-12) has won six in a row, and a victory against the Golden Bears (18-3, 8-1 Pac-12) would equal its longest winning streak of the season after opening 7-0.
One of Stanford’s four losses came at the hands of California, which prevailed 4-3 on March 1 in a non-counting Pac-12 match at Taube Family Tennis Stadium. The Golden Bears have a shot at repeating as conference champions depending on a couple outcomes. However, Stanford has won nine of the past 12 meetings, including a 5-2 victory in Berkeley last season.
Stanford is coming off a 6-1 triumph over No. 16 Pepperdine, representing its fourth victory over a top-20 opponent. Meanwhile, the Cardinal’s four losses have come against teams ranked No. 8 or higher. It’s only the second time over the last six seasons that Stanford has suffered four or more losses.
Taylor Davidson (27-7 overall, 16-2 duals) and Caroline Doyle (27-5 overall, 17-2 duals) share the team lead in victories, with Carol Zhao (26-4 overall, 17-2 duals) close behind. Doyle has won seven straight matches while Davidson, Krista Hardebeck, Ellen Tsay and Zhao are all riding six-match winning streaks.
The Cardinal continues to maintain a presence among the national rankings, with five players ranked in singles: Zhao (2), Davidson (18), Doyle (20), Hardebeck (96) and Tsay (112). Two doubles teams — Davidson/Zhao (2) and Doyle/Tsay (14) appear in the rankings.
Softball
Stanford concludes its longest home stretch of the season when it plays host to No. 1/2 Oregon for a three-game series this weekend.
The Cardinal (16-26, 1-11 Pac-12) begins the series Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (PT). The series continues Sunday at noon and concludes Monday at 7 p.m. Saturday and Monday’s games will be on the Pac-12 Networks and Sunday’s game will be on ESPN. The series will complete a seven-game home stand for the Cardinal.
Stanford continued Pac-12 play last weekend, going 0-3 against No. 9/8 UCLA. The Cardinal showcased its steady defense and hit the ball well but could not slow down the Bruins’ offense.
Hanna Winter led Stanford at the plate against UCLA, going 3-for-8 (.375) with a run and a walk. She moved into third place in career steals in Stanford history with 57. Bessie Noll and Kylie Sorenson provided the power for the Cardinal with Noll hitting two home runs and Sorenson producing one during the three-game set.
The Cardinal has been limited at pitcher due to injuries and the UCLA series saw only Stanford position players in the circle. Sorenson (SS) pitched a majority of the innings, while Erin Ashby (2B), Kayla Bonstrom (1B) and Kaitlyn Lagattuta (UTL) each made their season debuts in the circle.
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics