TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Seminoles.com) — Florida State senior men’s golfer John Pak secured one of the crown jewels in collegiate golf on Friday afternoon, being announced the winner of the Ben Hogan Award in a special presentation at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
“I’m so proud for John to be able to win an award like the Ben Hogan Award,” FSU Head Coach Trey Jones said. “This has been a special year to overcome what these guys had to overcome throughout the year. To have all these phenomenal seniors choose to come back to school, there’s never been a more difficult year to win individual awards. John has certainly done that in winning the Ben Hogan Award over two phenomenal people. This is about John and what he’s done and how he’s represented Florida State in every single manner, and it is something we all are proud of.”
Two of collegiate golf’s national player of the year honors have been swept by Pak, who also won the Fred Haskins Award on Tuesday. He is a finalist for the Jack Nicklaus Award as well, which will be announced on Sunday at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, famously Nicklaus’ home tournament.
Pak finished the 2021 season as the top-ranked golfer in both Golfweek and Golfstat, symbolizing his phenomenal senior year that included playing against one of the deepest fields in collegiate golf due to the return of so many seniors. He also finished first in the inaugural PGA TOUR University Class, allowing him to play the rest of the 2021 season on the Korn Ferry Tour.
With the Ben Hogan Award, Pak also was presented an invitation to the 2022 Charles Schwab Challenge on the PGA TOUR. The tournament is typically held every May at Colonial Country Club and recently concluded on May 30.
During the Ben Hogan Award ceremony, the three finalists in Pak, Davis Thompson of Georgia and Pierceson Coody of Texas each spoke about their playing experiences, growing up in the game of golf as well as some other off-golf topics. Pak was once again gracious in talking about his experiences at Florida State and his love for the university, as well as being thankful for how much his family sacrificed so he could have the resources he needed to excel at the game of golf.
On Wednesday, Pak had produced an open letter [seminoles.com] stating his love for FSU and what his four years in Tallahassee have meant to him.
Pak finished a remarkable 21-1 in his senior season against Golfstat’s Top 25 players in tournaments throughout the season, as well as 54-0 vs. players from the Top 26-100.
With individual awards still trickling in, the Scotch Plains, N.J., native has already earned several honors this season. He won the ACC Player of the Year and was a PING First-Team All-American in addition to his two national player of the year honors.
