PARTRIDGE, CROCKETT ARE NICKLAUS AWARD FINALISTS

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

A pair of golfers from the 2021 national champion Hutchinson Community College men's golf team have been named finalists for the Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year Award.

Blue Dragon freshmen Ben Partridge and Harry Crockett were joined by Cecil Belisle of South Mountain, Peyton Coursey of Tyler and Sam McKenzie of Midland as the 2021 finalists, which were announced on Thursday by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

The Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year Award is presented by True Spec Golf.

Winners of the award – which will include all three divisions in the NJCAA, all three NCAA divisions and NAIA – will be announced during the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, scheduled June 3-6.

This is the third-straight season a Blue Dragon has been a finalist for the Nicklaus Player of the Year Award. Sophomore Charlie Crockett was named a finalist in both 2019 and 2020.

Not only did Partridge and Harry Crockett lead the Blue Dragons to the program's first national team championship, the players dueled in a four-hole playoff for the 2021 NJCAA national individual championship. Partridge won the individual title with a birdie on the fourth playoff hole.

Both Partridge and Crockett had exceptional seasons from start to finish in 2020-21.

Combined, the Blue Dragon freshmen accounted for four individual tournament titles, four individual runners-up, 11 Top-3 finishes and 17 Top-10 tournament finishes. They had a combined 33 of 58 rounds shot under par and a combined stroke average of 71.4.

With their national tournament finishes, Partridge and Crockett were the first and second Blue Dragons to earn NJCAA first-team All-America honors in men's golf.

Partridge, a freshman from London, England, had a season stroke average of 71.2 over 29 rounds played over the combined fall and spring seasons. Over the final three tournaments in 2021 – the KJCCC Championship, District III/Region VI and the NJCAA Championship – Partridge averaged 70.8 strokes per round with 7 of 10 rounds shot under par.

In addition to winning the NJCAA Individual title, Partridge won the NJCAA National Preview, also at The Rawls Course in Lubbock – site of the 2021 national championships. He was Jayhawk Conference regular-season co-champion with teammate Charlie Crockett.

Partridge had two tournament titles, six Top-3 finishes and placed in the Top 10 in 9 of 10 total tournaments this season.

Harry Crockett, a freshman from Oxted, England, earned two individual tournament championships this season – the District III/Region VI crown and at Jayhawk Conference No. 2. Crockett also had five Top-3 performances and eight Top-10 finishes in 2020-21.

Crockett had a season-stroke average of 71.6 for the season with 17 rounds under par. Over the final three tournaments of 2021, Crockett shot an average of 70.1.

Crockett placed third in the 2021 Jayhawk Conference regular-season standings.