Hawks’ Lambeth named Division III Jack Nicklaus Award winner
DUBLIN, Ohio – Huntingdon junior golfer Addison Lambeth was named the winner of the Division III Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award on Thursday.
Lambeth was one of five golfers at the Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA and NJCAA level to be honored. Nicklaus will present the awards to Lambeth, Arizona State’s Jon Rahm (Division I), Florida Southern’s John Coultas (Division II), Johnson and Wales’ Peter French (NAIA) and Eastern Florida State’s Kerry Sweeney (NJCAA) on Sunday.
Lambeth is the first Huntingdon golfer and the first golfer from the USA South Athletic Conference to win the award. The award was first presented in 1988 and the first Division III winners were presented in 2003.
Lambeth was selected from a group of five Division III finalists that included Methodist’s Jackson Collier, Oglethorpe’s David Kleckner, LaGrange’s Logan Lanier and Schreiner’s Phillip Stewart.
“The Jack Nicklaus Award is a great honor and it is very humbling to know I will represent Division III golf in the Barbasol Shootout,” said Lambeth, who also earned first-team All-American, All-Region and All-Conference honors this season. “Meeting Jack Nicklaus and receiving the award from the greatest golfer to ever live is an extremely exciting opportunity.”
The five winners will compete in the Barbasol Shootout on Saturday at the Scioto Country Club for an exemption into the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship on July 14-17 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Grand National in Opelika, Ala.
“I am very proud of Addison’s work this year. His future is bright in this game,” Huntingdon Director of Golf Dave Schreyer said. “I knew coming into the year that he had what it took to be one of the elite in Division III. He proved that very early in the year and he stayed very consistent all year long. He is a born leader and a great teammate.”
Behind Lambeth’s leadership and play, the Hawks won four tournaments this season and qualified for the Division III National Championships this season for the first time since 2012. The Hawks shot 1,204 in the four-round tournament and finished six strokes out of first. The second-place finish was the best for Huntingdon during the NCAA era.
“The Jack Nicklaus Award is very special to our team,” Schreyer said. “We are in this battle together and Addison has clearly been our leader this year. We are all celebrating this achievement together and it will only add fuel to the fire. These boys will not stop until they have a national championship. It takes leaders like Addison to help shape the future of a program and Addison is leaving a mark that will stand at Huntingdon for many years to come.”
Lambeth averaged 72.37 per round this season, won two tournaments and finished in the top-five eight times in 11 tournaments. He shot par-or-better 14 times in 27 rounds, including nine straight par-or-better rounds.
In the national tournament, Lambeth battled to a three-way tie for first through four rounds with an 8-over-par 295. He finished tied for second after a playoff hole, matching the best individual finish by a Hawk during the NCAA era.
As strong as this season has been, Lambeth wants to see more from himself and the team next season.
“Even with all of the accolades that have come from this season, we still didn’t win the national championship,” Lambeth said. “Our goal is to win a national title. We all have to get better next year, including me, for our team to realize that goal.”
