NORMAN, Okla. – Fighting Illini fifth-year senior golfer Adrien Dumont de Chassart has been named a finalist for the 2023 Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award presented by Workday, it was announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) on Thursday (May 25).
Dumont de Chassart is one of five finalists from NCAA Division I, joining Ludvig Åberg (Texas Tech), Ben James (Virginia), Gordon Sargent (Vanderbilt), and Michael Thorbjornsen (Stanford). He is just the second Illini to be named a finalist for the Nicklaus Award, joining Charlie Danielson, who was honored as a finalist in 2016.
Dumont de Chassart is the three-time Big Ten Golfer of the Year and was selected as a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten honoree for the second straight year in 2023. This postseason, he earned his fourth All-Big Ten Championship Team selection with a tie for fifth to help lead the Illini to their eighth consecutive Big Ten title at Galloway (N.J.) National Golf Club and tied for second to lead the Illini to through the NCAA Bath Regional and into this week’s NCAA Championship.
A native of Villers la Ville, Belgium, Dumont de Chassart was presented with his second straight Les Bolstad Award as the Big Ten golfer with the league’s best stroke average through the conference championship; His average of 69.63 was the lowest mark on record since the Bolstad Award’s inception in 1974, and it has now dipped to 69.54, on pace to break his own program record mark established last season.
Dumont de Chassart captured his fourth collegiate victory this season at the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate, and help the Illini post a nation-leading seven team tournament wins overall. He has notched top-16 finishes all 12 events on the year, including four runner-up finishes. He closed as Illinois top finisher in a team-leading six tournaments, and is tied for the team lead with 27 (out of 35) rounds at par or better.
Dumont de Chassart and the Illini, the nation’s No. 3 overall seed, are now set to tee off Friday to open play at the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
JACK NICKLAUS NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD FINALISTS
- Ludvig Aberg, Texas Tech
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Illinois
- Benjamin James, Virginia
- Gordon Sargent, Vanderbilt
- Michael Thorbjornsen, Stanford
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