Freshman Jakob Stavang Stubhaug became the first Keiser University Seahawk to win the Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Barbasol. The Nicklaus Award recognizes the top golf players at Division I, II, III, NAIA, and NJCAA levels.

Grateful for the honor, Stavang Stubhaug shared that the acknowledgment inspires him and helps to confirm his practice routine is working and that he’s on the right track.  “Seeing the names of the previous winners, helps me believe that I have a chance to accomplish what they have accomplished. The prize also helps my motivation to keep practicing and to reach my goals and dreams in the future,” he said.

Stavang Stubhaug produced two victories during his freshman campaign in 2021-22, winning both the Titan Winter Invitational and the NAIA National Championship. Recognized as the 2022 Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman, he claimed GCAAA Ping and NAIA First Team All-American honors and recorded ten top-ten season finishes registering a scoring average of 71.88 and leading the team with 20 rounds of par or better including ten rounds in the 60’s.

“Jakob is a joy to coach; his golf game improved every single day all season long and now his name is etched on a trophy next to some of the greatest golfers of all time,” said Keiser University’s Head Golf Coach Brandon Miller. “To see Mr. Nicklaus hand Jakob the award and congratulate him was something special, certainly a memory for a lifetime and something he should be very proud of,” he smiled.

Nicklaus, a Big Ten and NCAA Champion at The Ohio State University, helped inspire and create the Jack Nicklaus Award in 1988 and it is now presented to the National Player of the year in NCAA Divisions I, II and III, as well as NAIA and NJCAA. Other winners of the Nicklaus Award include Tiger Woods (1996), Phil Mickelson (1990-92), David Duval (1993), Justin Leonard (1994), Stewart Cink (1995), Justin Thomas (2012), and Jon Rahm (2016) among many others.

Keiser University is a private, independent, non-profit university serving nearly 20,000 students at 21 Florida campuses, online, and two international sites. Co-founded in 1977 by Chancellor Arthur Keiser, Ph.D., and Evelyn Keiser, Keiser University currently offers more than 100 degrees from associates to the doctoral level. Keiser University is a  designated Hispanic-Serving Institution, a member of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, and was ranked No. 5 in the U.S. in Social Mobility by U.S. News And World Report in 2022.