COLUMBUS, Ga. — Freshman Kihei Akina was named to the Haskins Award Finalist Watch List presented by Stifel on Friday as announced by Golfweek, Golf Channel and The Back of the Range.
In honor of former head golf teaching professional Fred Haskins, the award is given annually to the top male U.S. Division I golfer as voted by players, coaches, members of the college golf media and past Haskins Award winners. The last recipient of this honor at BYU was former Cougar legend Bobby Clampett, who won it in back-to-back years in 1979 and 1980.
Akina joined the watch list with nine other golfers, including Big 12 opponent Preston Stout out of Oklahoma State. Akina was the only freshman selected as a finalist and became the only freshman in program history to join the watch list. Outside of Clampett, Peter Kuest (2020), Rick Fehr (1984) and Keith Clearwater (1982) have been the only BYU players to be named a finalist for the honors.
During his 2025-26 freshman campaign, Akina won two individual titles and broke Kuest’s single-season scoring average record with a 68.95. The standout freshman notched two runner-ups, seven top-5 and 10 top-10 finishes this season out of 13 total events he competed in for the Cougars. The No. 6 ranked golfer on NCAA Scoreboard player rankings was added to the team USA Arnold Palmer Cup team because of his performance this season.
The voting window will be opened for this prestigious award from May 22-June 1 at the conclusion of the stroke play portion of the NCAA National Championship. Division I players, coaches, past Haskins Award winners, men's golf SID’s and select college golf media members will be eligible to vote.
Final Haskins Award Watch List
| Name | School |
| Kihei Akina | BYU |
| Paul Chang | Virginia |
| Mahanth Chirravuri | Pepperdine |
| Ryder Cowan | Oklahoma |
| Tom Fischer | Ole Miss |
| Ben James | Virginia |
| William Jennings | Alabama |
| Jackson Koivun | Auburn |
| Christiaan Maas | Texas |
| Preston Stout | Oklahoma State |