Jack Whaley has been named among the recipients of the 2025 Jack Nicklaus Award presented by Workday – which recognises the national player of the year at Division I, II, III, NAIA and NJCAA levels in the US.
Jack, representing Dalton State, won the NAIA award following his incredibly successful season across the pond – in which he won five times, including the 2025 NAIA Championship. His Championship win included a course record 61 in the opening round. He also finished inside the top three in all nine tournaments for the Roadrunners this season. The sophomore from Doncaster recorded a 69.52 scoring average with 14 rounds in the 60s en route to PING First Team All-American and Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Player of the Year honours for the second consecutive year. Jack, ranked number one via Scoreboard powered by Clippd since at least October 16, was Dalton State’s fourth Nicklaus Award recipient since 2015, joining Ben Rebne (2020), SM Lee (2017-18), and Sean Elliott (2015).
He was joined in the 2025 class of award recipients by David Ford of North Carolina, Adam Duncan of Colorado Christian, Jonathan McEwen of Washington & Lee, and Adam Bresnu of Odessa.
“This year’s group of winners once again puts on display the incredible depth of talent in the collegiate game that has led to parity at every level, evident by our Division I, II and III recipients being the first Nicklaus Award recipient in their school’s history,” said Jack Nicklaus. “You only need to look at the PGA Tour right now to understand how strong college golf currently is and how the competition has set them up for success at the next level. The last five Division I winners of the Jack Nicklaus Award who have turned pro have all won on the PGA Tour.”
Following the award announcement, Jack committed to transferring to Florida State University for the 2025/26 season after two years at Dalton State.
