Likar and Salmon Named Evans Scholars of the Year at MGA Awards Banquet

EDINA, Minn. (Oct. 29, 2019) – University of Minnesota Evans Scholars Chapter House members Samantha Likar and Andrew Salmon were named the 2019 Minnesota Golf Association’s Fritz Corrigan Evans Scholars of the Year at the MGA’s 119th Annual Awards Dinner, Oct. 28 at Brackett’s Crossing Country Club in Lakeville. Along with Likar and Salmon, the MGA honored outstanding players, volunteers and club representatives for their contribution to the amateur game of golf in Minnesota. They include: Randy Glasmann, as the inaugural MGA Giles Kobilka Award winner, and Pebble Creek Golf Club, as MGA Member Club of the Year.
 
The evening’s highlights also included recognition of Jasi Acharya, Cecil Belisle, Leigh Klasse, Trent Peterson, Jerry Rose, Ian Simonich and Kathryn VanArragon as the MGA Players of the Year (see this link to a press release dated Oct. 25, 2019: www.mngolf.org/news); in addition, Hilary (Homeyer) Lunke, one of three 2019 MGA-PGA Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame inductees, was recognized during the program (Mike Barge and Robert “Bob” Olds were inducted elsewhere).
 
The MGA Fritz Corrigan Evans Scholar of the Year award is bestowed annually to the Evans Scholar(s) from the University of Minnesota Evans Scholars Chapter House for outstanding achievement in academics, leadership and community service.
 
Samantha Likar, 22, of Duluth (Duluth East H.S.), is a senior at the University of Minnesota majoring in biology with a minor in animal science, carries a 3.9 GPA and caddied at the Northland Country Club. She was elected to serve two terms as vice president of communications on the Minnesota Evans Scholars executive board, where she is responsible for managing communications to scholars and maintaining the chapter’s social media content. In 2018, Likar worked in the anesthesia department of the University of Minnesota veterinary hospital as a clinical assistant. She also studies primates and conducts research on Type 1 diabetes and obesity in the research lab. Following graduation in the spring of 2020, Likar plans to study laboratory animal veterinary medicine.
 
Andrew Salmon, 21, of Roseville (Roseville Area H.S.), is a senior at the University of Minnesota majoring in Electrical Engineering, carries a 3.8 GPA and caddied at Midland Hills Country Club. He was elected to serve two terms on the Minnesota Evans Scholars executive board, first as executive vice president and later as vice president of new scholars in 2018 and 2019, respectively, with both positions key to the success of the chapter thanks to Salmon’s strong leadership. In 2018, Salmon completed a summer internship with Xcel Energy working in distribution engineering, and this year he was an aerospace test engineering intern at Honeywell, where he worked on commercial aircraft. Following graduation in the spring of 2020, Salmon has accepted a position with Honeywell Aerospace in Minneapolis.
 
The Chick Evans Scholarship program is a four-year college scholarship for deserving caddies, sponsored by the Western Golf Association in association with the MGA. There are currently 1,010 Evans Scholars attending 18 universities around the country.
 
In 1996, the MGA renamed the Evans Scholar of the Year award in honor of Fritz Corrigan, a long-time supporter of the Evans Scholarship program who helped establish the Evans Scholars Chapter House at the University of Minnesota.
 
                                                Gile Kobilka Award
The inaugural MGA Giles Kobilka Award was given to Randy Glasmann. The service award was created to recognize individuals whose exceptional and meritorious contributions align with the mission of the MGA and enhance the amateur game of golf in Minnesota. Glasmann, 72, of Coon Rapids and a member of Keller Golf Club, is a longtime volunteer golf administrator, a high school women’s head coach and an accomplished competitive golfer. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, where she lettered in golf, Glasmann taught physical education at North View Junior High. She promoted golf among her students and eventually became the women’s golf coach at the newly opened Maple Grove High School, a position she has held since 1997.  She was a three-time Minnesota Women’s Public Golf Association (MWPGA) champion in the 1970s and qualified for the national Women’s Amateur Public Links ten times. For nearly four decades Glasmann has volunteered her time as a Rules official, committee volunteer and administrator on behalf of women’s golf in Minnesota. She served on the board of the MWPGA in the 1980s, including a two-year term as its president (1985-1986). It was during this period that Glasmann was appointed to the USGA Women’s Amateur Public Links Committee, where she served as a Rules official from 1988 to 2014. In 2004, she was part of the organizing committee for the U.S. Men’s Amateur Public Links Championship held at Rush Creek Golf Club, and three years later, she was appointed by the MGA to captain the Minnesota Women’s team at the USGA State Team Championship. She served on the MGA Board of Directors from 1989 to 2016 and was appointed an officer (metro area regional vice president), a position she held from 2002 to 2016. She remains an active tournament volunteer for the MGA. In 2013, the USGA recognized Glasmann with its Ike Grainger Award for a quarter century of volunteer service to the organization.

The new MGA award was named for Giles Kobilka, 87, of New Hope, who is celebrating his 49th year of service to the MGA, and who remains highly regarded by volunteers and competitors alike not only for his personable nature, but also for his unwavering commitment to the volunteer ethos.
 

                                Member Club of the Year

Pebble Creek Golf Club was named the 2019 MGA Member Club of the Year in recognition of the facility’s support of the MGA Associate Member program and willingness to host MGA championships and qualifiers.

Operated by the City of Becker, the original 18-hole golf course opened in 1987 and was the creation of golf architect Don Herfort. Known as the “Red-White” course, the championship 18 holes plays from 5,152 to 6,872 yards. An additional nine holes designed by Williams, Gill and Associates opened in 1995. It was called the Blue Course but was later rebranded as an entry-level course and renamed the Local 9 (it plays from 2,465 to 2,829 yards). The clubhouse includes a porch and banquet area accommodating about 250 people and a driving range with short-game area. In 2012, the city commissioned a master plan which included course improvements such as bunker renovations, tree removal for better turf conditions, cart path and landscaping improvements and the correction of drainage issues. Much of the master plan work was completed in 2019.  

Pebble Creek has hosted numerous MGA Senior Tour and amateur championships including the 2012 Mixed Amateur Team, won by Monifa Sealy and McCabe Buege, the 2014 MGA Amateur Four-Ball, won by Jesse Polk and Sammy Schmitz, the 2016 MGA Women’s Mid-Amateur, won by Claudia Pilot, and most recently, the 2019 MGA Players’, won by Andrew Israelson. The course hosts the annual MSHSL Class A Boys’ and Girls’ State Tournament, the MIAC and UMAC championships, and is a frequent site for USGA local and sectional qualifiers.

Currently Pebble Creek actively supports the MGA’s non-profit mission through a large and active MGA Associate Member program (212 active members) using the GHIN service. The club is also part of Minnesota Youth on Course (YoC), offering green fees for $5 or less to junior golf members of YoC.

The club received a plaque and will be featured in the 2020 Directory issue of Minnesota Golfer, the official publication of the MGA.
 
                            About Brackett’s Crossing Country Club
Brackett’s Crossing has been an active supporter of amateur golf and MGA championships since the early 1970s. In that time, Brackett’s Crossing has hosted numerous MGA qualifiers and championships including: the 1973 and 2009 MGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championships, the 1993 MGA Amateur Championship, the 2003 MGA Mid-Amateur, the 2006 MGA Mixed Amateur Team Championship, and the 2012 MGA Women’s Mid-Amateur. In addition, Brackett’s Crossing has hosted several MGA Senior Tour events, as well as MGA Junior Team qualifiers. In 2012, Brackett’s Crossing was named the MGA Member Club of the Year.
 
                                                     About the MGA
Established in 1901, with the formation by seven golf clubs to organize the state’s most prestigious and storied golf championship, the MGA Amateur Championship, the Minnesota Golf Association is today the governing body over amateur golf in the state, responsible for administering the Rules of Golf, and committed to upholding and promoting the game of golf and its values for all golfers in Minnesota.
 
The MGA conducts 24 major amateur championships and 14 USGA qualifying events each year. Thanks to the support of its member clubs and associate members, and the efforts of its volunteers and staff, the MGA provides a variety of services such as handicapping, course rating and measuring, an online golf news and information resource, www.mngolf.org, and an official publication, Minnesota Golfer magazine, which benefit all golfers throughout Minnesota.
 
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