MGA Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner Oct. 27 at Brackett's Crossing

EDINA, Minn. (Oct. 22, 2014) – The Minnesota Golf Association’s 114th Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner will be held on Monday, Oct. 27, at Brackett’s Crossing Country Club in Lakeville. The evening’s highlights include recognition of the MGA Players of the Year (in six categories); the MGA Warren J. Rebholz Distinguished Service Award winner; the MGA Fritz Corrigan Evans Scholar of the Year; three inductees into the MGA-PGA Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame; the MGA’s President’s Award winner (Volunteer of the Year); and the MGA Member Club of the Year.  

“The MGA Awards Dinner is the celebration of our champions, volunteers and professionals who have enhanced the amateur game of golf in Minnesota. This year is special in that three honorees have chosen our awards dinner to be inducted into the Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame. It will be a great night,” says Ken Gerzsenyi, MGA president. 

Also, in this biennial year, the MGA introduces a new slate of officers, led by the incoming president, Kip Colwell, of The Minikahda Club. Colwell, of Edina, is CEO of Advanced Web Co., a Minneapolis label and packaging printing company, and a long-time MGA board member, committee volunteer and an accomplished player, having played Division III golf at the Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology. Barb Hanson, of Crosslake, the former secretary/treasurer, assumes the duties of vice president; Tom Smith, of Lakeville, becomes the new secretary/treasurer and is responsible for supervising the financial state of the golf association. 

MGA Players of the Year
By design, MGA Players of the Year achieve the honor by consistently playing at the top of their game. Since 1975, the MGA has awarded player points for top finishes in MGA and allied association championships, as well as select regional, national and international events. Notable Minnesota golf champions who have achieved MGA Player of the Year honors in their respective categories, include:  John Harris, the 1993 U.S. Amateur champion, Hilary (Homeyer) Lunke, the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open champion, siblings Tim Herron and Alissa (Herron) Super, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour and the 1999 USGA Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, respectively, and Clayton Rask, who qualified for the 2014 U.S. Open and made the cut to play on the weekend. 

The players listed in the following categories have earned the distinction, 2014 MGA Player of the Year:  

Junior Girls’ Player of the Year Sarah Burnham, (670 points). Burnham, 18, of Maple Grove, is a member of Rush Creek Golf Club. She had five wins, including the Minnesota Junior Girls’ State Championship, the MWPGA Match Play Championship, the Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Four-Ball Championship, with partner Lexi Bollant, and the MN PGA Junior and Twin Cities Junior championships. Burnham finished in second at the MWPGA State Public Links Championship and the MSHSL Class AAA Girls’ Tournament, she tied for third at the Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Championship, and she qualified for match play at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.    

This is Burnham’s fourth overall MGA Player of the Year honor, and her third consecutive title as MGA Junior Girls’ Player of the Year.  

Women’s Player of the Year Olivia Herrick, (495 points).  Herrick, 26, of Dellwood, is a member of the Dellwood Country Club and Manitou Ridge Golf Club. She won three times this season, including the MWPGA State Public Links Championship, the MGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship and the MWPGA Four-Ball Championship, with partner Leigh Klasse. Herrick had two semi-final finishes at the Minnesota Women’s State Match Play and the MWPGA Match Play championships, she finished sixth at the Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Championship, and she qualified for the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur championship, reaching the round-of-32 in match play.

This is Herrick’s second consecutive MGA Women’s Player of the Year honor, and her third title overall. 

Senior Women’s Player of the Year Leigh Klasse, (670 points).  Klasse, 55, of St. Anthony, is a member of the Meadowbrook and Keller Golf Clubs. Klasse earned her fifth consecutive Senior Women’s Player of the Year title thanks to successfully defending at the Minnesota Senior Women’s State Amateur and the MWPGA State Senior Public Links championships, a win at the Minnesota Women’s State Match Play and the MWPGA Four-Ball championships, with partner Olivia Herrick; and two second-place finishes at the MGA Mixed Amateur Team Championship, with partner JT Johnson, and the MWGA Senior Four-Ball Tournament, with partner Mary Hoisser. Klasse was a runner-up at the MWPGA Match Play Championship, took third at the Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Four-Ball Championship, with partner Betsy Aldrich, and finished 5th and tied for 6th, respectively, in the MWPGA State Public Links and MGA Women’s Mid-Amateur championships. She qualified for match play at the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur and U. S. Women’s Mid-Amateur championships.  

This is Klasse’s ninth overall MGA Player of the Year honor. 

Junior Boys’ Player of the Year Freddy Thomas, (230 points).  Thomas, 19, of Lakeville, is a member of Brackett’s Crossing Country Club. Thomas won the Minnesota State Junior Boys’ Championship and advanced to the round of 16 at the MGA Players’ Match Play. He took third at the Minnesota PGA Junior, tied for 12th at the MGA Amateur Championship and finished 7th at the MSHSL Class AAA Tournament. 

This is Thomas’s first MGA Junior Boys’ Player of the Year honor.

Senior Men’s Player of the Year Jim Lehman, (460 points). Lehman, 56, of Plymouth, is a member of Windsong Farm. Lehman successfully defended his MGA Senior Amateur Championship, and made it to the semi-final rounds at the MGA Players’ and Senior Players’ Match Play championships. He finished as low senior at the MGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship, with partner Jerry Rose, and tied for third, with partner David Steingart, at the MGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball. For the second consecutive year, Lehman qualified for the USGA Senior Amateur, advancing to match play. 

This is Lehman’s second consecutive MGA Senior Men’s Player of the Year honor.  

Men’s Player of the Year Trent Peterson, (570 points). Peterson, 27, of Eagan, is a member of Valleywood Golf Course. He earned the bulk of his player points by winning the Minnesota State Open and by finishing runner-up at the MGA Players’ Match Play Championship. Peterson earned a T-3 finish at the MGA Mixed Amateur Team, with partner Sara Detlefsen, and a 9th place at the MPGA State Public Links Championship. He tied for 21st at the MGA Amateur Championship and qualified for match play at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. 

This is Peterson’s third MGA Player of the Year honor.

A complete list of player points can be found at http://www.mngolf.org/playerpoints.

Warren J. Rebholz Distinguished Service Award
The “Rebbie” award was established in 1994 to honor individuals who, through their actions, have exemplified the spirit of the game of golf at its highest level and who have made a substantial contribution to the game in Minnesota, or on a national or international level.

John Valliere is a former officer of the Minnesota Golf Association (he was president, 2007-2008), a long-time tournament volunteer and board member, and is an ongoing committee volunteer with the USGA (Regional Affairs). Valliere left his mark on the local golf scene thanks to his knack for getting in on the ground floor: he was a founder of the Midwest Public Golf Course Managers’ Association, and served as its first president. He was one of the founding members of the Explore Minnesota Golf Alliance, an organization which was instrumental in putting Minnesota golf on the national map; and he is also a two-term member of the Governor’s Tourism Council. And, as general manager of Braemar Golf Course, among Valliere’s numerous innovations was the establishment of the first league for golfers with disabilities more than 30 years ago, and one of the first leagues to serve executive women golfers. 

Upon his retirement from Braemar in 2010 after 41 years, Rob Tennant, MGA president, commended Valliere on his years of service to the game and wrote that Minnesota golf owed him a tremendous debt of gratitude for his passionate promotion of the state’s golf facilities and public golf, for his boundless enthusiasm in support of MGA’s mission, and for his tireless efforts as a leader and mentor to those in the golf industry. 

Additional Award Winners
Awards for the MGA Fritz Corrigan Evans Scholar of the Year, the MGA Member Club of the Year and the MGA’s President’s Award (Volunteer of the Year) will be announced during the evening program on Monday, Oct. 27. In addition, three new inductees to the Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame will be so recognized: Leigh Klasse, 55, of St. Anthony, Craig Waryan, 65, of Minneapolis, and Lynn Zmistowski, 69, of Boulder, Colo.

The awards program begins at 5:30 p.m. For more information, please contact Anne Colehour at the MGA office 952-345-3969.  

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 15 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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