EDINA, Minn. (Oct. 14, 2011) – The Minnesota Golf Association’s 111th Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner will be held on Monday, Oct., 24, at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska.  The evening’s many highlights include recognition of the MGA Players of the Year (in six categories: men’s and women’s, junior boys’ and girls’, and senior men’s and women’s); the Fritz Corrigan Evans Scholar of the Year; the MGA Volunteer of the Year, the MGA Club of the Year, and the 2011 MGA-PGA Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame inductee, Mike Fermoyle, will be honored.

“The MGA Annual meeting is a celebration of amateur golf in Minnesota. It is our opportunity to recognize individual achievements in performance and sportsmanship and the contributions of those who have enhanced the game of golf in Minnesota,” says James Lehman, MGA president.

In addition, Dick Bennett, a former MGA president and member of the USGA’s Executive Committee, will be presented with the USGA’s Ike Grainger Award by Reed Mackenzie, himself a former MGA president and president of the USGA (2002-2003). The USGA’s Ike Grainger Award recognizes the contributions of long-time volunteers who have served the national association for at least 25 years. In 1987 Bennett was appointed to the USGA’s Public Golf Committee (which, incidentally, made him a director of the MGA). He served on the tournament committee when the 1992 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship came to Edinburgh USA (he was a former MPGA director), and later chaired the 2004 USAPL when it visited Rush Creek Golf Club. He joined the USGA Executive Committee in 1993 and currently serves on the USGA’s Regional Affairs Committee. The award is named for Isaac B. Grainger, a dedicated volunteer and rules official who was USGA president from 1954-55, and who continued to volunteer his time well past his 100th year.

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, and 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.

The players listed in the following categories have earned the distinction, the 2011 MGA Player of the Year, some highlights:

Junior Girls’ Player of the Year Cassie Deeg, age 18, of Hugo plays out of  Forest Hills and Golden Eagle Golf Clubs, (532.50 points). Deeg won twice this year, at the MWPGA Public Links championship and the MWGA Match Play. She tied for the Girls’ AAA Minnesota State High School individual title (with Celia Kuenster), tied for fourth at the Minnesota Junior Girls’ State Championship, and tied for sixth at the Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Championship. Deeg advanced to the semi-finals at the MWPGA Match Play Championship and was a sectional qualifier for the U.S. Girls’ Junior championship. This is her first player of the year title.

Women’s Player of the Year and Senior Women’s Player of the Year, Leigh Klasse, 52, of St. Anthony, is a member of Meadowbrook and Keller Golf Clubs. Klasse amassed 597.50 regular and 987.50 senior player points, and continued her winning ways from 2010 with repeat victories at the Minnesota Women’s Senior Amateur and the MWPGA Senior Public Links. She finished first two times more, with wins at the MGA Women’s Mid-Amateur and the MWGA Senior Four-Ball (with partner Mary Hoisser), and as a runner up at the MWPGA’s Match Play and MWGA Senior Match Play championships. Klasse finished second at the Minnesota Women’s State Four-Ball (Hoisser), tied for second at the MWPGA Public Links, tied for third at the Minnesota Women’s State Amateur and the Women’s State Open, and claimed fourth (with partner J.T. Johnson) at the MGA Mixed Amateur Team Championship. She also qualified for match play at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, and advanced to the round of 16 at the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur. This is Klasse’s fifth women’s player of the year title, and her second consecutive senior women’s player of the year.

Men’s Player of the Year Sammy Schmitz, 31, of Apple Valley, is a member of Northfield Golf Club, (766.25 points). Schmitz earned the bulk of his player points with two second-place finishes at the Minnesota State Open and the MPGA State Public Links, a fifth at the MGA Amateur, and, finally, a first place in September at Dellwood Hills Golf Club and the MGA Mid-Amateur championship. He advanced to the round of 16 at the MGA Players’ and the semi-finals at the MGA Mid-Players’ (both match play), was a match-play qualifier for the U.S. Mid-Amateur, and tied for seventh at the MGA Amateur Four-Ball (with partner Kane Bauer). This is Schmitz’s first player of the year title.

Junior Boys’ Player of the Year Dillon Schultz, 17, of Springfield and a member of Springfield Golf Club, (248 points). Schultz finished tied for third place at the Minnesota State High School Tournament (Class A) and tied for fifth at the Minnesota PGA Junior championship. However, the highlight of Schultz’s season was a final-round 66 to tie for second at the MGA Amateur Championship, July 20 at White Bear Yacht Club. This, his first player of the year title, came by virtue of a three-point advantage over last year’s boys’ player of the year, McCabe Buege.

Senior Men’s Player of the Year Steve Whittaker, 58, of Becker, is a member of Pebble Creek Golf Club, (276.66 points). Whittaker clinched his second consecutive senior men’s player of the year with a win at the MGA Senior Amateur Championship and two seconds, at the MGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball (with Ray Sauer) and the MPGA State Senior Public Links. He also qualified for the USGA Senior Amateur, reaching match play, as did another contender for senior player of the year, Pat Vincelli.

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

MGA-PGA Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame Inductee Mike Fermoyle

Mike Fermoyle’s amateur golf career featured state titles spanning five decades, beginning with the State Public Links (1969), three MGA Amateur championships (1970, 73 and 80), and four MGA Four-Ball championships (1972, 1985, 1993 and 2001). Fermoyle made the cut at the State Amateur for 18 consecutive years, 1969-1986, the last time in 2000, and he amassed 13 top-ten finishes. He enjoyed a career as a sportswriter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch before retiring in 2006. Two years later he began a second career covering the golf scene for the MGA (mngolf.org) and ranking individual prep golfers and teams.  

MGA Club of the Year Marshall Golf Club

The scenic Red River runs through Marshall Golf Club’s nines – the first opened in 1942, and the club later expanded to 18 holes in 1971. Marshall has hosted numerous amateur championships including the 1999 MGA Women’s Mid-Amateur, the MWGA Senior Four-Ball (2000), and the MGA Junior Team (2008). In addition, the club played host to the MGA-PGA Cup Matches in 1990. Over the years, the club has been the site of several MGA (southwest) regional meetings, has supported a thriving junior program and currently is home to 275 MGA Associate Members. 

Additional Award Winners

Awards for the MGA’s Fritz Corrigan Evans Scholar of the Year and the MGA Volunteer of the Year will be announced during the evening program on Monday, Oct. 24. 

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

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 16 major amateur championships and nine 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.

PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

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