MGA Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner Nov. 1 at Brackett's Crossing CC

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EDINA, Minn. (Oct. 28, 2016) – The Minnesota Golf Association’s 116th Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 1 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; four 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 also special in that the association is electing its first woman president in Barb Hanson, a longtime Minnesota Women’s Golf Association and MGA volunteer and officer,” says Kip Colwell, MGA president. “The evening will prove an historic occasion, not only for Barb’s election, but also in marking the merger of the board of directors of three amateur golf associations: the MWGA, the Minnesota Women’s Public Golf Association and the MGA,” he adds. 

As noted by President Colwell, in this biennial year, the MGA introduces a new slate of officers, led by the incoming president, Barb Hanson, of the Whitefish Golf Club. After a career in public education, Hanson, of Crosslake, started a business that provided educational golf events for women and courses in how to play golf for business. Tom Smith, of Lakeville, the former secretary/treasurer, assumes the duties of vice president; and Mike Malone, of Edina, 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 Sammy Schmitz, who qualified for the 2015 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship and won it in dramatic fashion, making an ace/double-eagle on the 33rd hole.  

The players listed in the following categories have earned the distinction, 2016 MGA Player of the Year:  

Senior Men’s Player of the Year John Anderson, (255 points). Anderson, 57, of Andover, is a member of Bunker Hills Golf Club. He finished runner-up at the MGA Senior Players’ (match play) Championship and second place at the MGA Senior Four-Ball Championship (with partner Bill Tadewald). Anderson tied for fourth place at the MGA Senior Amateur Championship and finished as the second-low senior (T10) at the MGA Mid-Amateur Championship. He tied for third place at the MPGA Senior Public Links Championship and took sixth place at the MGA Mixed Amateur Team Championship (with partner Sierra Langlie). 

This is Anderson’s first MGA Senior Men’s Player of the Year honor.  

Junior Boys’ Player of the Year Frankie Capan, (200 points).  Capan, 16, of North Oaks, is a member of North Oaks Golf Club. He reached the round of 16 at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship and the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship (with partner Ben Wong). 

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

Junior Girls’ Player of the Year Anni Heck, (262.50 points). Heck, 18, of Eagan, is a member of Southview Country Club. She had two wins, including a share of first place at the MSHSL Class AA Girls’ State Tournament and the Twin Cities Junior Championship. She took fifth and sixth places, respectively, at the Minnesota Women’s State Amateur and the Minnesota Junior Girls’ State championships. Heck finished 10th at the Minnesota Women’s State Open, and was a match-play qualifier at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship. 

This is Heck’s second consecutive MGA Junior Girls’ Player of the Year honor.  

Women’s Player of the Year Olivia Herrick, (835 points).  Herrick, 28, of Dellwood, is a member of the Dellwood Country Club and Manitou Ridge Golf Club. She finished first three times this season, including the Minnesota Women’s State Match Play Championship, the MGA Mixed Amateur Team Championship (with partner Trent Peterson), and the MWPGA Four-Ball Championship (with partner Leigh Klasse). She reached the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship and the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship (with partner Samantha Sommers). Herrick took fourth place at the Minnesota Women’s State Amateur and the MWPGA State Public Links championships, finished third at the MGA Women’s Mid-Amateur, was runner-up at the MWPGA Match Play Championship, and tied for eighth place at the Minnesota Women’s State Open. 

This is Herrick’s third MGA Women’s Player of the Year honor in the last four years, her fourth title overall. 

Senior Women’s Player of the Year Leigh Klasse, (742.50 points).  Klasse, 57, of Woodbury, is a member of Keller Golf Club. She earned her seventh consecutive Senior Women’s Player of the Year title thanks to successfully defending at the Minnesota Women’s State Match Play (Senior Division), the MWPGA Four-Ball Championship (with partner Olivia Herrick), and the MWGA Senior Four-Ball Tournament (with partner Lynn Anderson), while also finishing in first at the Minnesota Senior Women’s State Amateur and the MWPGA State Senior Public Links. Klasse finished in second place at the MWPGA State Public Links and MGA Women’s Mid-Amateur championships. She tied for sixth place at the Minnesota Women’s State Amateur, tied for third at the MGA Mixed Amateur Team Championship (with partner Leif Carlson), finished in sixth place at the Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Four-Ball (with partner Betsy Aldrich), and reached the semifinal round at the MWPGA Match Play Championship. She qualified for match play at the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.  

This is Klasse’s seventh consecutive MGA Senior Women’s Player of the Year honor, her 11th title overall.  

Men’s Player of the Year Sammy Schmitz, (508.75 points). Schmitz, 36, of River Falls, Wis., is a member of Southview Country Club and StoneRidge Golf Club. He took first place at the MGA Mid-Amateur Championship, reached the round of 16 at the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship, and was exempt for sectional qualifying at the U.S. Open. Schmitz reached the quarterfinals at the MGA Players’ (match play) Championship and tied for second at the MGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship (with partner Jesse Polk). He finished first at the MPGA Four-Ball Championship (also with Polk) and the MPGA Combination Championship (with partner Jon Holmes). Schmitz tied for 23rd at the Minnesota State Open and was exempt for qualifing at the MGA Amateur Championship. 

This is Schmitz’s second consecutive MGA Player of the Year honor, his fifth title overall.

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.

Cal Simmons is the 2016 MGA Warren J. Rebholz Distinguished Service Award winner. Simmons, of Edina, is a former officer of the Minnesota Golf Association (he was president, 2001-2002), served on the board of directors, from 1980-2013, was a longtime committee volunteer with the USGA (Mid-Amateur Committee, 1981-2004), and continues to volunteer as an MGA Rules official. Simmons was instrumental in bringing the USGA’s Senior Amateur, Walker Cup (which he co-chaired) and Women’s Open championships to Interlachen Country Club, his home course. He was also a co-organizer of the Dayton’s Challenge, from 1995-2012, which raised a significant amount of money for the Children’s Cancer Research Fund. Simmons is a director of the Western Golf Association, is a tireless supporter of the Evans Scholar Program, which provides college scholarships to deserving caddies, and has been a strong supporter of the University of Minnesota Golf Program, particularly during a turbulent period when the program was in danger of being eliminated. 

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 Tues., Nov. 1. In addition, four inductees to the Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame will be recognized: William D. “Bill,” Clark, posthumously, Lisa (Kluver) Grimes, of Alexandria, Minn., Frank Taylor, of Rochester, Minn., and Anne Zahn, of Nevis, Minn.

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 16 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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