Lee headlines WSGA 2013 Players of the Year

The Washington State Golf Association (WSGA) has announced the 2013 Player of the Year recipients. The winners include Men’s Player of the Year, Cameron Peck of Olympia, Wash.; Women’s, Erynne Lee of Silverdale; Men’s Mid-Amateur, Mike Haack of Bellevue; Women’s Mid-Amateur, Leslie Folsom of Seattle; Senior Men’s, Tom Brandes of Bellevue; Senior Women’s, Lisa Smego of Olympia; Junior Boys’, Frank Garber of Kirkland; and Junior Girls’, Sierra Kersten of Spokane.

Peck dominated the field in two of the region’s most prestigious championships, winning the Washington State Men’s Amateur and the Pacific Northwest Men’s Amateur. He went wire-to-wire in the State Amateur, held at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash., winning the championship by five shots.

Lee earned her fifth Women’s Player of the Year honor in six years after an impressive sophomore year playing on the UCLA women’s golf team, which is currently the No. 1-ranked women’s golf team in the U.S. She tied for fourth in the NCAA Division I Championship, and qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur, where she made it to the Round of 64. Lee is also a three-time recipient of the WSGA Junior Girls’ Player of the Year (2008-10).

Haack won the Washington State Champion of Champions, against an elite field consisting of club champions and winners of other WSGA championships.

For Folsom, her 2013 campaign was a continuation of her stellar play, enabling her to repeat as the Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year.

Brandes enjoyed another dominant season in 2013, as he repeated as champion in the Washington State Senior Men’s Amateur and the Pacific Northwest Senior Men’s Amateur. Brandes took his game overseas in 2013, finishing runner-up in the British Senior Amateur, held at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in Scotland.
Smego should probably also receive a Comeback Player of the Year award of some kind, having come back strong in 2013 after recovering from back surgery.
This is Garber’s second consecutive Junior Boys’ Player of the Year award while this is Kersten’s first Player of the Year honor, and it was well-deserved. She is the reigning AAAA State High School champion; was medalist at the U.S. Junior Girls’ qualifier, and would eventually make it to the Round of 64 in that championship; and tied for 35th in the Callaway Junior World Championship.