PNGA, WSGA honors 2017 Players of the Year

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Updated: December 6, 2017

The Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA) has announced the 2017 Players of the Year for the region. Those honored include Men’s Player of the Year, Cole Madey of West Linn, Ore.; Women’s, Gigi Stoll of Tigard, Ore.; Men’s Mid-Amateur, Reid Hatley of Hayden Lake, Idaho; Women’s Mid-Amateur, Amanda Jacobs of Portland, Ore.; Senior Men’s, Tom Brandes of Bellevue, Wash.; Senior Women’s, Lara Tennant of Portland, Ore.; Junior Boys’, Joe Highsmith of Lakewood, Wash.; and Junior Girls’, Susan Xiao of Surrey, B.C.

• Cole Madey, Men’s Player of the Year. Madey, a junior on the UCLA men’s golf team, spent 2017 on the leaderboards of some of the nation’s most prestigious events.

• Gigi Stoll, Women’s Player of the Year. A junior on the University of Arizona women’s golf team, Stoll won the 2017 Oregon Women’s Amateur for the third time (also winning it in 2014 and 2015).

• Reid Hatley, Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year. Hatley was named the Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year for the third consecutive year. Among this year’s highlights was making it to the Round of 16 in the PNGA Men’s Amateur, playing against college players.

• Amanda Jacobs, Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year. For Jacobs, this is the third year in a row she has earned Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year honors.

• Tom Brandes, Senior Men’s Player of the Year. This is now the sixth time that Brandes has received this award. He won three titles this year.

• Lara Tennant, Senior Women’s Player of the Year. Tennant won the Oregon Women’s Mid-Amateur and Oregon Senior Women’s Amateur championships, tied for third in the Oregon Women’s Senior Stroke Play, and finished fifth in the OGA Women’s Tournament of Champions.

• Joe Highsmith, Junior Boys’ Player of the Year. Highsmith sealed the deal this year at the Washington State Amateur, winning the title by two shots.

• Susan Xiao, Junior Girls’ Player of the Year. In 2017, Xiao made it a clean sweep of national championships in her age group.

WSGA announces Players of the Year
The Washington State Golf Association (WSGA) has announced the 2017 Player of the Year recipients. The category winners are as follows: Men’s, Derek Bayley of Rathdrum, Idaho; Women’s, Julianne Alvarez of Seattle; Men’s Mid-Amateur, Reid Hatley of Hayden Lake, Idaho; Women’s Mid-Amateur, Victoria Fallgren of Spokane; Senior Men’s, Tom Brandes of Bellevue; Senior Women’s, Yasue Alkins of Steilacoom; Junior Boys’, Joe Highsmith of Lakewood; and Junior Girls’, Brittany Kwon of Bremerton.

• Derek Bayley, Men’s Player of the Year. Now a senior on the Washington State University men’s golf team, Bayley had runner-up finishes in two of the region’s premier amateur championships.

• Julianne Alvarez, Women’s Player of the Year. A native of New Zealand, Alvarez is now a junior on the women’s golf team at the University of Washington.

• Reid Hatley, Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year. This is the third year in a row that Hatley has earned this honor.

• Victoria Fallgren, Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year. This is the first time Fallgren has received this award.

• Tom Brandes, Senior Men’s Player of the Year, This is the seventh time that Brandes has received this award.

• Yasue Alkins, Senior Women’s Player of the Year. This is the second time Alkins has earned this award, having previously received it in 2012.
• Joe Highsmith, Junior Boys’ Player of the Year. Highsmith sealed the deal this year at the Washington State Amateur, winning the title by two shots.

• Brittany Kwon, Junior Girls’ Player of the Year. Kwon receives this award for the second year in a row. She won two WJGA titles, was medalist at the WJGA Junior World Qualifier, and made it to the Round of 64 in the U.S. Girls’ Junior. Kwon was co-champion of the Pacific Northwest Junior.