WSGA names 2018 Players of the Year

The Washington State Golf Association (WSGA) has announced the 2018 Player of the Year recipients. The category winners are as follows: Men’s, Eric Ansett of Spokane; Women’s, Jamie Huo of Auburn; 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, Leslie Folsom of Tukwila; Junior Boys’, Ian Siebers of Bellevue; and Junior Girls’, Brittany Kwon of Bremerton.

• Eric Ansett, Men’s Player of the Year: Ansett played on the Lipscomb University (in Tennessee) men’s golf team, graduating last spring. He had top-10 finishes in the Southern Amateur and Pacific Coast Amateur, and top-15s at the Sunnehanna Amateur and Sahalee Players Championship. He was the medalist at a U.S. Amateur sectional qualifier, and finished tied for 19th at the Canadian Amateur.

• Jamie Huo, Women’s Player of the Year: A recent graduate of Seattle University where she played on the women’s golf team, Huo finished second in the Washington State Women’s Amateur, tied for second in the WSGA Women’s Champion of Champions, and was runner-up in the WSWGA Championship. She won the SWGA Championship, and qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She was also a quarterfinalist in the PNGA Women’s Amateur.

• Reid Hatley, Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year: This is the fourth year in a row that Hatley has earned this honor. This year he won both the Washington State and Pacific Northwest mid-amateur championships, was a quarterfinalist in the PNGA Men’s Amateur, and finished third in the Washington State Amateur. He also qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur, and finished tied for sixth in the Mexican Amateur.

• Victoria Fallgren, Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year: This is the second year in a row that Fallgren has received this award. She repeated as champion at the Washington State Women’s Mid-Amateur, and tied for second in the WSGA Women’s Champion of Champions. Fallgren is an assistant coach for the women’s golf team at Gonzaga University, where she had played collegiately.

• Tom Brandes, Senior Men’s Player of the Year: This is the eighth time that Brandes has received this award. He won four titles this year, among them the Pacific Northwest Senior Amateur, the fifth time he has won the title; the WSGA Senior Men’s Amateur, also winning this title for the fifth time; the WSGA Senior Men’s Champion of Champions; and the Senior Royal Oaks Invitational. He also had a top-10 finish in the Washington Senior Open, and made the round of 64 at the U.S. Senior Amateur.

• Leslie Folsom, Senior Women’s Player of the Year: Folsom earned three titles in 2018, winning the Washington State Senior Women’s Amateur, WSGA Senior Women’s Champion of Champions, and the WSWGA Senior Championship. She was previously named the WSGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year in 2012 and 2013.

• Ian Siebers, Junior Boys’ Player of the Year: Siebers won an astonishing five titles this year, which include two AJGA victories, two WJGA, and the PNW PGA Junior Championship, where he would eventually finish ninth in the Junior Boys’ PGA National Championship. He made the round of 64 at the U.S. Amateur, and finished fourth in the WIAA 3A High School Championship.

• Brittany Kwon, Junior Girls’ Player of the Year: Kwon receives this award for the third year in a row. She won two WJGA titles, as well as the WJGA District 3 Championship, and finished second in the WJGA State Championship. She won an AJGA title, and finished 26th in the IMG Academy Junior World Championship. Kwon also won the WIAA 3A High School State Championship for the third consecutive year.