WA Golf names 2024 Players of the Year

Washington Golf (WA Golf) has announced the Player of the Year award recipients for 2024. The category winners are as follows: Men’s, Max Herendeen of Bellevue; Women’s, Angela Zhang of Bellevue; Men’s Mid-Amateur, Andrew Von Lossow of Spokane; Women’s Mid-Amateur, Taya Battistella of Bellingham; Senior Men’s, Tom Brandes of Bellevue; Senior Women’s, Kim Shek of Bellevue; Junior Boys’, Theodore Snyder of Gig Harbor; and Junior Girls’, Niuniu Zhao of Woodinville.

• Max Herendeen, 2024 Men’s Player of the Year: During the 2024 golf season, Herendeen played his best in the nation’s highest profile amateur championships. He had top-5 finishes in the Sunnehanna Amateur and Washington Men’s Amateur, made the round of 16 at the Western Amateur, tied for 18th at the Pacific Coast Amateur, and participated in the U.S. Amateur.

• Angela Zhang, 2024 Women’s Player of the Year: Still just 15 years old, Zhang has been named the Women’s Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. In 2024, she had top-5 finishes in the Dixie Amateur, Washington Women’s Amateur, Citrus Golf Trail Ladies Invitational, and the Washington Women’s Champion of Champions.

• Andrew Von Lossow, 2024 Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year:  Among his accomplishments in 2024, Von Lossow made the round 32 at the PNGA Men’s Amateur and the round of 64 at the U.S. Mid-Amateur. He also took second place in the Spokane City Championship. Competing against the region’s PGA professionals,

• Taya Battistella, 2024 Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year: Battistella won the 2024 Washington Women’s Mid-Amateur and took fourth place in the Oregon Women’s Mid-Amateur. She tied for second at the Northwest Women’s Open.

• Tom Brandes, 2024 Senior Men’s Player of the Year: This is now the 13th time that Brandes has earned the Senior Men’s Player of the Year honor. The Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Famer won the Washington Senior Men’s Champion of Champions for the fourth consecutive year.

• Kim Shek, 2024 Senior Women’s Player of the Year: Shek has now earned this honor for the third year in a row. She won the Washington Senior Women’s Amateur, and finished second in the PNGA Senior Women’s Amateur.

• Theodore Snyder, 2024 Junior Boys’ Player of the Year: In 2024, Snyder was a quarterfinalist in the PNGA Junior Boys’ Amateur.

• Niuniu Zhao, 2024 Junior Girls’ Player of the Year: Zhao won two WJGA titles in 2024, and also won the Notah Begay Washington Regional.

Inactive posting season underway

Inactive score posting season begins in the Pacific Northwest this month and runs until March 1st.

The NW is one of 41 golf associations in the U.S. that has an inactive posting season during the winter months. This is because of the general change in course conditions in our region that would adversely affect the course ratings. If you play golf during our Inactive Score Posting Season in an area where scores are still being accepted for handicap purposes, you must post those scores as soon as practicable. Your handicap will continue to be revised daily when you post an eligible score, even during the off-season.

Each course is rated under the Course Rating System part of the World Handicap System. The single largest factor that impacts a course rating is distance. How far a ball will travel in the air and how much roll it gets on the ground are heavily impacted by weather. To create a standard course rating, each course is rated as if it is July 4th (or, high summer), and the difference in course conditions in our region between summer and winter are too great and would negatively affect the majority of golfers and their handicap.