STATE PLAYER OF the year award winners were announced recently by the Washington State Golf Association, or WSGA.
Unfortunately, nobody on the North Olympic Peninsula walked away with hardware but it’s still a worthy exercise to recap the achievements of those deemed to be the state’s top players.
Winners were honored at the association’s annual awards banquet recently at Tacoma Country and Golf Club.
■  Men’s Player of the Year: Cameron Peck of Olympia.
The former Texas A&M Aggie went off in the Washington State Men’s Amateur — holding the lead from the get-go and winning the 87th tournament at Chambers Bay in University Place by five shots back in June.
He followed this up one month later by storming through the match-play bracket at the Pacific Northwest Golf Association’s Men’s Amateur at Bandon Dunes in Oregon.
Peck won the final match in just 12 holes, 7 and 6 over Hans Reimers.
He also made it to the round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur Public Links championship at Laurel Hill Golf Club in Lorton, Va.
Peck has turned pro and will attempt to qualify for the PGA Tour this fall.
■  Women’s Player of the Year: Erynne Lee of Silverdale.
Lee’s fifth Women’s Player of the Year award in six years came on the heels of a wonderful season for the UCLA Bruins women’s golf team, the No. 1 ranked team in the NCAA.
Lee tied for fourth at the NCAA Division I Championship in May at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga. 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).
Other state players of the year were:
■  Men’s Mid-Amateur: Mike Haack of Bellevue.
■  Women’s Mid Amateur: Leslie Folsom of Seattle.
■  Senior Men’s Player of the Year: Tom Brandes of Bellevue.
■  Senior Women’s Player of the Year: Lisa Smego of Olympia.
■  Junior Boys Player of the Year: Frank Garber of Kirkland.
■  Junior Girls Player of the Year: Sierra Kersten of Spokane.
The WSGA Championship Committee uses a Performance Points list as the primary guide for the selection of adult winners and nominations from the Washington Junior Golf Association to select youth winners.
SunLand ladies wrap
Nancy Harlan checked in to report on the SunLand Women’s Golf Association’s, or SWGA, final general meeting of the year.
The ladies held the meeting after playing a tournament game of Cha Cha Cha.
The winners were announced in a previous edition of this newspaper.
Officers for the 2014 season were unanimously elected as follows: captain Judy Nordyke, assistant captain Nonie Dunphy, secretary Barb Evans and treasurer Patricia Palmeri.
The appointed officers are: handicap chair Dorene Berard, rules chair Ruth Lowe and past captain Sherry Meythaler.
Recognition was given to the 2013 board of directors for their hard work throughout the year.
Special recognition was given to M.J. Anderson for having served two consecutive terms as assistant captain.
Judy Nordyke was presented with a lovely crystal vase to recognize her fine work as captain in 2013.
The ladies also handed out awards at the event, with Janet Littlefield named Most Improved Golfer, Jan Prout earning the award for most games played, Alice Myers for most birdies (five), Cheryl Coulter for scoring an eagle during play and Eileen Larsen for breaking 100 for the first time.
The 2013 Ringer (lowest score on each hole totaled over the season) winners were announced as follows: Red Tee Flight No. 1 First Gross, three-way tie Cheryl Coulter, Judy Nordyke and Witta Priester; first net, Cecil Black; second net, Ruth Lowe.
Red Tee Flight No. 2 first gross, Dorene Berard and Alice Myers tied; first net, Jan Prout; and second net, Janet Real.
Silver Tee Flight first gross, Nadia Saulsbury; second gross, Nancy Harlan; first net, Effie Bentley; and second net, Janet Littlefield.
SunLand’s ladies were thanked for the fine participation in the Annual Invitational and the Drive for the Cure, where $5,200 was raised for the Olympic Medical Center Foundation.
The 3 Putt Club will celebrate at year’s end with a party, funded by the participants who paid a quarter for each three-putt throughout the season.
Teams of the Olympic Peninsula (TOPS) participants were thanked and others were encouraged to play in this regional experience in 2014.
The last event of the year was a Halloween Tournament where both SWGA and the Lady Niners play together for a nine-hole scramble with themed hazards placed throughout the course to add to the fun.
The 2013 season was deemed to have been a success and players look forward to the 2014 season.
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Golf columnist Michael Carman can be reached at 360-417-3527 or pdngolf@gmail.com.
