West End, NC – Two former winners and four first-timers are named Players of the Year by the Carolinas Golf Association.
The Richard S. Tufts Awards were established in 1997 to honor Carolinas amateur golfers who had exceptional individual tournament performances over the preceding year. Tufts served on the CGA Executive Committee from 1926 to 1964. The awards are given to the number one golfer based on the CGA rankings at the end of the calendar year in each of four categories (men, women, senior men, senior women, junior boys, junior girls). Award winners will be honored at Carolinas Golf Night at the Country Club of South Carolina in Florence, SC on Friday, February 9, 2007.
Webb Simpson, 21, of Raleigh, NC is the 2006 Carolinas Men’s Player of the Year. Simpson is currently the number one ranked amateur in the country according to Golfweek. The Wake Forest University junior won the Sunnehanna Amateur, finished second at both the Northeast Amateur and Dogwood Invitational, advanced to the semifinal round at the U.S. Amateur, made the round of 16 at the North-South Amateur, 13th at the Southern Amateur and T18 at the Porter Cup. Simpson was also named to represent the United States at the World Amateur Team Championship in South Africa but was unable to compete due to an injury.
Adrienne Millican of Fuquay-Varina, NC claims her first Carolinas Women’s Player of the Year honor.
The 24-year-old won both the Women’s Carolinas Amateur championship (WCGA) and North Carolina Women’s State Amateur (NCWGA). She was also a quarterfinalist at the Carolinas Women’s Match Play championship and tied for fifth at both the Harder Hall and Western Women’s Amateur.
Senior golf rookie Paul Simson of Raleigh, NC caps his 2006 season with his first Carolinas Senior Men’s Player of the Year award. Simson, an insurance executive, previously garnered the 1998 and
2005 Carolinas Men’s Player of the Year awards. The 55-year-old gained international attention by winning the British Senior Open Amateur championship at Staunton Golf Club in August by five-strokes. A 14-time CGA champion, Simson also won the North-South Senior Amateur and North Carolina Senior Amateur titles. He advanced to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Senior Amateur, T4 at the North Carolina Amateur, quarterfinalist at the Carolinas Amateur, T11 at the North Carolina Open, T15 at the Stocker Cup and round of 32 at the North-South Amateur.
Patty Moore of Charlotte, NC wins her third consecutive Carolinas Senior Women’s Player of the Year crown. The 56-year old won her third Carolinas Women’s Senior Amateur championship title (2001,
2004) at Raintree Country Club in Charlotte, NC. Moore finished T3 at the North-South Women’s Senior Amateur, 4th at the Women”s Carolinas Amateur, T4 at the North Carolina Women’s Senior Amateur, T8 at the North Carolina Women’s State Amateur, T9 at the Women’s Southern Amateur and T13 at the Women’s Western Amateur. She was also a quarterfinalist at the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and qualified for match play at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur.
In junior golf, the Carolinas Golf Association, in conjunction with the South Carolina Golf Association, the Carolinas PGA Section, Women’s Carolinas Golf Association, the Women’s South Carolina Golf Association, and the North Carolina Independent Insurance Agents Youth Classic, named their Carolinas Associations Junior Player of the Year Awards. The award honors junior golfers who excelled in Carolinas associations events during the 2006 season. As stated in a prior media release, Rachel Uremovich of Hilton Head Island, SC and McCuen Elmore of Cheraw, SC are the 2006 Carolinas Junior Players of the Year.
Uremovich, a 16 year old high school sophomore, captured the 2006 Carolinas Junior Girls Player of the Year award by winning the S.C. Junior Match Play Championship, The Blade Junior Classic and the Twin States Girl’s Championship along with a runner-up showing in the S.C. Junior Girls Championship.
Elmore, a 17-year-old high school senior, earned the 2006 Carolinas Junior Boys Player of the Year award by finishing second in the S.C. Junior Championship and the S.C. Junior Match Play Championship, finishing third in the CPGA Westfields Junior Championship and tying for sixth place in the Carolinas Junior Championship. Elmore will play collegiate golf at Clemson University this fall.
Notable past Tufts award winners include: Jonathan Byrd (1999, PGA Tour), D.J. Trahan (2000-2002, PGA Tour), Bill Haas (2003, PGA Tour), Marcy Newton Hart (2000, LPGA) and Beth Bauer (1999, LPGA).
Richard S. Tufts Award Winners
Men
1997 – Cliff Cunningham, Monroe, NC
1998 – Paul Simson, Raleigh, NC
1999 – Jonathan Byrd, Elgin, SC
2000 – D.J. Trahan, Inman, SC
2001 – D.J. Trahan, Inman, SC
2002 – D.J. Trahan, Inman, SC
2003 – Bill Haas, Greer, SC
2004 – Todd White, Moore, SC
2005 – Paul Simson, Raleigh, NC
2006 – Webb Simpson, Raleigh, NC
Senior Men
2001 – Robert Kulp, Winston-Salem, NC
2002 – Cliff Cunningham, Monroe, NC
2003 – Robert Kulp, Winston-Salem, NC
2004 – Robert Kulp, Winston-Salem, NC
2005 – David Strawn, Charlotte, NC
2006 – Paul Simson, Raleigh, NC
Women
1997 – Brenda Corrie Kuehn, Fletcher, NC
1998 – Brenda Corrie Kuehn, Fletcher, NC
1999 – Beth Bauer, Cramer Mountain, NC
2000 – Marcy Newton, High Point, NC
2001 – Brenda Corrie Kuehn, Fletcher, NC
2002 – Brandi Jackson, Belton, SC
2003 – Amber Marsh Elliott, Jamestown, NC
2004 – Patty Moore, Charlotte, NC
2005 – Maggie Simons, Raleigh, NC
2006 – Adrienne Millican, Fuquay-Varina, NC
Senior Women
2001 – Karen Ferree, Hilton Head Island, SC
2002 – Karen Ferree, Hilton Head Island, SC
2003 – Karen Ferree, Hilton Head Island, SC
2004 – Patty Moore, Charlotte, NC
2005 – Patty Moore, Charlotte, NC
2006 – Patty Moore, Charlotte, NC
Carolinas Association’s Junior Players of the Year Award Winners Junior Boys
2003 – Vince Hatfield, Greenwood, SC
2004 – Brad Dilen, Cary, NC
2005 – David Chung, Fayetteville, NC
2006 – McCuen Elmore, Cheraw, SC
Junior Girls
2003 – Mallory Hetzel, Summerfield, SC
2004 – Emily Street, Forest City, NC
2005 – Amber Littman, Stoney Creek, NC
2006 – Rachel Uremovich, Hilton Head Island, SC
Contact:
Andy Priest
Carolinas Golf Association
apriest@carolinasgolf.org
PO Box 319
West End, North Carolina 27376
www.carolinasgolf.org
910-673-1000
Fax 910-673-1001
