RICHMOND — The Virginia State Golf Association honored its award winners
and 2018 Golfers of the Year during the VSGA Annual Meeting on Saturday at Willow
Oaks Country Club.
The VSGA presented four awards
on Saturday: The President’s Award, the Service to Golf Award, the Volunteer of
the Year Award, and the Grow The Game Award. The VSGA also presented 2018
Golfer of the Year Awards to six individuals, and the VSGA membership voted on six
Board of Directors members for the Class of 2021.
2018 VSGA AWARD WINNERS
» Vern Inge Jr. was the recipient of the President’s Award in
recognition of his contributions and service to the game. Inge has been
involved with many of the large initiatives that have occurred since his
arrival in 2008 as the VSGA’s volunteer general counsel. Although he is not a
board member, he attends all board meetings and executive committee meetings in
efforts to provide legal advice on a wide range of issues. Examples include
integration of the Women’s Division into the governance of the VSGA, rewriting
of the VSGA bylaws, and advice on the new VSGA headquarters, to name a few.
» Gordon and Michelle Austin were the co-recipients of the VSGA
Service to Golf Award. For the last decade, Gordon and Michelle have been
co-chairs of the Bobby Bowers Memorial Junior Golf Tournament at Springfield
Golf & Country Club. Gordon has also served as the president of the Bobby
Bowers Committee that awards scholarships to young deserving athletes from
local high schools.
» Janet Brockwell earned the VSGA Volunteer of the Year Award. Brockwell,
of New Kent, has been a volunteer course rater with the VSGA since 2006.
Brockwell originally began as a course rater in the Williamsburg area but her
role increased as the rating area expanded to include more of the general
Tidewater region. She is a dedicated volunteer who has been willing to go
outside of her area to rate courses, if needed, and she’s been a mentor to new
course rating volunteers for the VSGA.
» Kandi Comer, PGA, is the second recipient of the VSGA Grow The Game
Award, which recognizes the positive impact and efforts made to grow the game
of golf in Virginia. Comer is based at Old Trail Golf Club in Crozet and has
been recognized as both one of the top instructors in Virginia by Golf Digest and as a US Kids Top 50
Junior Instructor. She is ranked by Golf
Digestas a National Top 100 club
fitter. Her tireless work with juniors has helped many young players earn
opportunities to play college golf. In 2016, she joined the Golf Channel
Academy as a lead instructor, and she has served as a member on the PGA
President’s Council on Growing the Game.
GOLFER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
» Men’s Golfer of the Year and Senior Men’s Golfer of the Year: Buck
Brittain (The Virginian GC): Brittain is the first player to ever win both
the Men’s Golfer of the Year and Senior Men’s Golfer of the Year awards in the
same year. As a regular, Brittain—who earned the award for the second time and
first time since 2012—won the 42nd VSGA Mid-Amateur Championship at
Winchester Country Club by four strokes; qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur
Championship for the first time; reached match play at the 105th
VSGA Amateur; finished in the top 10 at the Delta Dental State Open of
Virginia; and finished No. 1 in the VSGA Men’s Player Rankings. His senior
resume was equally as impressive. Brittain became the first back-to-back winner
of the Senior Open of Virginia; he was a semifinalist at the VSGA Senior
Amateur; he tied for runner-up honors at the VSGA Senior Stroke Play
Championship; and finished No. 2 in the VSGA Senior Player Rankings despite
playing in only four events as a senior.
» Women’s Golfer of the Year: Lauren Greenlief (International CC): Greenlief
captured Women’s Golfer of the Year honors for the second straight year and
fourth time overall. She won the VSGA Women’s Amateur Championship for the
second straight year and made her presence known on the national stage once
again. She reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship,
marking the first time since 2006 that a mid-amateur player had advanced that
far in the championship. She also reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Women’s
Mid-Amateur Championship, an event she won in 2015. Greenlief teamed with
Shabril Derco for her third straight win in the VSGA Women’s Four-Ball
Championship and teamed with Katie Miller to qualify for the 2019 U.S. Women’s
Amateur Four-Ball Championship.
» Junior Boys’ Golfer of the Year: Connor Johnson Jr. (CC of Virginia):
Johnson, long one of the better players in Virginia junior golf, broke through
in a big way in 2018. He won the 66th VSGA Junior Stroke Play
Championship at Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech by three strokes for his
first VSGA individual title. Johnson also teamed with Drew Brockwell to win the
MAPGA/VSGA Junior Four-Ball Championship in the spring, and for the second
straight year, Johnson was the stroke-play qualifying medalist at the VSGA
Junior Match Play Championship. Johnson won the prestigious Scott Robertson
Memorial Tournament in May, becoming the first Virginian in 26 years to win the
event. Johnson began his college career at Virginia Tech in the fall and made
an immediate impact, ranking third on the Hokies’ roster in stroke average
(72.67) while playing in all 15 rounds. He recorded two top-10 finishes and
posted a low round of 66.
» Junior Girls’ Golfer of the Year: Jayde Dudley (Hidden Valley CC): Dudley,
the granddaughter of nine-time VSGA champion Dot Bolling, added a trophy of her
own to the family mantle by claiming the 49th VSGA Junior Girls’
Championship at Boonsboro Country Club in July. Dudley shot 73 in the second and
final round to hold on for a two-stroke victory. Bound for Radford University
this coming fall, Dudley was the only female player on Hidden Valley High
School’s golf team, and she helped lead the Titans to a second-place finish at
the Virginia 3A championship. Dudley also made match play at the VSGA Women’s
Amateur Championship.
» Senior Women’s Golfer of the Year: Natalie Easterly (CC of Virginia):
In 2017, Easterly won her second VSGA Senior Women’s Stroke Play Championship,
a decade after winning her first. In 2018, Easterly repeated that feat, only
this time it was in the VSGA Senior Women’s Amateur Championship. Easterly ran
through a loaded bracket at The Omni Homestead Resort, defeating Lindsay
Wortham, Boodie McGurn, Shelley Savage and Mimi Hoffman to claim her second
title and first since 2008. Easterly also teamed with Amy Ellertson to win two
titles: The senior division at the VSGA Women’s Four-Ball Championship and the
Women’s Trans National Golf Association senior title in Arizona.
» Super Senior Golfer of the Year: Jack Vardaman (The Homestead): Vardaman
pulled a rare double in 2018, winning both the VSGA Super Senior Stroke Play
Championship and his age division at the VSGA Super Senior Amateur
Championship. Vardaman became the first player since Bill Stallings in 2007 to
accomplish the feat. In the Super Senior Stroke Play Championship at The
Homestead, Vardaman posted a 2-under-142 to finish two shots clear of the
field. He defeated Joe Cochran 5 and 3 in the title match of the 75 and over
division at the VSGA Super Senior Amateur at Loudoun Golf & Country Club.
BOARD ELECTION
» The VSGA Nominating Committee
met—and in accordance with Article VII of the Bylaws of the Virginia State Golf
Association—selected the following candidates for election to the VSGA Board of
Directors, Class of 2021:
The candidates were voted on and
elected by the membership at the annual meeting.