RICHMOND — At its first in-person Annual Meeting since January 2020, the Virginia State Golf Association honored its 2021 Golfers of the Year, 2021 Service Award winners, and welcomed the first female President in the history of the Association’s Board of Directors. In addition, seven Board members were confirmed for the Class of 2024 via vote of VSGA membership.
The meeting was held on Saturday at Willow Oaks Country Club in Richmond.
2021 VSGA AWARD WINNERS
» The 2021 President’s Award was presented posthumously to Bill Millsaps, a giant in the Virginia media landscape, winner of the Red Smith Award, former VSGA board member, and Virginia Golf Hall of Famer. Millsaps died in 2020 after a battle with cancer, a year after his induction to the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame. His impact was felt in the pages of Virginia Golfer magazine, as he led the publication’s Editorial Committee and later became the chair of the VSGA’s marketing and communication committee. Millsaps spent much of his career at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, first as a writer, then as executive sports editor before transitioning to managing editor, and finally, the paper’s vice president and executive editor. In 2011, Millsaps earned the Red Smith Award, the top sports journalism award in the nation as presented by the Associated Press Sports Editors to a person who has made major contributions to sports journalism. During his career, he covered more than 30 major championships, including Virginia native Curtis Strange’s two U.S. Open victories.
» Janet Phillips, a Richmond native and graduate of James Madison University, is the 2021 recipient of the Service to Golf Award. Phillips, a PGA/LPGA teaching professional and the golf coach at St. Catherine’s School, began her teaching career at Windy Hill Sports Complex in Midlothian in 1989, back when it had only a driving range, batting cage and mini golf. The property grew to include a regulation 9-hole golf course and a 9-hole par-3 course. She sold it in 2021 but remained in teaching. Phillips became a PGA member in 1998 and an LPGA professional in 2000. She earned the VSGA’s President’s Award in 2006, and in the same year, she was named the LPGA National Professional of the Year.
» Mechanicsville’s Bert Wilson, a member at Lakeside Park Club, is the recipient of the 2021 Volunteer of the Year Award. As a Rules official, Wilson worked 22 events, spanning 42 days on a golf course. He’s also the Rules liaison for the Virginia High School League, which held two golf seasons (spring and fall) in 2021 due to the pandemic’s cancellation of the fall 2020 season. Additionally, Wilson served as captain for the Virginias team for the Virginias-Carolinas Junior Boys’ Matches. He is a member of the VSGA Board of Directors and serves on the Competitions, Finance, and Governance Committees.
» In 2017, the VSGA Grow The Game Award was created to recognize the positive impact and efforts made to grow the game of golf in Virginia. For the first time, the award goes to an organization rather than a single person—Belmont Golf Course in Henrico.
By now, Belmont’s story is familiar to most. The current Belmont facility was the original site of Hermitage Country Club, an A.W. Tillinghast design that opened for play in 1917. Hermitage moved to a new property in Goochland County in 1973, and Henrico County took over management responsibility of the original course. Through the years, rounds decreased and course maintenance costs increased. The course fell into disrepair, and the county began exploring non-golf options for the property. Community members banded together to save the course. Then, The First Tee came into the picture. In 2020, the First Tee of Greater Richmond partnered with Love Golf Design to transform the course into a modern golf facility, featuring a 12-hole championship layout—holes 7-18 of the original property—along with a six-hole short course and a 18-hole putting course.
With The First Tee’s support, Belmont has committed to strengthening the character of the golf community in Richmond by welcoming players of all ages and skills to find their entry point into the game.
GOLFER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
» Golfer of the Year—Evan Beck (Princess Anne CC): Beck, a former Wake Forest University standout and reinstated amateur, became the first player since Tom McKnight in 1985 to win both the State Open of Virginia and VSGA Mid-Amateur Championship. In addition, he reached the semifinals of the VSGA Amateur and claimed the title in the VSGA Multi-Format Team Championship. Outside of VSGA events, he won the prestigious Eastern Amateur at Elizabeth Manor and teamed with Dan Walters to qualify for the 2022 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship. In the winter, he paired with Jon Hurst to win the National Senior Junior in Florida.
» Women’s Golfer of the Year—Lauren Greenlief (International CC): For the fourth time in the last five years and the sixth time overall, Greenlief is the VSGA Women’s Golfer of the Year. A past U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, Greenlief continued to excel on the national stage. She reached the quarterfinals of the 2021 U.S. Women’s Mid-Am before falling to another past champion, Shannon Johnson. She teamed with Katie Miller Gee to reach the round of 32 at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship. Greenlief and Alexandra Austin teamed to win the VSGA Women’s Four-Ball Championship, and later, they teamed to qualify for this year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship in Puerto Rico. A former University of Virginia standout, Greenlief finished fifth at the VSGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship and was a quarterfinalist at the VSGA Women’s Amateur.
» Junior Boys’ Golfer of the Year—David Stanford (Army Navy CC): Stanford, a freshman at Virginia Tech, became just the fifth player to win both the VSGA Junior Match Play and Junior Stroke Play titles in the same year. He defeated Cullen Campbell 2 and 1 in the Match Play final at Winchester CC. He made a birdie on the final hole at Roanoke CC to best Preston Burton by a stroke in the stroke-play championship. Stanford qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship, took third place in the Eastern Amateur, and he was a member of the Virginia team in the annual Virginia-West Virginia Team Matches.
» Junior Girls’ Golfer of the Year—Julie Shin (VSGA Junior Golf Circuit): Shin, who head to the University of Pennsylvania in the fall, was the individual champion in the VHSL Class 5 tournament and helped lead Independence High School to the team title. A semifinalist at the VSGA Women’s Amateur, Shin also won her first AJGA tournament in 2021, the Sam Burns Classic in Georgia. Her academic prowess earned her AJGA Scholastic All-American honors.
» Senior Golfer of the Year—Buck Brittain (The Virginian GC): Brittain, winner of two consecutive VSGA Senior Amateur titles, earned his second straight Senior Golfer of the Year Award and his third overall. Brittain also teamed with Jon Hurst to win the VSGA Senior Four-Ball Championship at Boonsboro CC, and he was runner-up to Hurst in the VSGA Senior Stroke Play Championship at Two Rivers CC. For the first time, Brittain qualified for the U.S. Senior Open Championship. Brittain finished atop the VSGA Senior Player Rankings points list, nipping Hurst by a single point.
» Senior Women’s Golfer of the Year—Andrea Miller (The Club at Glenmore): Miller, who won her second straight VSGA Senior Women’s Amateur title, found success on both the state and national stages. In addition to her SWA win at The Homestead, Miller qualified for and advanced to match play in both the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. Miller also won the senior title at the prestigious Donna Andrews Invitational at Boonsboro CC.
» Super Senior Golfer of the Year: Jack Allara (Hidden Valley CC): Allara earned his first VSGA Golfer of the Year honor in any age division. He followed up his 2020 win in the VSGA Super Senior Stroke Play Championship with a runner-up finish in the 2021 event at Hidden Creek CC. In October, he outlasted the field to win the 65+ title at the VSGA Super Senior Amateur. His side tied for third at the VSGA Super Senior Four-Ball Championship. Allara won super senior titles at both The Signature at The Federal Club and The Fox Puss at Boonsboro CC.
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 2024:
The candidates were voted on and elected by the membership at the annual meeting.
BOARD OFFICERS
At the VSGA’s Winter Board of Directors meeting, held on Friday at Willow Oaks, the slate of officers for 2022 was confirmed. Anne Greever (Willow Oaks CC) was voted the first female Board president in the history of the VSGA. She will serve a two-year term (2022-23). Vice President Brian Maloney (Springfield G&CC) will serve a one-year term, as will Secretary/Treasurer Craig Groenendaal (Laurel Hill GC). Gary Beck (Princess Anne CC) remains on the Board as Immediate Past President.