News
JGAA names annual award winners
Jamie Jaruvangsanti captured Player of the Year honors for the Girls Championship division of the Junior Golf Association of Arizona. Jaruvangsanti finished in the Top 5 in thirteen of her 15 events on the season, including six wins. She won the Mesa City Junior Championship and the Ping Junior Match Play Championship. Her low round of the year was a 4 under-par 68 at the Phoenix City Junior Championship.
The Boys Championship Player of the Year was Anthony Quezada of Phoenix. Quezada won three tournament titles starting with the Willie Low Invitational. He would later go on to win the PING Arizona Junior Masters from a three way playoff. He finished the Phoenix Metro Junior Championship with rounds of 74 and 71 to capture his third victory of the year. Recently, the JGAA announced its annual award winners at a banquet held at ASU Karsten Golf Course. “All of this year’s award winners are not only talented players on the golf course, but truly display the characteristics of champions off the course as well,” said Melanie Boyles, Tournament Director of the JGAA. “We are extremely proud of what these young players accomplished on the fairways and greens, but are especially proud of what outstanding individuals they are developing into.”
2010 Player of the Year Awards
Girls Championship – Jamie Jaruvangsanti Girls 15-18 – Morgan Miller Girls 13-14 – J.C. Harvison Girls 11-12 – Ocean Pangan Girls 10 & Under – Alexandra Quihuis
Boys Championship – Anthony Quezada Boys 15-18 – Benjamin Potter and Shane Allor Boys 13-14 – Timothy Briones Boys 11-12 – J.J. Gresco Boys 10 & Under – Cam Sandland
The JGAA also announced its Sportsmanship Award winners with Emily Kaye and Chris Felix leading the Girls and Boys Championship divisions. “Golf is a sport that cherishes its traditions, most importantly, that of good sportsmanship. All of our winners this year exemplify those traits,” added Boyles.
Other Sportsmanship Award winners and their respective age brackets were:
Ellie Leitner — Girls 10-Under; Mason Nam — Boys 10-Under; Karsten Mickelsen — Girls 11-12; Brett Dunaway– Boys 11-12; Kaitlyn Saum — Girls 13-14; Nick Singpradith — Boys 13-14; Charatta Thongbai — Girls 15-18 ; Michael Guardiola — Boys 15-18.
Most improved golfers in 2010 were Katie Kearney of Scottsdale. She posted numerous Top 5 finishes this year and whittled nearly twelve shots off her scoring average from 2009 to 2010. J.T. Rodenkirch won the year’s most improved golfer for the boys division who moved 7 spots on the Player of the Year leaderboard. He won the Phoenix City Junior Championship and shaved off over six strokes off his average this season. Gary Logelin was this year’s recipient of the Volunteer of the Year Award. Gary is a new addition to the JGAA volunteer group. He devoted considerable amount of time to help grow junior golf by being a starter on the tee box, shuttling kids around the course, delivering water to the kids, acting as a rules official, or at the scoring table. “Volunteers are the backbone of the JGAA. Without their vast aid, we would not be able to provide the quantity and quality of tournaments and other activities the JGAA has become accustomed to providing. His passion and love for the game of golf, brought a level of professionalism to the JGAA and are very fortunate to have him helping us out” said Boyles.
Finally the ace in the hole, the following golfers fired holes-in-ones during the season and was also honored at the Awards Banquet at ASU Karsten Golf Course:
Megan Hauptman – Scottsdale, AZ April 18, 2010 at Lone Tree Golf Club Hole #14 130 yards using a 9 iron Junior/Parent Team Scramble
John Templeton – Glendale, AZ May 16, 2010 at Las Colinas Golf Club Hole #8 185 yards using a 6 iron Spring Stableford
Megan Knadler – Phoenix, AZ June 29, 2010 at Encanto Golf Course Round 1 – Hole #7 101 yards using a 9 iron Antigua Milt Coggins Arizona Junior Stroke Play
Erin McClure – Tucson, AZ July 8, 2010 at Forest Highlands Golf Club Round 2 – Hole #8 131 yards using a 9 iron Girls State Junior Golf Championship
Dominick Moreira – Phoenix, AZ July 20, 2010 at Starfire Golf Club Round 1 – Hole #5 125 yards using a 9 iron Scottsdale City Junior Championship
For more information on the 2010 JGAA Award winners, contact the JGAA office at (602) 944-6168 or visit their web site at www.jgaa.org. ####