NORTON, Massachusetts – Mass Golf will have two new Player of the Year honors up for grabs during the 2020 season. The Women’s Senior Player of the Year and the Girls’ Junior Player of the Year have been added to the year-end honors given to the top-performing amateur players in the Bay State.
ONLINE: PLAYER OF THE YEAR INFORMATION | MASS GOLF HOME
“Introducing a new Girls’ Junior and Women’s Senior Player of the Year point system and award will allow us to recognize the best female player across all age levels in the state,” said Kevin Eldridge, Mass Golf’s Director of Rules & Competitions. “We are lucky to have a dedicated and passionate group of competitive golfers in the state who will now be able to compete for the top spot in the standings each season.”
The Player of the Year winners are recognized each year at the Champions Dinner where the Mass Golf community will get to know the honorees in 7 categories in total:
*Awarded for the first time
In order to be eligible for these Player of the Year honors, a player must compete in at least one Mass Golf sponsored event included in their respective point systems.
The Women’s Senior POY is open to female players who are at least 50 years old. Points are earned through performances in Mass Golf events, USGA events and other regional and national competitions. Senior placing points will be up for grabs in Mass Golf Women’s Championships and the New England Women’s Amateur Championship. This includes the top 16 in the Women’s Senior Amateur Championship and events that have stroke play and match play, such as the Women’s Amateur.
The Girls’ Junior POY is open to female players who are 18 years old or younger, and points are earned in Mass Golf events, USGA events and other regional and national competitions. Junior placing points are up for grabs in Women’s Championship events, and there are also points for U.S. Challenge Cup and the Girls’ Junior PGA Championship. The top 16 & ties will also receive points in the Championship Division of the Mass Girls’ Junior Amateur.
“This is yet another step in the right direction to raise the profile of women’s golf in the state,” said Jesse Menachem, Mass Golf’s Executive Director/CEO.
Slight adjustments have been made to the Anne Marie Tobin Player of the Year award, which was introduced in 1994 when Anne Marie Tobin was President of what was then known as the Women’s Golf Association of Massachusetts (WGAM).
The brand-new Women’s Four-Ball Championship for the Townshend Cup is now on the Championship schedule and Player of the Year points are available to the top 5 finishers & ties. Point totals have also increased in the Women’s Stroke Play Championship for the Baker Trophy.
The Endicott Cup and the Women’s Mass Open will no longer be considered in the point totals. However, points will be awarded for amateur placing and bonus points for top 10 and ties in the Connecticut Women’s Open.
The Women’s Mid-Amateur Award will still be given to the player who finishes with the lowest combined gross score in the qualifying round of the Women’s Amateur Championship (36 holes) and the Championship Division of the Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship for the Keyes Cup (36 holes). The player must reach their 25th birthday by August 11, 2020.
