2014 Richard S. Tufts Players of the Year Award Winners

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. - Four previous winners and two first-timers have been named 2014 Richard S. Tufts Players of the Year by the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA). The award was created in 1997.

The six winners are (L-R): Scott Harvey of Greensboro, NC (Men), Dawn Woodard of Greer, SC (Women), Rick Cloninger of Fort Mill, SC (Senior Men), Jessica Spicer of Bahama, NC (Junior Girls), Pat Brogden of Garner, NC (Senior Women), and Eric Bae of Pinehurst, NC (Junior Boys).

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 and served as President from 1931 through 1933. The awards are given to the number one golfer based on the CGA amateur rankings at the end of the calendar year in each of four categories: Men, Women, Senior Men and Senior Women.

The Junior Boys and Junior Girls awards are based on a series of 18 junior tournaments run by ten associations that are the grassroots of junior golf in the Carolinas.  Participating Carolinas associations and tournaments are the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA), Carolinas PGA (CPGA), Trusted Choice Big I Junior Classics, South Carolina Golf Association (SCGA), Women's South Carolina Golf Association (WSCGA), South Carolina Junior Golf Association (SCJGA), Tarheel Youth Golf Association (TYGA), Carolinas-Georgia Junior Championship and the Joe Cheves Junior Invitational.

Award winners will be honored during Carolinas Golf Night and the CGA Annual Meeting at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, NC on Saturday, January 31, 2015.

Eight Carolinas Men's Players of the Year are current or former PGA Tour members while five Carolinas Women's Players of the Year have competed on the LPGA tour. Notable past Tufts award winners include: Jonathan Byrd (1999, PGA Tour), Beth Bauer (1999, LPGA), D.J. Trahan (2000-2002, PGA Tour), Marcy Newton Hart (2000, LPGA), Brandi Jackson (2002, LPGA), Bill Haas (2003, PGA Tour), Webb Simpson (2006, PGA Tour), Dustin Johnson (2007, PGA Tour), Cydney Clanton (2009-10, LPGA), Mark Anderson (2009, PGA Tour) and Austin Ernst (2011, LPGA).

2014 Richard S. Tufts Award Winners

Men

Scott Harvey of Greensboro, NC claimed his fourth consecutive Carolinas Men's Player of the Year award. He is the first men's category four-time winner. The 36-year-old property manager had a 2014 golf season to remember. He was selected to Team USA’s roster for the Concession Cup in May. Then in July he won the Cardinal Amateur. At the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship in September, he was stroke-play medalist and went on to win the championship. For that victory, he received an invitation to play in the 2015 Masters Tournament. He also had runner-up finishes at the North Carolina Mid-Amateur Championship and CPGA Carolinas Open.

Harvey was one of 16 players invited to attend a practice session for the 2015 Walker Cup. He was also selected to represent the USA at the 2015 South American Amateur Championship, to be contested Jan. 22-25 at Lima Golf Club in Lima, Peru. 

Harvey currently is the number 75th ranked men’s amateur player in the world according to the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Women
Dawn Woodard, of Greer, SC won the Carolinas Women's Player of the Year honor for the third consecutive year. The 40-year-old Woodard is a two-time CGA champion and a mother of three that played collegiate golf at Furman University.

Woodard’s successful 2014 campaign included winning the Women’s South Carolina Golf Association (WSCGA) Match Play Championship for the fifth time in a row followed by a victory at the WSCGA Stroke Play Championship. 

Woodard led after the first round of stroke-play qualifying at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur championships and qualified as the second-seed before losing in the Round of 64.

In CGA play, Woodard tied for fifth at the Carolinas Women's Amateur and advanced to the Round of 16 at the Carolinas Women's Match Play Championship.

 
Senior Men
Rick Cloninger of Fort Mill, SC wins his second consecutive Carolinas Senior Men’s Player of the Year award. The 57-year-old equipment consultant in the construction business was able to hold-off Steve Sharpe of Greensboro, NC in the points race.

Cloninger, a three-time CGA champion, won the 2014 South Carolina Golf Association Senior Championship and placed second in the Carolinas Senior Amateur Championship. In the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship, he advanced to the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Pat Tallent.

His other top finishes included a tie for third as defending champion at the Greenville Country Club's Chanticleer Senior Invitational and a tie for sixth at the National Senior Hall of Fame.

Senior Women
Pat Brogden of Garner, NC takes home her third Carolinas Senior Women's Player of the Year honor. Her 2014 season included a CGA championship victory, three other top-three finishes and participation in a USGA national championship.

The 60-year-old won her fourth Carolinas Women's Senior title, giving her nine all-time CGA victories. Brogden also finshed second at the Women's Eastern Senior Championship.

She finished in second place at the North Carolina Women's Senior Championship and placed third at the 2014 North & South Women's Senior Amateur.

Of the six Carolinas women who qualified for the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur, Brogden advanced the furthest, to the Round of 16.

 
Junior Boys
Eric Bae, a 16-year-old high school junior from Pinehurst, NC, earned his first Carolinas Junior Boys Player of the Year honor with a season that included three victories.

Bae won the North Carolina Big "I" Junior Class, the TYGA Team Challenge, and the TYGA State Championship.  He tied for third at the Carolinas PGA Charles Tilghman Junior. 

During the second-round at the U.S. Junior Amateur, Bae shot a championship-record 29 on his inward nine holes to help him qualify for match play.

 
Junior Girls
Jessica Spicer, a 17-year-old high school junior from Bahama, NC earned the 2014 Carolinas Junior Girls Player of the Year award.

Spicer earned her first CGA title with an eight shot victory at the Carolinas Junior Girls' Championship. She placed third at the Peggy Kirk Bell Invitational and won the Peggy Kirk Bell Junior.

She also tied for fourth place at the Vicki DiSantis Girls' Championship and finished fifth at the Joe Cheves Junior Invitational.

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

2007 - Dustin Johnson, Myrtle Beach, SC

2008 - Paul Simson, Raleigh, NC

2009 - Mark Anderson, Beaufort, SC

2010 - David Chung, Fayetteville, NC

2011 - Scott Harvey, Greensboro, NC

2012 - Scott Harvey, Greensboro, NC

2013 - Scott Harvey, Greensboro, NC

2014 - Scott Harvey, Greensboro, 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

2007 - Paul Simson, Raleigh, NC

2008 - Paul Simson, Raleigh, NC

2009 - Paul Simson, Raleigh, NC

2010 - Paul Simson, Raleigh, NC

2011 - Paul Simson, Raleigh, NC

2012 - Paul Simson, Raleigh, NC

2013 - Rick Cloninger, Fort Mill, SC

2014 - Rick Cloninger, Fort Mill, SC 

 

Women

1997 - Brenda Corrie Kuehn, Fletcher, NC

1998 - Brenda Corrie Kuehn, Fletcher, NC

1999 - Beth Bauer, Cramer Mountain, NC

2000 - Marcy Newton Hart, 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

2007 - Patty Moore, Charlotte, NC

2008 - Patty Moore, Charlotte, NC

2009 - Cydney Clanton, Concord, NC

2010 - Cydney Clanton, Concord, NC

2011 - Austin Ernst, Seneca, SC

2012 - Dawn Woodard, Greer, SC

2013 - Dawn Woodard, Greer, SC

2014 - Dawn Woodard, Greer, SC 

 

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

2007 - Patty Moore, Charlotte, NC

2008 - Patty Moore, Charlotte, NC

2009 - Patty Moore, Charlotte, NC

2010 - Patty Moore, Charlotte, NC

2011 - Pat Brogden, Garner, NC

2012 - Pat Brogden, Garner, NC

2013 - Ashley Rose, North Augusta, SC

2014 - Pat Brogden, Garner, 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

2007 - Ben Kohles, Cary, NC

2008 - Mark Joye, Columbia, SC

2009 - Andy Knox, Cary, NC

2010 - Cody Proveaux, Leesville, SC

2011 - Carson Young, Pendleton, SC

2012 - Keenan Huskey, Greenville, SC

2013 - Tim Conover, Holly Springs, NC

2014 - Eric Bae, Pinehurst, NC

 

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

2007 - Haley Stephens, Greer, SC

2008 - Haley Stephens, Greer, SC

2009 - McKenzie Talbert, North Augusta, SC

2010 - McKenzie Talbert, North Augusta, SC

2011 - McKenzie Talbert, North Augusta, SC

2012 - Kelli Murphy, Elgin, SC

2013 - Reona Hirai, Summerville, SC

2014 - Jessica Spicer, Bahama, NC

 

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