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Women's POY Award Established

 
DALLAS—Each year, the Texas Golf Association conducts dozens of championships in an effort to identify the best amateur golfers in the state at all levels of play. Starting this year, the TGA recently announced a new annual award – the Women’s Player of the Year – in order to recognize the most outstanding women’s amateur in Texas.
 
Some of the greatest golfers in the history of the sport were Texans, such as “Babe” Didrickson Zaharias, Betty Jameson and Kathy Whitworth. In more recent years, former USGA National Champions and Texas Golf Hall of Famers Carolyn Creekmore and Anna Schultz are regular competitors in Women’s Championships. Winners of the past two Senior Stroke Play Championships, Creekmore and Schultz, in fact, have to be considered frontrunners to win the first Women’s Player of the Year award. They’ll have plenty of competition, however, as many of the country’s top amateurs reside in Texas.
 
The award will be contested via a yearlong performance points race. Whoever takes home the coveted honor will be someone who plays in several, if not all, of the six TGA Women’s Championships this year. The Women’s Player of the Year points will be awarded based on competitors’ finishes in the WTGA State Amateur Championship, Stroke Play and Senior Stroke Play Championships, Four-Ball, the Eclectic and the Texas Pinehurst.
 
“We’re excited to award the Women’s Player of the Year award this year and every year moving forward,” said Katie O’Donnell, the TGA’s Director of Women’s Operations. “We have a diverse collection of tournament formats and a strong base of elite-level players. It will be exciting to watch the year progress and see who compiles the most points by November. I hope our competitors see this new award for what it is: A chance to stand out as the undisputed most outstanding golfer in Texas.”
 
Points also will be awarded in the Texas Women’s Open, the U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Women’s Amateur, U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur. Amateurs selected to the U.S. Curtis Cup team also receive TGA Women’s Player of the Year points. To be eligible for the award, a player must compete in at least one Women’s TGA event during the year. If there is a tie for the Player of the Year, then Co-Players of the Year will be awarded.
 
For more information for the Women’s Player of the Year award, including a breakdown of the points system, click here.