Carolinas Golf Association Names Trahan Player of the Year

Nov. 6, 2002

WEST END, NC–Three former winners and a newcomer to the award were named the Richard S. Tufts Players of the Year by the Carolinas Golf Association on Wednesday.

Clemson University standout D.J. Trahan of Inman, SC, whose final round 66 helped carry the United States to victory in the World Amateur Golf Championship in late October, was voted Men’s Player of the Year by the Carolinas Golf Association’s Executive Committee. Trahan, who now has won the Richard S. Tufts award for the third straight year, leads the Carolinas Men’s Amateur Rankings by a large margin on the strength of a successful year that included wins in the Azalea Invitational, the Monroe Invitational, and the South Carolina Golf Association (SCGA) Amateur.

2002 marks the fourth straight year a Clemson University player has won the award, with recent PGA Tour winner Jonathan Byrd of Elgin, SC receiving the award in 1999. Brandi Jackson of Belton, SC wins the Women’s award on the strength of her runner-up finish in the United States Women’s Amateur in the summer of 2002.

Jackson, who is a senior at Furman University and the reigning Southern Conference champion, won the award in a close race with Cecilia Barksdale of Columbia, SC and Perry Swenson of Charlotte, NC. Jackson is currently the number one ranked woman amateur by the Carolinas rankings.

Cliff Cunninghan of Monroe, NC wins his first Senior Men’s Player of the Year award after winning the inaugural award in 1997. Cunningham, who won his sixth North Carolina Senior amateur in 2002, outdistanced SCGA South Carolina Amateur champion Vic Hannon of Camden, SC in the voting.

Karen Ferree of Hilton Head Island, SC rounds out the award winners with her second straight Senior Women’s award. Ferree won the Women’s South Carolina Golf Association (WSCGA) stroke play championship and had runner-up finishes in the WSCGA match play, the Carolinas Golf Association Women’s Senior championship, the WSCGA Senior and reached the round of sixteen in the United States Women’s Senior Amateur championship.

Winners will be honored at Carolinas Golf Night to be held at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, NC on Friday, January 17, 2003. The Richard S. Tufts Awards were established in 1997 to honor Carolinas golfers’ achievements during the calendar year. Recipients are chosen by a vote of the Carolinas Golf Association Executive Committee and by a public vote via the CGA web site (www.thecga.org). Tufts served on the CGA Executive committee from 1926-1964, and as an officer of the committee for thirty-four consecutive years.

Richard S. Tufts Award Winners (1997-2002)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

Senior Men 2001 – Robert Kulp, Winston-Salem, NC 2002 – Cliff Cunningham, Monroe, NC

Women 1997 – Brenda Corrie Kuehn, Fletcher, NC 1998 – Brenda Corrie Kuehn, Fletcher, NC 1999 – Beth Bauer, Cramer Mountain, NC 2000 – Marcy Newton, High Point, NC 2001 – Brenda Corrie Kuehn, Fletcher, NC 2002 – Brandi Jackson, Belton, SC

Senior Women 2001 – Karen Ferree, Hilton Head Island, SC 2002 – Karen Ferree, Hilton Head Island, SC