KCGA/KGA Women Player of the Year Recipients
As the 2019 season comes to an end, the Kansas City Golf Association and Kansas Golf Association would like to recognize the top talent in our women’s sector of competition. These three players exceled in tournaments all year long and proved themselves to be consistently atop the leader board. Congratulations to the following women for their excellent seasons!
Julia Misemer
Julia Misemer, a sophomore at Blue Valley West, is our 2019 KCGA/KGA Girls Player of the Year, besting her competition by over 1100 points with three outright wins and a couple runner-up finishes. Coming off a recent KSHSAA 6A Girls State Championship win, Misemer ran away with this year’s award. Highlights of Misemer’s 2019 campaign consist of a first-place finish at the KC Junior Championship at Brookridge Golf & Fitness, qualifying for the National PGA Championship, and a runner-up finish at the KC Women’s Match Play Championship at Swope Memorial.
Misemer also qualified for the US Girls Junior Championship and qualified for match play. At the Kansas Women’s Amateur at Prairie Dunes, Misemer finished tied for eight, and was also a member of the 2019 Mid-America Junior Cup that defeated St. Louis 13-3. Misemer at only 15, has long been a force in the junior golf community of Kansas and we look forward to her next few years of competition.
Rachel Stous
Rachel Stous, a freshman at Metropolitan Community College, claimed her first KCGA/KGA Women’s Player of the Year award. In a close battle with Kansas University golfer Sera Tadokoro, Stous outperformed her competition by 337 points. Stous’s season was highlighted by her win in the KC Women’s Match Play Championship at Swope Memorial over Girls Player of the Year recipient, Julia Misemer. Stous headed to the 13th hole in the Championship match with a 5 up cushion and clinched the KC Women’s Match Play Championship in style with a walk-off Hole-In-One.
Add to that, Stous’s runner-up finish at the Kansas Women’s Amateur at Prairie Dunes with a three-day tournament score of 217 (+1). Stous was also a member of the Kansas Women’s Fore State team and finished tied for sixth at the Prairie Invitational at The National Golf Course of Kansas City.
Susan DeVoe
Susan DeVoe of Overland Park, Kansas, took the KCGA/KGA Senior Women’s Player of the Year after finishing in the top five in at least five events in 2019. Devoe’s competitive season shined with two wins in Women’s Four-Ball events, a top-five finish at the Tee-Fore-Two Championship at Rolling Hills Country Club, and a runner-up finish in the Kansas Women’s Senior Championship.
To cement her win over second-place finisher, Pam Simpson, DeVoe finished fourth at the Kansas Women’s Mid-Amateur championship and made it to the Round of 16 in the KC Women’s Match Play Championship.
Congratulations to all three ladies who represented the KCGA/KGA extremely well throughout 2019. All three worked extremely hard to capture their Player of the Year awards and we look forward to seeing them try to defend in 2020!
To see the points list for each division, click here.
KCGA Men’s Player of the Year Recipients
The Kansas City Golf Association is thrilled to announce the Men’s Player of the Year award recipients for 2019! Congratulations to Kansas University golfer, Andy Spencer, and long-time KCGA and USGA competitor, Bryan Norton.
Andy Spencer
Andy Spencer, now in his senior year at Kansas University, has claimed the Amateur Player of the Year award for the second consecutive season. Spencer is no stranger to winning golf tournaments and competed successfully in tournaments throughout the state of Kansas since he was a junior golfer. Spencer’s 2019 season is highlighted by his Kansas Amateur win at Milburn Country Club. Spencer finished as the second lowest qualifier in stroke-play, shooting a four-under, two-day total of 140 to advance to match play as the 2 seed. After battling through five rounds of match play, Spencer faced off against junior golfer Nicklaus Mason in the final 36-hole Championship match. A native of Kansas City and Milburn member, Spencer won the Kansas Amateur Championship 8 and 6 over Mason.
Other impressive accomplishments include qualifying for the US Amateur Championship at Pinehurst and finishing tied for second in the rain-shortened Watson Challenge. Currently, Spencer is preparing for the final stage of the Korn Ferry Q School. We wish him luck and look forward to seeing him compete in years to come.
Bryan Norton
Bryan Norton of Mission Hills, Kansas has been a long-time player for the KCGA and KGA as well as competing in USGA Championships. His competitive play clinched him the KCGA Senior Amateur Player of the Year award over close second-place finisher Steve Groom. Norton’s 2019 season consisted of qualifying for the US Senior Amateur at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham, NC. Not only did Norton make it to match play in the US Senior Amateur Championship, but he had a great run to the Round of 16 where he lost a close match to Paul Jett, one up.
Norton also competed in the Kansas Amateur Championship at Milburn where he advanced to match play as the 22 seed after a stroke-play qualifying round of 146 (73, 73). Norton made it to the Round of 32, losing to 2018 Champion Sion Audrain in 19 holes of a great match. Norton competed in US Senior Open qualifying at the Golf Club of Creekmoor where he missed a playoff to qualify by one stroke.
To see the points list for both Player of the Year lists, click here.
Congratulations again to all of our Player of the Year recipients. We appreciate all of our participants throughout the season and we look forward to what the 2020 season has in store! Registration opens March 1, 2020!