In many ways, the 2012 Colorado golf tournament season fit rather nicely into the category of “All in the Family.”
And taking a look at the various CGA and CWGA Players of the Year — who will be honored Sunday at the Colorado Golf Awards Brunch at Pinehurst Country Club — only confirms that impression.
After all, two of the main honorees are siblings, with Steven Kupcho earning the CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year award, while sister Jennifer Kupcho landed CWGA Junior Player of the Year honors.
And CGA Junior Player of the Year Jimmy Makloski won a CGA championship (the Junior Stroke Play) the same year his dad, Ray Makloski, also captured one (the Senior Match Play).
Then there was CWGA Senior Player of the Year Kim Eaton, who won the CWGA Senior Stroke Play while her uncle, fellow Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Larry Eaton, spectated at his home course of Greeley Country Club.
And CWGA Player of the Year Somin Lee (pictured above) makes a habit of having her dad caddie for her at summer tournaments. The same is true of the Kupchos and their dad.
So undoubtedly it will be one big happy family affair at the awards festivities on Sunday.
With that in mind, here’s a rundown of this weekend’s major honorees at Pinehurst:
— CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year — Steven Kupcho, CommonGround GC: Kupcho (pictured at left) wins this award a year after being named CGA Junior Player of the Year. He pulled off one of the biggest final-round rallies ever by a champion in the CGA Stroke Play. The University of Northern Colorado golfer was nine shots out of the lead and in 16th place going into the last day, but a tournament-best 66 in the final round at Fort Collins Country Club pushed him to the top of the leader board.
Kupcho also earned low-amateur honors at the HealthOne Colorado Open after leading the tournament outright after 36 holes. And he tied for second in the CGA Public Links Championship.
— CWGA Player of the Year — Somin Lee, GC at Heather Ridge: Lee wins this honor for the second straight year and extends her streak of major CWGA awards to four years as she was the Junior Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010.
The Pepperdine University golfer won the CWGA Stroke Play title by nine shots, and in the process she became just the second player in history to win the CWGA Junior Stroke Play, Junior Match Play, Stroke Play and Match Play in a career, joining Wendy Werley. In addition, Lee finished second to Allie Johnston in the CWGA Match Play after being 2 up with five holes left in the final. She placed sixth overall at the HealthOne Colorado Women’s Open for the second straight year and also ended up sixth in the NCAA West Regional at Colorado National Golf Club.
— CGA Senior Player of the Year — David Delich, Broadmoor GC: Delich had a stellar late-summer run. He finished second in the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open — the best showing by an amateur since 1999 — then won a three-man playoff for the CGA Senior Stroke Play title.
Delich also claimed the Southern California Senior Amateur title against a very formidable field. And he lost in the semifinals of the CGA Senior Match Play to eventual champion Ray Makloski.
— CWGA Senior Player of the Year — Kim Eaton, Riverdale GC: Eaton claims this honor for the fourth straight year. The Colorado Golf Hall of Famer won the CWGA Senior Stroke Play by a whopping 16 shots on her home course at Greeley Country Club. It marked her 19th CWGA championship. Earlier in the year, she teamed with Tami Holt to claim her first CWGA Chapman title.
Eaton also finished second in the CWGA Stroke Play, and made match play at both the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur (getting to the round of 32) and the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. In another national event, Eaton was runner-up in the Senior Women’s North and South Championship.
— CGA Mid-Amateur of the Year — Keith Humerickhouse, Gypsum Creek GC: Humerickhouse (pictured at left) becomes just the second player to win three consecutive CGA Mid-Amateur titles, joining Rick DeWitt. The left-hander’s 12-stroke victory marked the biggest margin in the championship since 1991. And his 11-under-par 205 total set a 54-hole scoring record for the Mid-Am.
Humerickhouse also tied for third in the CGA Stroke Play and was runner-up in the High Plains Amateur in Kansas.
— CGA Junior Player of the Year — Jimmy Makloski, Pueblo CC: Makloski posted several significant victories in 2012. He won the CGA Junior Stroke Play, the CJGA 14-18 Junior Series Championship (by six strokes) and the AJGA Junior at Fox Hill.
In addition, Makloski led Pueblo South to the 4A state high school team title, helped Colorado post a second straight top-four finish in the Junior America’s Cup, and placed 34th in the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships.
— CWGA Junior player of the Year — Jennifer Kupcho, CommonGround GC: At age 15, Kupcho won the CJGA 14-18 Junior Series Championship by four strokes. Kupcho lost in a playoff in the Colorado Junior PGA Championship and finished third in the 4A state high school tournament. She represented Colorado in Girls Junior America’s Cup and qualified for the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships.
— CGA Distinguished Service Award — Bill Detweiler, Raccoon Creek GC.
— CWGA Volunteer of the Year — Juna Orr, Broken Tee and Foothills GC.
— CGA Jim Topliff On-Course Rules Official of the Year — Brad Wiesley, Indian Peaks GC.
— CWGA Most Improved Junior of the Year — Ashlyn Kirschner of West Woods GC, who lowered her handicap index from 19.5 to 8.1 in the course of 2012.
— CGA/CWGA Program Partner of the Year — ACE Scholarships, which played a major role in identifying candidates for the inaugural class for the Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy at CommonGround Golf Course.
— Solich Caddie & Leadership Academy Caddie of the Year — Asni Solomon.
— CJGA Junior All-Stars (pictured at left) — Christian Agelopoulos, Delaney Benson, Katie Berrian, Brayden Bozak, Zarena Brown, Mathew Casias, Jack Castiglia, Amy Chitkoksoong, Jack Cummings, Kyler Dunkle, Ethan Freeman, Kacey Godwin, Caroline Jordaan, Marie Jordaan, Jennifer Kupcho, Ryan Liao, Jimmy Makloski, John Marble, Sydney Merchant, Hannah More, Lauren Murphy, Jaclyn Murray, Brittlynn O’Dell, Daniel Pearson, Chris Rapp, Calli Ringsby, Morgan Sahm, Toby Salinas, Ryan Sangchompuphen, Hailey Schalk, Johnny Schlager, Josh Seiple, Liam Short, Jackson Solem, Lauren Tucker, Taylor Tucker, Coby Welch, Hannah Wood, Tyler Zhang, Ben Zimmerman.
— CJGA Academic All-Stars — Jon Abrahamson, Christian Agelopoulos, Pierce Aichinger, Drew Anderson, Nicole Backman, Braden Bentley, Katie Berrian, Amelia Blackard, Brayden Bozak, Zarena Brown, Evan Buchalski, Colby Bundy, Jake Butler, Gavin Chamberlain, Ian Coberly, Katy Dyachkova, Ty Findlow, William Fowler, Ben Garcia, Margaret Geolat, Sydney Gillespie, Kacey Godwin, Zach Gomez, Cooper Gould, Jamie Griffin, Kelli Haynes, Ryan Hunt, Jake Johnson, Max Johnson, Turner Johnson, Chris Korte, Heather Kroll, Savni Kulkarni, Jennifer Kupcho, Joseph Lee, Lauren Lehigh, Nicholas Leibold, Alexander Liss, Danielle Listiadji, Jimmy Makloski, Justin Markel, Weston Mauz, Madison McCambridge, Megan McCambridge, Grant McGinty, Kelsey McKenna, Kimberly Moore, Kelly Moran, Hannah More, Lauren Murphy, Hayden Nicholaides, AJ Ott, Kobe Padilla, Andrew Pavey, Kyle Pearson, Ryan Pearson, Andrew Rademacher-Howe, Henry Rock, Andrew Romano, Austin Rowe, Ryan Sangchompuphen, Sonny Scheer, Dolores Sharaf, Erik Sobeck, Jordan Sunset, Chaad Tam, Samuel Taylor, Jack Tickle, Luke Travins, Danielle Urman, Maxwell Urman, Mary Weinstein, Kevin Wohlfarth, Hannah Wood, Alex Yano, Jay Yano, Tyler Zhang, Zach Zurcher.
