Savannah’s Doug Hanzel and Milledgeville’s Ashlan Ramsey were named co-winners of the Tommy Barnes Award as the Georgia State Golf Association’s Players of the Year for 2013.
Hanzel finished first in the Senior Men’s division points list, highlighted by his victory in the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship. Hanzel also was low amateur in the U.S. Open and won the Society of Seniors Championship played at The Landings, his home club. Hanzel was second in the GSGA Senior Championship, also played at The Landings. Sea Island’s Jack Hall, who won the GSGA Senior, was a close second to Hanzel in the Player of the Year standings.
Ramsey was the Girls Player of the Year for the third straight time and also earned Women’s Player of the Year honors. She won the GSGA Women’s Match Play Championship, along with the Georgia Women’s Golf Association Championship. At the national level, she won both the Women’s Western and Eastern Amateurs, and made the cut in Kraft Nabisco Championship, a major on the LPGA Tour. She is currently a freshman on first women’s golf team at Clemson.
Mercedes Huarte of Suwanee was runner-up on the Women’s Points list with Roswell’s Margaret Shirley third. Shirley won the Volvik Georgia Women’s Open and was runner-up in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship.
Sharing Men’s Player of the Year honors were Jimmy Beck of Columbus, Cameron Hooper of Atlanta and Jeff Knox of Augusta. Beck won the GSGA Championship at Pinetree Country Club, where Beck plays as a member of the Kennesaw State golf team. Hooper was the GSGA Mid-Amateur champion, with Knox tying for third in both the GSGA Championship and Mid-Amateur. David Noll of Dalton was a close fourth in the standings.
Marcus Byrd of Dunwoody and Zach Healy of Peachtree Corners shared Junior Player of the Year honors. Byrd won the GSGA Junior Championship and Healy captured the Atlanta Amateur Match Play title.
Marietta’s Brenda Pictor won the Senior Women’s Player of the Year award for a sixth straight time, taking the Senior Women’s Championship for a fifth consecutive year. Pictor also won the Senior Women’s Match Play Championship.
The winners were announced at the GSGA’s annual awards banquet, held at Cherokee Town Club.