AGA NEWS


PLAYERS OF THE YEAR


2017


PLAYER OF THE YEAR


DSRETSI SVI


JEFF BENTON 2017


PLAYER OF THE YEAR


DROIN SVIIIO


RUSTY BROWN 2017


PLAYER OF THE YEAR


VI DSDNEG IIS


TIM BLAU


Jeff Benton figures he is the “fourth best player in my family,” but he golfed his ball well enough to be named Player of the Year in the AGA’s Masters Division in 2017. Benton, 54, won the Northern Amateur


event at Oak Creek Country Club and teamed with Paige Peterson to win his division of the Arizona Four-Ball as he finished in the top five in seven events. “It was a long season and I played


fairly consistently,” said Benton, who works as a retail manager for Toys ‘R Us stores and comes from an athletic family. “I’ve always been very competitive, which is something that really runs in the family. I guess it’s in the genes.” His daughter, Kaylee, is a sophomore at


Arkansas and both of his sons are former college golf standouts. Benton played college baseball and his grandfather was a football All-American and NFL player. “I had some good battles this year


with (former Players of the Year) David Rasley and Terry Beels, who both played great golf,” Benton said. “I was lucky to come out ahead of them. “But that’s what’s great about AGA events.


I like the competition, but even more, I love the group of guys we play with. Everybody is so supportive, and that’s all part of it.” n


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Player of the Year honors are getting to be routine for Rusty Brown, but the Valley native and former ASU golfer will never get tired of playing well enough to win them. Brown, 60, won just one event in 2017,


taking the Senior Division of the Players Cup, but posted seven top-five finishes to earn POY honors for the fourth time since 2010. “I played pretty well early in the year,


and that really kind of got me going,” Brown said. “I still enjoy the competition and the AGA does a nice job of putting their events together, so it’s been a lot of fun over years.” Brown began playing in AGA events as


a teenager. He briefly tried tour golf after college, but then focused on obtaining a law degree and raising a family. “I wasn’t good enough to get through


tour school,” he said, “but I got through law school, and that has worked out well.” Along with his Players Cup title, he


finished second in the Senior Stroke Play and Arizona Four-Ball with partner Ken Kellaney and tied for third in U.S. Senior Amateur qualifying, marking the third time in the past five years that he has reached that event. As for AGA events, he said, “It’s a lot of


fun with a really good group of guys and a great experience for guys like me who love the game and still enjoy competition.” n


To say Tim Blau made the most of his golf opportunities in 2017 would be an understatement. Blau, 66, played in nine events and finished


in the top three in six of them, including three victories, and also reached the Senior Match Play finals before losing to David Rasley. That consistency earned him the Legends


Player of the Year, although he noted that, with recent criteria changes, he now will move back to the Seniors Division. “It has been a lot of fun playing in


AGA tournaments over many years,” Blau said. “I enjoy the competition and there obviously are some great golfers, who have won some big events. To be able to compete with them is really a pleasure.” Blau won two Players Cup titles and also


took the Northern Amateur at Antelope Hills. He was runner-up in his division of the Senior Stroke Play and in the Northern Amateur at Oak Creek Country Club. The Wisconsin native, who is a


former stock broker and now works with cryptocurrencies, said he has been playing golf “since my clubs were longer than I was.” “I don’t think I will ever really retire,”


he said, “and hopefully I will never stop playing golf either. It’s always been an important part of my life.” n


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