ARIZONA NEWS


PLAYERS OF THE YEAR


Walicki, Hoops, Benton, Brown, Preston come up big for POYs


PLAYER OF THE YEAR


DNEPIV SI


O ADAM WALICKI


2009, Adam Walicki figured a Player of the Year award would soon follow. It took nearly a decade, but Walicki reached that goal in 2018. The Michigan native


W


and former Gateway Tour player won the Players Cup and Short Course events, finished second in the Northern Amateur, Phoenix City Amateur and Arizona Four-Ball, and took third in the Arizona Stroke Play. For good measure, he


also won the San Diego Amateur and qualified for the fourth time for the U.S. Mid-Amateur, marking his 10th USGA event. “It’s been a goal of mine


to win Player of the Year, and something I’m very proud


of and have been looking forward to achieving,” he said. “As soon as I got my amateur status back, it became a goal and I thought I would be raking them in, but it turned out to be tougher than I figured. “There is plenty of quality


competition at the AGA level and should be with all of the great players and former pros we have here. I really think we have the best mid-am events in the nation. We have the weather and an abundance of good courses,


I really think we have the best mid-


am events in the nation. We have the weather and an abundance of good courses, which attracts good players


which attracts good players.” A self-proclaimed


tinkerer, Walicki played on the Gateway Tour in 2005- 06, then walked away from golf for two full years. He returned to competition


in AGA events in 2009. “For me, it always boils


down to putting, whether I can compete and win,” he said. “This year, I got some things figured out so was able to post some better finishes.”


hen he regained amateur status in


2018 AGA


32 | AZ GOLF Insider | PREVIEW 2019


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AGA


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