ARIZONA NEWS


PLAYERS OF THE YEAR


PLAYER OF THE YEAR


SVI DOINRE SRE RUSTY BROWN


Brown, who captured his second in a row and fifth overall in 2018, but there was a new experience that made this one more special. Despite all of his victories


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over the years, Brown had never won an open title until he took the AGA Championship (formerly


ivisional Player of the Year awards have become familiar for Rusty


Arizona Publinks) in a three- way playoff at Randolph Golf Complex in Tucson. “At the tender age of 61,


I finally won an open major, so that obviously was the highlight of my year, and really my golfing career,” said Brown, who earned


PLAYER OF THE YEAR


G ENDS DIVISI TOM PRESTON


in 2018 would be a huge understatement. Preston, 71, played


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in just four AGA events, winning two majors, the Arizona Senior Stroke Play


o say Tom Preston made the most of his limited golf schedule


2018 AGA


and Divisional Match Play. In the other two, he tied for first in the Northern Amateur and Players Cup but lost both in playoffs. “I usually only play in


a couple a year, but after winning two majors early in the season, someone mentioned to me that with a couple more events, I might be able to win a Player of the Year award,” Preston said. “I had never been Player


of the Year, so I decided to give it a try and it worked out.’ Preston, who grew up in


Spencer, Iowa, and moved to Arizona in 1974, entered his first AGA event at 55, winning a divisional match-play title, and has added three more victories in that event.


34 | AZ GOLF Insider | PREVIEW 2019 “Once you play well in


one of their majors, you really get the bug to do it again,” he said. “Match play seems to be my thing. Growing up, there weren’t many match-play tournaments, but I have always been a pretty consistent golfer, and


I discovered that consistency really pays off in those events. “Playing in the U.S. Senior


Amateur when I was 64 is probably the highlight of my golfing career, but I really enjoy the AGA events. The competition and camaraderie make it a lot of fun.” n


www.azgolf.org


two more titles late in the season. “I really didn’t play in a lot of AGA events until I got older, so winning a major was pretty special.” What made it more


eventful is that he overcame a two-stroke penalty in the first round after he and his


2018 AGA


playing partners realized they had hit from the wrong tee on a par-3 hole. On the second playoff hole, Brown nearly holed his approach shot, which stopped 18 inches away for the winning birdie putt. To earn the Player of the


Year title, Brown had to slug it out with Don Reycroft, edging him 1-up to win the divisional match play and by one shot in the Northern Amateur. Reycroft topped Brown by one shot in their division of the Players Championship. “Don and I really battled it out, and the award easily could have gone the other way,” said the former ASU golfer. “But overall I am pleased with the year. Late in the season I played very well, and I still think I can get better, even though there are times when my body might tell me otherwise.”


N OI P U S


ON EL


AGA


AGA


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