Carolinas Golf Association Information

West End, NC - Two previous winners and four first-timers are named Players of the Year by the Carolinas Golf Association (CGA).

Mark Anderson of Beaufort, SC claims his first Carolinas Men's Player of the Year award following a stellar 2009 tournament campaign that propelled his status as one of the best amateur players in the country. The 23-year-old won two championships including the individual title at the USGA Men's State Team Championship at The Country Club of St. Albans in St. Louis, MO that led the South Carolina team to a T4 finish and an impressive six-stroke victory at the SCGA South Carolina Amateur Championship held at Berkeley Hall Plantation in Bluffton, SC. Other top finishes for the former University of South Carolina standout include T3 at the Players Amateur, round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur Championship, T9 at the Dogwood Invitational and Palmetto Amateur, T12 at the Sunnehanna Amateur and T16 at the Northeast Amateur. Following his win at the USGA State Team Championship, Anderson decided to take his talents to the professional ranks.

Women

Cydney Clanton of Concord, NC garners her first Carolinas Women's Player of the Year honor. The 20-year-old Auburn University junior had impressive showings at three of the biggest women's amateur tournaments in the country. Her highest finish of the year was runner-up at the Women's North & South Amateur played at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club's famed No. 2 course. Amelia Lewis of Jacksonville, FL took the title with a 3-and-2 victory. Clanton advanced to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship that was played at Red Tail Golf Club in Devens, MA in June where she lost 1 up to Jisoo Park of Korea. At the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, played in August at Old Warson Golf Club in St. Louis, MO, Clanton sailed to the round of 16 but lost a close 2-and-1 match to eventual champion Jennifer Song of Ann Arbor, MI.

Senior Men

Paul Simson of Raleigh, NC caps his 2009 season with his fourth consecutive Carolinas Senior Men's Player of the Year award. Simson, an insurance executive, previously garnered the 1998, 2005 and 2008 Carolinas Men's Player of the Year awards. The 58-year-old had an outstanding year on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean that watched him claim three victories and compete in the British Senior Open, British Seniors Open Amateur and U.S. Senior Amateur Championships. His victories for the 2009 tournament season came at the North & South Senior Amateur Championship played at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club in Pinehurst, NC, the Society of Seniors Dale Morey Championship held at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, TN and the North Carolina Senior Amateur in May contested at the Country Club of Asheville in Asheville, NC. A 20-time CGA champion, Simson's other top finishes include second place at the British Senior Open Amateur Championship, T10 at the National Senior Hall of Fame and a round of 16 showing at the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship played at Beverly Country Club in Chicago, IL. However, Simson's year may have been highlighted by making the cut at the British Senior Open Championship, played at Sunningdale Golf Club in Berkshire, England where he finished T58 with names like Tom Lehman and Bobby Wadkins. Simson will also be inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in May.

Senior Women

Patty Moore of Charlotte, NC wins her sixth consecutive Carolinas Senior Women's Player of the Year honor which is the longest streak in the short history of the Tufts Awards. The 59-year-old's 2009 season included one victory and finishing no worse than T3 at any of the senior women's rankings events. Her late-season win at the Southern Women's Senior played in Texas sealed a close 2009 Senior Women's Player of the Year race. Moore's other top finishes are second place showings at both the Carolinas Women's Senior Championship and North Carolina Women's Senior Championship, third at the Eastern Women's Senior Championship and T3 at the North & South Women's Senior Championship. Moore, a 13-time CGA champion, was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame as voted by the Carolinas Golf Reporter's Association earlier in 2009.

Junior Boys

Seven out of the last 11 Carolinas Men's Players of the Year are current PGA Tour members while three former Carolinas Women's Players of the Year have competed on the LPGA tour. Notable past Tufts award winners include: Jonathan Byrd (1999, PGA Tour), Beth Bauer (1999, LPGA), D.J. Trahan (2000-2002, PGA Tour), Marcy Newton Hart (2000, LPGA), Brandi Jackson (2002, LPGA), Bill Haas (2003, PGA Tour), Webb Simpson (2006, PGA Tour), and Dustin Johnson (2007, PGA Tour).

Richard S. Tufts Award Winners

Men

1997 - Cliff Cunningham, Monroe, NC

1998 - Paul Simson, Raleigh, NC

1999 - Jonathan Byrd, Elgin, SC

2000 - D.J. Trahan, Inman, SC

2001 - D.J. Trahan, Inman, SC

2002 - D.J. Trahan, Inman, SC

2003 - Bill Haas, Greer, SC

2004 - Todd White, Moore, SC

2005 - Paul Simson, Raleigh, NC

2006 - Webb Simpson, Raleigh, NC

2007 - Dustin Johnson, Myrtle Beach, SC

2008 - Paul Simson, Raleigh, NC

2009 - Mark Anderson, Beaufort, SC

Senior Men

2001 - Robert Kulp, Winston-Salem, NC

2002 - Cliff Cunningham, Monroe, NC

2003 - Robert Kulp, Winston-Salem, NC

2004 - Robert Kulp, Winston-Salem, NC

2005 - David Strawn, Charlotte, NC

2006 - Paul Simson, Raleigh, NC

2009 - Paul Simson, Raleigh, NC

Women

1997 - Brenda Corrie Kuehn, Fletcher, NC

1998 - Brenda Corrie Kuehn, Fletcher, NC

1999 - Beth Bauer, Cramer Mountain, NC

2000 - Marcy Newton Hart, High Point, NC

2001 - Brenda Corrie Kuehn, Fletcher, NC

2002 - Brandi Jackson, Belton, SC

2003 - Amber Marsh Elliott, Jamestown, NC

2004 - Patty Moore, Charlotte, NC

2005 - Maggie Simons, Raleigh, NC

2006 - Adrienne Millican, Fuquay-Varina, NC

2007 - Patty Moore, Charlotte, NC

2008 - Patty Moore, Charlotte, NC

2009 - Cydney Clanton, Concord, NC

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