They range in age from 16 to 64, but what they all have in common is an exceptional year on the golf course in 2013.
All have shined in Colorado’s biggest amateur tournaments, and some on the national stage. And they’ll all come together on Nov. 24 at Pinehurst Country Club, where the CGA and CWGA will honor their players of the year and many others during the 2013 Colorado Golf Awards Brunch.
Several of the honorees are no strangers to earning player-of-the-year awards at the annual brunch. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton will be recognized as CWGA Senior Player of the Year for the fifth consecutive time, and two of those years she was also overall CWGA Player of the Year. All told, this will be Eaton’s ninth time being honored as CWGA Player of the Year or Senior Player of the Year.
Keith Humerickhouse of Glenwood Springs Golf Club will be the CGA Mid-Amateur Player of the Year for the second consecutive year and for the third time in the last four. At age 16, Jennifer Kupcho of CommonGround Golf Course will earn the CWGA Junior Player of the Year award for the second straight season. And Harry Johnson of Eagle Ranch Golf Course, who recently turned 64, will be the CGA Senior Player of the Year for the second time in the last three years.
But the top player honors go to former University of Colorado golfer Derek Fribbs of Colorado National Golf Club, and Colorado State player Christina Spinzig (pictured above) of Hiwan Golf Club, the CGA and CWGA Players of the Year, respectively.
Here’s a rundown on the 2013 highlights for all of the players of the years who will be recognized on Nov. 24:
— CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year: Derek Fribbs (pictured at left) of Colorado National Golf Club. This marks the eighth time since 2000 that a CU golfer — or former Buff golfer — has earned the CGA Player of the Year honor. On that list, Fribbs joins Matt Call, Ben Portie, Kane Webber, Steve Irwin, Derek Tolan and Pat Grady (twice).
Fribbs put on quite a show in winning the final CGA Public Links Championship, shooting rounds of 65-66-62 for a 17-under-par 193 total, good for a six-stroke victory. He was also medalist in U.S. Amateur Public Links qualifying, going on to the round of 32 at that national championship.
Fribbs finished third in the CGA Stroke Play and went to the semifinals of the CGA Match Play, losing in 21 holes to former CU teammate David Oraee, the eventual champion.
— CWGA Player of the Year: Christina Spinzig of Hiwan Golf Club. Spinzig, now a senior on the CSU golf team, left no doubt in winning the CWGA Match Play title this year, beating Michaela Breit 10 and 9 in the 36-hole final. The margin of victory was the largest in a CWGA Match Play final since at least 2005, before which record-keeping is incomplete.
Spinzig also had a strong showing in the CWGA Stroke Play, placing fourth.
— CGA Senior Player of the Year: Harry Johnson of Eagle Ranch Golf Course. Johnson also claimed this honor in 2011. This year, he became just the fifth person to win the CGA Senior Stroke Play and Senior Match Play titles in the same calendar year. And in both cases, he’s one of the oldest champions in the history of the events. Johnson also won the Colorado-based qualifying tournament for the USGA Senior Amateur. And he made it to the round of 32 at the CGA Match Play.
— CWGA Senior Player of the Year: Kim Eaton of Riverdale Golf Courses. In claiming this honor for the fifth consecutive year, Eaton swept the CWGA Senior Match Play and Senior Stroke Play titles. In both cases, she won going away — 6 and 5 in the Match final, and by 10 shots in the Stroke Play.
The two wins give Eaton 21 CWGA championship titles in her career.
But Eaton, now a full-time resident of Arizona, also had plenty of success outside of Colorado. In all, she won six state championships in 2013 — two state senior titles each in Colorado and Arizona, plus one in California. She also captured the open-division Arizona State Amateur Stroke Play championship.
In addition, Eaton advanced to the round of 64 of the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur.
— CGA Mid-Amateur Player of the Year: Keith Humerickhouse of Glenwood Springs Golf Club. Humerickhouse accomplished quite a feat in 2013, tying an all-time CGA championship record by winning a specific title for four consecutive years — in his case, the CGA Mid-Amateur.
Beyond that, Humerickhouse advanced to the round of 16 at the U.S. Mid-Amateur, beating two-time national Mid-Am champion Tim Jackson in the process.
— CGA Junior Player of the Year: Spencer Painton of Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. Painton had a stellar fall, winning three significant titles — the 5A state high school championship, the CJGA Tournament of Champions and the CJGA Collegiate High School Invitational.
Beyond that, Painton made it to the round of 64 at the U.S. Junior Amateur, where he fell to the eventual national champion, Scottie Scheffler of Dallas.
— CWGA Junior Player of the Year: Jennifer Kupcho of CommonGround Golf Course. Kupcho, who had never played in a USGA championship before this year, competed in four USGA national tournaments in 2013: the U.S. Women’s Amateur, U.S. Girls’ Junior, U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links and the USGA Women’s State Team. Individually, she advanced to the round of 32 at the Girls’ Junior. And, along with Hannah Wood and Melissa Martin, she helped Colorado finish sixth in the USGA Women’s State Team Championship, tying the state’s best showing ever in the event.
Also team-wise, Kupcho joined with Calli Ringsby, Wood and Sydney Merchant in leading the CWGA team to a third-place finish in the Girls Junior America’s Cup, tying the state’s second-best performance ever in that event.
Kupcho won titles in the Colorado Junior PGA and the Big I Junior Classic state tournament, and she was runner-up in the 4A state high school meet and in the girls division of the CJGA Tournament of Champions.
