Junior Golf Association of Arizona names its Annual Award Winners

Mieke Canan and Kyle Jones Lead Impressive List of Junior Golfers

Girls Championship Winner: Mieke Canan with Sean Ferris, Asst. Excecutive Director of JGAA
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For the second straight year, Mieke Canan captured Player of the Year honors for the Girls Championship division of the Junior Golf Association of Arizona. Canan finished in the Top 5 in nine of her 13 events of the season, including two wins. She won the Yuma City Junior Championship and after firing a 1-under-par 71 on her first round at the Thunderbird Junior Classic, she coasted to a 3 stroke victory. Her low round of the year was 2-under-par 70 at the Antigua Milt Coggins AZ Junior Stroke Play Championship.

The Boys Championship Player of the Year needed only eight events to capture the prestigious honor. Kyle Jones won four tournament titles starting with the Phoenix Junior City Championship. He would later go on to win the Callaway Junior World Championship Qualifier by six shots. He finished the Thunderbird Junior Classic with rounds of 67 and 68 to capture his fourth victory of the year. Overall, Jones’ scoring average on the season was 71.67.

The JGAA recently announced its annual Award Winners at a banquet held at ASU Karsten Golf Course.

“All of this year’s award winners are not only talented players on the golf course, but truly display the characteristics of champions off the course as well,” said Sean Ferris, Assistant Executive Director of the JGAA. “We are extremely proud of what these young players accomplished on the fairways and greens, but are especially proud of what outstanding individuals they are developing into.”

The following represents JGAA Player-of-the-Year Award Winners:
2009 Player of the Year Awards

Girls Championship – Mieke Canan
Girls 15-18 – Melissa Olson
Girls 13-14 – J.C. Harvison
Girls 11-12 – Morgan Messick
Girls 10 & Under – Ocean Pangan

Boys Championship – Kyle Jones
Boys 15-18 – Chris Felix
Boys 13-14 – Anthony Quezada
Boys 11-12 – Trevor Lampson
Boys 10 & Under – J.J. Gresco

The JGAA also announced its Sportsmanship Award winners with Sierra Sanchez and Billy Flower leading the Girls and Boys Championship divisions.

Other Sportsmanship Award winners and their respective age brackets were:
Anya Ross – Girls 10-Under; Dallan Graybill – Boys 10-Under; Carly Akine – Girls 11-12; Trey Greenwood – Boys 11-12; Sarah Kaye – Girls 13-14; Timmy Shimon – Boys 13-14; Tess Terry – Girls 15-18 Regular; Aaron Krog – Boys 15-18 Regular.

Most improved golfers in 2009 were Morgan Miller of Phoenix who catapulted all the way from 20th position to 3rd place on the Player of the Year standings for the Girls 15-18 Regular Division. She posted one win and numerous Top 5 finishes this year and whittled nearly eight shots off her scoring average from 2008 to 2009.

Tyler Motroni won the year’s most improved golfer for the boys division and moved 55 spots on the Player of the Year leaderboard. He won the Antigua Milt Coggins Strake Play and the PING Junior Match Play Championship and shaved off over six strokes off his average this season.

For more information on the 2009 JGAA Award winners, call 602.944.6168 or visit www.jgaa.org.