JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Nov. 13, 2023) – The Missouri Golf Association is pleased to announce its 2023 Players of the Year! Each year, Missouri golfers accumulate points throughout the season by placing in tournaments and events. The player who earns the most points by the end of the season will be named the Player of the Year in their age group! Find out more about these five athletes below.
Starting off strong, the Junior Girls Player of the Year is Siena Minor from Columbia! Siena is our Junior Girls Player of the Year for the second year in a row. She competed in several events this season, including the Women’s Amateur Championship where she took third, the Junior Amateur Championship where she came in sixth, and the Junior Girls Four State Championship. She also was the female champion at this year’s Junior Match Play Championship! Siena is a senior at Hannibal High School and plans to continue playing golf at Missouri State University next fall.
Archer Schnieders from Jefferson City is the Junior Boys Player of the Year! This is Archer’s second time being named Junior Boys Player of the Year. He was the 2023 Male Junior Amateur Champion shooting 7 under through two rounds! He also played well at the Stroke Play Championship, coming in fifth, and qualified for the Missouri Amateur Championship, making it to the round of 64! Archer is a senior at Helias Catholic High School and plans to play golf at the University of Central Missouri next fall!
Ellen Port from St. Louis is the Player of the Year in both the Women and Senior Women age groups! She was our Women’s Mid-Amateur Champion this season, and she also had a great showing in the Women’s Amateur Championship, placing fifth. She saw some success at the national level, as well, qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur Championship and U.S. Women’s Senior Open Championship. This is Ellen’s second year in a row as our Women’s Player of the Year.
The MGA Men’s Player of the Year is Tony Gumper of St. Charles! He was the captain of the East Team at the Hieronymus Cup Matches, and he won this year’s Four Ball Championship! He also played well in the Mid-Amateur and Stroke Play Championship, placing fourth in both events. He made it to the round of 32 in the Missouri Amateur Championship and qualified for the U.S. Four Ball Championship.
Finally, the Senior Men’s Player of the Year is MGA President Wayne Fredrick from Springfield! This is his second year in a row earning this accolade. He had a great season and played in several events, including the Senior Amateur Championship, Stroke Play Championship, Four Ball Championship and Jefferson City CC Four Ball. He won the Senior Four Ball Championship and also won our inaugural Senior Match Play Championship! On the national level, he qualified for the U.S. Men’s Senior Amateur Championship.
Congratulations to all of our Players of the Year, and to each competitor for a great season!
To view full point standings for all divisions, click here: https://www.mogolf.org/home-4/point-standings/
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ABOUT MGA:
The Missouri Golf Association is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote the best interests and true spirit of the game of golf throughout the State of Missouri. The Missouri Golf Association was started in St. Louis in 1905 to run the Amateur Championship. Four founding clubs would be the ones in existence in St. Louis in those early years – St. Louis Country Club, Algonquin Golf Club, Glen Echo Golf Club and Normandie Golf Club. Four years later, the invite-only Missouri Amateur was held in Kansas City at Evanston Club. 1911 marked the real organization of the MGA with Bonner Miller as Secretary and Executive Director. Ever since then, the MGA has striven to provide tournaments and spaces for Missouri golfers to sharpen their skills and enjoy the game.
Media Contact:
Shelby Henderson
Media, Marketing & Communications Director