2022 PLAYER AWARDS

John Parker

Dr. Edgar Rice Updegraff Award

When John Parker moved to Tucson in 1989, it was hard to imagine the impact he would have on the game in Arizona and the relationships he would build over the decades to follow. After his career with the University of Arizona golf team, Parker joined Titleist as a sales representative and traveled the country while working in various roles. He was based in California when he was offered the opportunity to return to Arizona and work under the legendary Al Birmingham.

While in college, the Wildcats golf team played every Friday at Tucson Country Club. There, Parker developed a personal relationship with Dr. Ed Updegraff and an admiration for him that resonates to this day.

“When I think of Dr. Ed Updegraff, I think of class, humility, grace,” Parker said. “There’s too many superlatives to even list, but it means the world to me. And when I think of the game of golf, and those who have come before us and paved the way for us to have the type of game we have in our state, it’s guys like Dr. Ed that we look to for that kind of leadership. For me to be even mentioned in that same breath is a true honor.”

In addition to his work with Titleist, Parker has gone above and beyond to assist the Arizona Golf Association in any way possible. For many years, he served on the AGA Board of Governors; he also played in many AGA majors – including the Stroke Play, Arizona Amateur and Club Team Championships – and supported those events and others, like the Goldwater Cup, through his work at Titleist. For Parker, giving back to the game so that those who come after us can enjoy it the same way is of utmost importance. As a result, his dedication to amateur golf will forever be felt in Arizona.

“When I think back over the last 30-plus years of my association with the Arizona golf community and all the tremendous friendships I have in the game, that’s what is so meaningful and what I’m most grateful for,” said Parker.

Marta Felix

Dorothy Pease Achievement Award

Born and raised in Nogales, Ariz., golf was not part of Marta Felix’s life until she was in her 30’s, when she was introduced to the game by Barbara Rumberg, a woman to whom she delivered mail while working for the United States Postal Service. When Rumberg invited her to play with the women’s club at Rio Rico Golf Course, Felix thought, “how hard could it be?”

She showed up in jeans and tennis shoes with no equipment and was met with raised eyebrows and stern stares. Felix decided that if she wanted to play this game, she was going to have to look the part. One day soon after while on her mail route, she found her first set of golf clubs at a garage sale for $50. “Today, there isn’t a club in my bag that cost $50, let alone all of them,” Felix said.

Since her retirement from the USPS in 2021, Felix plays three times per week at Sewailo Golf Club in Tucson. She also competes in AGA Women’s Tournaments as her schedule allows. In 2014, Felix was recruited by Pima Community College to play on their Women’s Golf Team. She went back to school and her team made it all the way to the National Championship. In 2022, Felix qualified to play in the U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur Championship, but due to her volunteer commitments, she was unable to participate in the event.

2022 Player Awards

But just playing golf is not enough for Felix. She has a deep desire to share her love of the game with kids. In 2021, Felix joined the AWGA Board of Directors and quickly gravitated toward the High School Build A Team Program. She became a volunteer advocate with the Nogales High School Co-Ed Golf Team attending practices and matches throughout the season. She somehow found enough girls who wanted to participate so that Nogales could field a girls’ team as well as a boys’ team. Because she was so successful recruiting girls to the team, they asked her to be the Girls Golf Coach – and she hasn’t looked back. Now in her second year as the head coach, Felix makes sure that her team has the equipment, uniforms, and the instruction they need to not only look the part, but to be successful.

Because she has experienced the benefits of playing golf first-hand, Felix still thought she could do more. She partnered with the City of Nogales in 2022 to start a summer junior golf program for kids ages 7-17. Before the program started, she had no balls and no equipment, but she had a field in a park and no idea how many kids would show up. By the end of the program, Felix had 57 kids who were all developing an appreciation and hopefully a lifelong passion for the game, just as she has.