AGA NEWS
PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
AGA NEWS
Walicki repeats as POY
Adam Walicki
2019 AGA PLAYER OF THE YEAR
OPEN DIVISION ADAM WALICKI
I
t took nine years of AGA competition for Adam Walicki to secure his first Player of the Year award in the Open Division. The second came much quicker as Walicki became a backto-back winner in 2019. “I think the first one probably felt a little better because it took so long
and I was so anxious to get it,” Walicki said. “Maybe that relieved some of the pressure and made the second one a little easier, although it’s never really easy because we have so many good players here.” Walicki got off to a fast start in 2019 by winning the San Tan Amateur in comeback fashion, shooting 65, which marked his best round of the year. He closed out the season by finishing second in the Northern Amateur and sixth in the Players Cup. He also reached the quarterfinals of the Arizona Amateur before being eliminated, and was an alternate in both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Mid-
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Amateur, which he has played in four times. “That was the one disappointment because that is one of my goals, to make it into at least one of those national events every year and I didn‘t quite get it done,” he said. “But there were a lot of positives to the seasons, too. “I always strive to finish in the top 10 of every event I play and being able to do that in several state events was pretty satisfying.” The Michigan native competed on the GatewayTour in 2005-06, then walked away from golf for two full years. After regaining his amateur status, he returned to competition in AGA events in 2009.
“The criteria we have put together in the AGA is a true assessment of who was the Player of the Year,” he said. “I think it’s become a more accurate representation of how guys have played throughout the year, which favors more people. So to come out on top of that is a good feeling. “I have looked through the records to see who has won Player of the Year and how many times, so I have a good feel about that. Each one really means a lot because it’s so hard to win them. So even though the first one was probably a little more special, this one isn’t far behind because I know how few guys have done it more than once.” www.azgolf.org
AGA PHOTO
Wiemiller, Benton, Blau also come up big in 2019
