Gordon Sargent, Michaela Morard, Shaw Pritchett, Kathy Hartwiger (Left To Right)HOOVER, AL (Jan. 9, 2023) – Four repeat winners and two first-timers have been named 2022 Alabama Amateur Players of the Year by the Alabama Golf Association (AGA).
Gordon Sargent (Men’s), Kathy Hartwiger (Senior Women’s), Nick Dunlap (Junior Boys) and Molly Brown Davidson (Junior Girls) repeat as Players of the Year while Michaela Morard (Women’s) and Shaw Pritchett (Senior Men’s) are first-time winners in their respective categories.
The Alabama Amateur Player of the Year awards are presented to the number one ranked individual in each of six categories at the end of the calendar year based on the AGA’s state amateur ranking system except for the two junior awards that utilize a September-August calendar year. The Men’s Player of the Year Award was first created in 1994 to honor Alabama amateur golfers who had exceptional individual tournament performances during the year. Since then, the awards have been expanded to include Women (2010), Senior Men (2016), Senior Women (2016), Junior Boys (2017), and Junior Girls (2017).
Seven Alabama Men's Players of the Year have competed on the PGA Tour or PGA Tour Champions. Notable past award winners include Garrett Osborn (2000), Patton Kizzire (2003), Bobby Wyatt (2011-2012), Michael Johnson (2013), and Robby Shelton IV (2015).
Kathy Hartwiger holds the most Player of the Year Awards with six total across two categories – Women’s in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 and Senior Women’s in 2021, 2022. Susan West has the record with the most awards in one category with five consecutive Senior Women’s titles from 2016-2020.
Complete Alabama Amateur Player Rankings are available on the Alabama Golf Association website here.
2022 Alabama Amateur Player of the Year Award Winners
Men’s
Gordon Sargent of Birmingham wins his third consecutive Men’s Player of the Year award. A sophomore at Vanderbilt University, Sargent won the 2022 NCAA Division I Individual Men’s Championship in a four-man playoff becoming one of only nine freshmen in history to win the title and the first freshman to do so in 15 years (2007, Jamie Lovemark). In 2022, he claimed the Mossy Oak Collegiate Championship title and finished second in stroke play at the SEC Championship. Sargent had top-five finishes in the Linger Longer Invitational, Mason Rudolph Championship, NCAA Palm Beach Regional, Northeast Amateur, SEC Match Play, and Ben Hogan Collegiate Invite. Overall, Sargent recorded 11 top-ten finishes and advanced to the Round of 64 at the U.S. Amateur in 2022.
Recently, Sargent accepted an invitation to compete in the 2023 Masters Tournament and is the first amateur to receive a special invitation since Aaron Baddeley in 2000. Currently he is the third-ranked golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
Sargent has three career AGA State titles - 2019 Alabama Boys State Junior Championship; 2020 and 2021 Alabama State Amateur Championship. He is a two-time Alabama Boys State Junior Player of the Year (2019-2020) and now a three-time Alabama Men’s Player of the Year (2020-2022).
Women’s
Michaela Morard of Huntsville earns her first Alabama Women’s Player of the Year award. In 2022, she claimed the Alabama Women’s Stroke Play title and had top-ten finishes in the Women’s Southern Amateur, NCAA Stanford Regional, The Gold Rush, and the North & South Women’s Amateur Championship.
“Being the 2022 Women’s Player of the Year means so much to me,” said Morard. “This award was the last one that I had on my goal list in my time playing AGA events and I am so honored to be able to finally achieve that. The AGA has supported me ever since I started golf and I will be forever grateful for everything they have done for me.”
A junior at the University of Southern California, Morard now holds a total of 10 AGA Championship titles and is a four-time recipient of the Alabama Junior Girls Player of the Year award (2017-2020).
Senior Men’s
Shaw Pritchett of Montgomery achieves his first honor as the 2022 Alabama Senior Men’s Player of the Year. In 2022, Pritchett won the Alabama State Senior Four-Ball Championship title and finished second at the Southeast Mid-Amateur Four-Ball Senior Division with Jeff Taylor, finished tied for second at the Alabama State Senior Championship, advanced to quarterfinals in the Alabama State Senior Match Play Championship, placed fourth at the Dixie Mid-Master along with a T11 finish at the Alabama State Mid-Amateur Championship.
“I’m thrilled to be recognized as the AGA Senior Men's Player of the Year,” said Pritchett. “I greatly appreciate being recognized for the success I had during 2022; it’s a true honor to be singled out of a group of amazing competitors in this state. As always, I would like to thank the Alabama Golf Association staff for the incredible job they do running our state golf tournaments. I've been fortunate to participate in their events for 40 years and look forward to seeing everyone again in 2023.”
Senior Women’s
Kathy Hartwiger of Birmingham collects her second consecutive Alabama Senior Women’s Player of the Year award. In a successful 2022 campaign both locally and nationally, she won two AGA state titles at the Alabama Women’s State Senior Four-Ball with Lea Green and the Alabama Women’s State Senior Match Play Championship. On the national stage, Hartwiger won the North & South Senior Women’s Championship and Women’s Eastern Senior Amateur Championship titles.
She also secured second place finishes at the Alabama Women’s State Senior Amateur Championship, Amateur Golf Alliance Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, Women’s Southern Mid-Amateur Championship, and Women’s Southern GA Senior Amateur Championship. In USGA championships, she was a semifinalist at the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship in Alaska while advancing to the Round of 64 in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship in Florida.
Hartwiger has won a record 23 Alabama State Championships and six total Player of the Year awards. She recently relocated to Pinehurst, North Carolina.
"Alabama and the AGA will always hold a special place in my heart. There are no words to fully express the gratitude I feel for all the people through the years that made it possible for all golfers in Alabama to have the chance to compete in state events,” Hartwiger said. “Alabama is a model that many other states hold up as an example of how to serve all the golfers in their state. I'm honored and grateful to be the 2022 Senior Women's Player of the Year. I'm saying goodbye to Alabama but my time there will never be forgotten and will forever be cherished."
Junior Boys
Nick Dunlap of Huntsville garners his second consecutive Alabama Junior Boys Player of the Year award. Now a freshman at The University of Alabama, Dunlap was ranked as the No. 1 junior golfer in the class of 2022, according to Golfweek. He was a semi-finalist at the 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. He preceded the deep run in the U.S. Junior by participating at the 2022 U.S. Open Championship at The Country Club in Brookline, MA via an exemption earned as the 2021 U.S. Junior Amateur Champion.
He notched additional starts at the Southern Amateur Championship and the U.S. Amateur Championship. Dunlap also had multiple top 10 finishes in AJGA events and claimed the title at the 2022 AJGA Polo Golf Junior Classic. Dunlap has one career AGA state title - Alabama Boys State Junior (2018) and three total Alabama Boys State Junior Player of the Year awards (2018, 2021-22).
“It means the world to be able to accept this award and finish my junior career where I started it, with the Alabama Golf Association,” said Dunlap.
Junior Girls
Molly Brown Davidson of Springville captures her second consecutive Alabama Junior Girls Player of the Year award. A sophomore at Hewitt-Trussville High School, Davidson turned in an impressive season by winning two AGA state titles - Alabama Women’s State Amateur Championship and Alabama Girls State Junior Championship. She also qualified for the U.S. Girls Junior Championship advancing to the Round of 64.
Davidson also successfully made the cut competing as an amateur at her first professional event in the 2022 Epson Tour Tuscaloosa Toyota Classic. She had three additional victories on both the SJGT and AJGA junior circuits and was a member of the victorious 2022 Team Alabama at the Southern Junior Cup.
She now has three career AGA state titles and three Player of the Year Awards.
Past Alabama Players of the Year Award Winners
Men
1994 - Eric Hamilton
1995 - Patrick Levio
1996 - John Coles
1997 - Eric Hamilton
1998 - Scott Weatherly
1999 - Joey Holley
2000 - Joey Holley
2001 - Talbert Griffin
2002 - Will Swift
2003 - Patton Kizzire
2004 - Steve Hudson
2005 - Will Swift
2006 - Will Swift
2007 - Garrett Osborn
2008 - Talbert Griffin
2009 - Steve Hudson
2010 - Steve Hudson
2011 - Bobby Wyatt
2012 - Bobby Wyatt
2013 - Michael Johnson
2014 - Stewart Jolly
2015 - Robby Shelton IV
2016 - Patrick Martin
2017 - Matt Gourgeot
2018 - Clay Guerin
2019 - William Buhl
2020 - Gordon Sargent
2021 - Gordon Sargent
2022 - Gordon Sargent
Women
2010 - Kathy Hartwiger
2011 - Kathy Hartwiger
2012 - Kathy Hartwiger
2013 - Cammie Gray
2014 - Virginia Green
2015 - Kathy Hartwiger
2016 - Elaine Wood
2017 - Elaine Wood
2018 - Cammie Bentley
2019 - Anna Claire Little
2020 - Mychael O’Berry
2021 - Molly Brown Davidson
2022 - Michaela Morard
Senior Men
2016 - Steve Hudson
2017 - Steve Hudson
2018 - Claud Cooper
2019 - Robert Nelson
2020 - John Wright
2021 - John Wright
2022 - Shaw Pritchett
Senior Women
2016 - Susan West
2017 - Susan West
2018 - Susan West
2019 - Susan West
2020 - Susan West
2021 - Kathy Hartwiger
2022 - Kathy Hartwiger
Junior Boys
2017 - Ethan Hagood
2018 - Nick Dunlap
2019 - Gordon Sargent
2020 - Gordon Sargent
2021 - Nick Dunlap
2022 - Nick Dunlap
Junior Girls
2017 - Michaela Morard
2018 - Michaela Morard
2019 - Michaela Morard
2020 - Michaela Morard
2021 - Molly Brown Davidson
2022 - Molly Brown Davidson
About the Alabama Golf Association (AGA)
The Alabama Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization founded in 1915 whose mission is to serve and promote amateur golf in Alabama. AGA membership consists of over 115 member clubs represented by over 25,000 individuals. The activities and services of the Alabama Golf Association are governed by a Board of Directors consisting of Alabama golfers who wish to serve the game and the association through service.
AGA is the USGA’s Allied Golf Association for golf in Alabama delivering core services such as conducting national championship qualifying, administering the USGA Handicap system including the GHIN Handicap service, course & slope rating, and education. The AGA annually conducts 23 championships and team match competitions for men, women, juniors, and seniors. The AGA also conducts Alabama high school golf championships and inside the ropes operations for the SEC Men’s Golf Championship. In addition to competitions, the AGA administers the Alabama Golf Foundation that provides college scholarships, supports grow the game initiatives such as Youth on Course Alabama and Junior Golf Alabama along with investing in turfgrass research through the Alabama Turfgrass Research Foundation.
Since 1980, the AGA has managed the affairs of the Southern Golf Association which includes conducting the Southern Amateur Championship and Southern Junior Championship, in conjunction with the Board of Directors of the Southern Golf Association.
For more information about the Alabama Golf Association, visit www.alabamagolf.org.
Media Contact:
Savannah Snowden
Manager of Media, Marketing & Communications
Alabama Golf Association
205-803-6524
savannah@alabamagolf.org
