2008 Players of the Year

David Johnson, 21, of Palm Bay, earned Player-of-the-Year honors with 1440 overall points.  David is a member of the University of Central Florida men’s golf team. David put his college golf experience to work to take home top honors at the FSGA’s Amateur Match Play Championship.  In the final match he defeated Carlos Velez, of Miami, 2 & 1 for the victory.  David tied for third place in the 2008 State Amateur and he was a finalist in the US Amateur Public Links Championship.

Rick Woulfe, 58, of Fort Lauderdale, won his fourth straight Senior Player-of-the-Year award in 2008. Rick finished tied for second at the Mid-Senior Championship, placed second at the Mid-Senior Four-Ball, tied for fourth at the Senior Four-Ball Championship and the Mid-Amateur Four-Ball South, advanced to the semifinal round of the Senior Amateur Match Play Championship, and placed seventh in the Senior Amateur Championship.  Rick also participated in his 10th Southeastern Challenge Match.  Rick earned the Player-of-the-Year award in 2002, 2004 and 2006 and the Senior Player-of-the-Year in 2005, 2006, and 2007.

Ernesto Marin, 18, from Miami, is the 2008 Junior Player-of-the-Year recipient. He followed his T-12th finish at the State Boys Junior Championship with a 4 & 3 victory over Kevin Britton at the Junior Match Play Championship.  Ernesto also qualified for the U.S. Junior Championship, where he advanced to the quarterfinal round. Ernesto recently signed a letter of intent with Penn State University.

2007 Players of the Year

Jeff Golden, 22, of Winter Park, earned Player-of-the-Year honors following an exceptional year. After wrapping up his college golf career at Rollins College, Golden earned medalist and low amateur honors in US Open Sectional Qualifying to advance to the US Open. Golden finished tied for eighth in the State Amateur, placed second in the Four-Ball Championship and qualified for the State Match Play Championship. He also qualified for the US Amateur and most recently, represented Florida in the USGA State Team Championship and helped Team Florida to a 14th place finish.

Rick Woulfe, 57, of Fort Lauderdale, wins his third Senior Player-of-the-Year award in 2007 with an overwhelming 1855 points. Woulfe captured four State titles this year; the Senior, Senior Match Play, Mid-Senior and Mid-Amateur Four-Ball South Championship. He also finished second in the Senior Four-Ball, was a semi-finalist in the Mid-Amateur and qualified for the Four-Ball Championship. This year, Woulfe also qualified for the US Senior Amateur Championship. Overall, Woulfe has nine State titles. Woulfe earned the Player-of-the-Year award in 2002, 2004 and 2006 and the Senior Player-of-the-Year in 2005 and 2006.

Kevin Aylwin, 18, from New Smyrna Beach, finished the year with 990 points and two State Championships to earn the Junior Player-of-the-Year. Aylwin, a past Florida Junior Tour member, won the Public Links Championship and Junior Match Play Championship. This year, he also finished in the Top 20 in the State Amateur, advanced to the Round of 16 in the Match Play Championship and qualified for the Boys Junior Championship. Aylwin also qualified for the US Amateur Public Links Championship.

2006 Players of the Year

Rick Woulfe, 56, of Fort Lauderdale, received his third Player-of-the-Year award and second consecutive Senior Player-of-the-Year award in 2006. This year, Rick was runner-up in the British Senior Amateur, played in his 9th Southeastern Challenge Matches and won the Mid-Amateur Four-Ball South Championship. He also advanced to match play of the US Senior Amateur Championship. Rick placed third in the 2006 Senior Championship and tied for second in the 2006 Mid-Senior Championship.

Blayne Barber, 16, won two State Championships in 2006 earning him the Junior Player-of-the-Year. Blayne captured the Boys Junior Championship and Junior Match Play Invitational during the summer. He also won two Florida Junior Tour (FJT) events and placed second in three events last season. In his hometown of Lake City, Blayne is a three-time Lake City Open Champion.

2005 Players of the Year

Kelly Gosse, from Inverness, topped the FSGA point standings with 985 points. In 2005, Gosse won the 2005 Match Play Championship, finished tied for 3rd in the Public Links Championship and tied for 9th in the Mid-Senior Championship. Gosse represented Florida in this year's USGA State Team Championship. Last year, Gosse and partner Ken Godwin won both the Mid-Amateur Four-Ball North and Mid-Senior Four-Ball North Championships.

His first year competing as a Senior, Rick Woulfe, of Fort Lauderdale, won the Senior Player-of-the-Year after a successful season. Woulfe, the 2002 and 2004 Player-of-the-Year, played in his 5th USGA State Team Championship this year. This year, Woulfe won the Senior Four-Ball Championship with Bob Ethridge and was part of the winning Lago Mar Country Club team that won the Club Team Championship. Woulfe also placed second in his first Senior Championship. In addition to these Championships, Woulfe has won the 1998 Mid-Senior Four-Ball Championship and the 1995 Four-Ball Championship.

Chappell Brown, of West Palm Beach, won the Boys' Junior Championship by two strokes at Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club in 2005. Brown and partner Robbie Wight finished second in the Four-Ball Championship. Brown led the 2004-2005 FJT points standings with two wins.

2004 Players of the Year

Rick Woulfe, of Fort Lauderdale, receives his second Player-of-the-Year award this year after winning it once before in 2002. This year, Rick has placed in the top ten in four State Championships including second in the Four-Ball with partner Frank Strafaci. In October, Rick played in his 5th Southeast Challenge Matches and has been a member of two USGA State Teams. Rick has two titles under his belt, the 1995 Four-Ball and 1998 Mid-Sr Four-Ball with Frank Strafaci. An All-American at Michigan State, Rick has proved to be a top amateur in the country qualifying for the US Amateur and US Mid-Am six times each, US Senior once and the British Amateur three times.

Two competitors shared this year’s Senior Player-of-the-Year. Bruce Scamehorn, of Winter Haven, is the current Senior Champion and also represented Florida in this year’s Southeast Challenge Matches. Bruce placed second in this year’s Senior Four-Ball Championship. In 2002, he won the Parent-Child with his son Scott. In addition to the Senior and Parent-Child, Bruce has won the 1995 Match Play, 1993 Mid-Amateur and 1992 Mid-Senior. Mike Walters, from Tampa, also shared the Senior Player-of-the-Year after an extremely successful season. Mike defended his Senior Four-Ball title winning this year with partner Curt Madson. He also advanced to the US Senior Amateur semifinals making him exempt into next year’s Senior Amateur and US Senior Open.

Judson Eustaquio, from Lake Worth, was named the Junior Player-of-the-Year with a win at the Boys Junior Championship. Judson also had a great performance in the Amateur as well as in Florida Junior Tour events. He placed second at Grand Cypress and then won the event at PGA National in October. Judson took second in both the individual and team Class 1A State High School Championships.

2003 Player of the Year

Andy Purnell, of Jacksonville, won his first Player-of-the-Year award after an extremely successful season. He started playing in FSGA events in 1999 and since then has continued to be a major competitor in the Championships. The highlight of Andy’s year came when he won the Match Play Championship at Lone Palm Golf Club in 19 holes. In addition, he finished one stroke back from the Champion to finish second in this year’s Florida State Amateur Championship. Andy and partner Steve Carter won the State Mid-Amateur Four-Ball North Championship in a playoff at Victoria Hills. He also qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. In the Rice Planters Amateur Invitational in South Carolina, Andy placed seventh. Along with last year’s Player-of-the-Year, Rick Woulfe and Michael Nealy, Andy represented Florida at the USGA State Team Championship in Massachusetts.  As captain of the North team in the Florida Cup Matches, his team was victorious and tied the series at two each. Andy is a member at Deercreek Country Club in Jacksonville.