2012 Amateur Player of the Year - Chase Seiffert
Chase Seiffert, 21, of Panama City and a senior at Florida State University, earned Player-of-the-Year honors with 22,000 overall points. Chase began the year by qualifying for the Amateur Championship with a round of 68 at Southwood Golf Club in Tallahassee, capturing medalist honors by three strokes. First, he won the Amateur by four strokes at The Bears Club and the Loxahatchee Clubs in Jupiter with scores of 68-73-73-73 for a one under par total of 287. Next, he claimed the Florida Open trophy at the Ritz-Carlton Members Club in Bradenton and Sara Bay Country Club in Sarasota by nine strokes with rounds of 66-64-63. To conclude, he finished the year with a 4 and 3 victory (over Junior Player of the Year Hank Lebioda) at the Country Club of Orlando to win the Amateur Match Play and completely sweep the FSGA majors. Chase Seiffert has become the first person in the history of the Florida State Golf Association to ever capture the triple crown; the Amateur, the Florida Open and the Amateur Match Play Championships all in the same year.
2012 Senior Player of the Year - Rick Woulfe
Rick Woulfe, 62, of Fort Lauderdale, is the 2012 Senior Player-of-the-Year recipient earning 12,641 overall points on the year. Rick began the year with a first place finish in the Senior/Mid-Am Four-Ball, partnering with Don Bell to shoot 61-67 to capture the crown. Next, Rick reaped medalist honors in the stroke play qualifying portion of the Senior Amateur Match Play Championship. Rick advanced to the final coming up just short and finishing runner-up to Howard Logan in the final match by a result of one-down. Rick also qualified for the United States Senior Amateur Championship at the Mountain Ridge Country Club, in West Caldwell, New Jersey, and advanced to the match play portion of the championship. Additionally, Rick accumulated points on behalf of qualifying for the Amateur Championship as well as cashing in on the Senior Amateur, the Mid-Senior Four-Ball South, The Four-Ball, The Florida Open, The Mid-Senior and The Senior Four-Ball Championships. To finish his great year, he qualified for and won the 31st Mid-Amateur Championship. This is the seventh time Woulfe has earned Senior Player-of-the-Year honors.
2012 Junior Player of the Year - Hank Lebioda
Hank Lebioda, 18, of Winter Springs and a freshman at Florida State University, is the 2012 Junior Player-of-the-Year earning 11,200 points. Hank took an uncommon route to this honor by playing in only one junior tournament, but made up for it by excelling in the two most prestigious state amateur championships. He started the summer by shooting a 71 at the difficult Waldorf Astoria Golf Club to qualify for the Amateur Championship. Playing at The Bears Club with Jack Nicklaus following his group because he paired with Gary Nicklaus, Hank shot rounds of 77-69-75 to finish tied for seventh. Then he entered the 58th Boys’ Junior Championship at Sawgrass Country Club and TPC Sawgrass which would be his final junior tournament. He was the only player to shoot all three rounds under par (69-71-70) and won the title by four strokes. Hank is the fifth junior in history to win the older age division at the Boys’ Junior twice. Finally, he capped off his great summer by facing his future college teammate, Chase Seiffert, in the finals at the Amateur Match Play at the Country Club of Orlando. Hank couldn’t hold off the super-hot Seiffert in the final match, but his runner-up finish earned him enough points to pass Andy Zhang on the points list and earn the Junior Player-of-the-Year honor for the second time in his junior career.
