Seven players earn POY honors and will be recognized at the FSGA's Annual Dinner in mid November.
Joe Alfieri - Amateur Player of the Year
Joe Alfieri, of Lutz, earned Player of the Year honors for the second consecutive year, and third time overall. Joe along with partner Michael Barbosa qualified for the USGA Four-Ball Championship in April. Joe entered the Mid-Amateur Stroke Play Championship at TPC Eagle Trace in early May and finished in third place. At Old Corkscrew GC at the Amateur Public Links Championship, Joe would shoot a final round 66 to capture the Championship. At the 99th Amateur Championship at Fiddlesticks CC, Joe finished T-21 shooting 3-under par for the Championship. At the Florida Open at Interlachen CC, Joe would make the cut finishing T-52. The 25th Amateur Match Play Championship was contested at the Ritz-Carlton Members Golf Club, and Alfieri advanced to the quarterfinals. At the Mid-Senior Championship at Mission Inn, Joe would finish solo 4th with a tournament total of 217. Joe’s final individual event of 2016 was the Mid-Amateur Championship. He would advance to the semifinals before falling in 20 holes. Joe also represented the victorious U.S. team at the 2nd Concession Cup and Team Florida at the USGA State Team Championship, where team Florida finished 4th.
Peter Wegmann - Senior Player of the Year
Peter Wegmann, of Fort Lauderdale, captured two Senior Championships and ran away with the 2016 Senior Player of the Year points race. At the Senior Championship at Adena in April, Wegmann won by one stroke over David Anthony & Sam Till, Jr. The Mid-Amateur Stroke Play Championship later in April, saw Wegmann prove he can hang with the younger guys at TPC Eagle Trace and finished T-12. In June at the Senior Amateur Match Play Championship, Peter would earn the 2nd seed after stroke play, and then ran through the bracket defeating 2014 Senior Player of the Year, Pete Williams in the semifinal, and Jerry Rose in the final at The Founders Club to earn his second victory. In Round 1 of the Florida Senior Open at Willoughby Golf Club, Wegmann would open with 71 and hang near the top. After finishing with 77-74, Peter would find himself at T-13, and the second place Amateur in the field. Next, at the Senior Four-Ball at Eagle Creek G & CC in September, Wegmann would pair with Pete Williams, and the duo would finish 3rd. Finally, Wegmann concluded the year at the 11th Florida Cup Matches, going 3-0 at Coral Creek Club for the South Team, en route to a 17.5-14.5 victory.
Fred Biondi - Junior Player of the Year
Fred Biondi, of Port St. Lucie, found the winners circle early and often as he takes home his first Player of the Year award at the young age of 15. Fred kicked off his 2016 season winning the first two Florida Junior Tour (FJT) events that he has ever played in. In April, his one shot victory at Ocala National was highlighted by a hole-in-one on the par 3 fifth hole. In May at Indian Spring CC, Fred's two day total of 9-under par 145 is the second lowest tournament total for a 13-15 age division event this season. Fred's greatest triumph of the season was winning the 62nd Boys' Junior Amateur Championship. His rounds of 67-76-67 were good for a two shot victory. The two rounds of 67 were tied for the low score in his division and the final round 67 was four shots better than any of his fellow competitors. On that final day, Fred made birdies on holes 17 & 18 to seal the deal. Since then, Fred has played in three more FJT events, finishing no worse than fourth. In August, he and his partner, Diasuke Nakano, qualified for the 2017 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Pinehurst Resort No. 2.
Meghan Stasi - Women's Amateur Player of the Year
Meghan Stasi, of Oakland Park, captures her sixth Player of the Year title by a landslide, tying the record for most awards won by a female. The winter was a busy season for Meghan, competing in all four Orange Blossom Tour events, finishing tied for 10th in the Harder Hall, tied for 22nd in the South Atlantic Amateur, and making it to the Round of 16 in the Jones/Doherty. In the final Blossom Tour event, the prestigious International Four-Ball Championship, the team of Stasi and 2015 Player of the Year, Tara Joy-Connelly, battled for the crown in an exciting two hole play-off, eventually finishing second to the defending Champions. As spring began, Stasi found herself and partner Isabelle Lendel finishing solo third at the Women's Four-Ball Championship with consistent rounds of 73-72. April was the month that Meghan began to make big strides, capturing the title of Women's Mid-Amateur Champion. No stranger to this new Championship, heading into it's fifth year on the schedule, Meghan has been crowned Champion every year that she competed in it, 2013, 2014 and now 2016. Not only did Meghan post the only under-par rounds in the field, she finished with an impressive tournament total of four-under par, capturing the title by seven strokes. On the USGA front, Stasi competed in three national Championships, including the USGA's Mid-Amateur, Amateur and Four-Ball Championship. Meghan went on to make it to the Round of 16 in the Four-Ball and was a Quarter-finalist in the Mid-Amateur.
Gigi Higgins - Women's Senior Player of the Year
Gigi Higgins, of Cape Coral, is known as a fun and upbeat spirit on and off the golf course. Higgins will accept her first Senior Player of the Year award, clinching the honor with 10,200 points. The year started off well for Gigi as she posted a Semifinalist finish at the Jones/Doherty Championship and tied for fourth in both the prestigious International Four-Ball Championship and state Women's Four-ball Championship with good friend Lin Culver. On the senior circuit,Gigi just missed first place by one stroke at the Women's Senior Amateur, finishing tied for second place. In the well-known Women's Senior North & South Championship at Pinehurst, she posted three consecutive rounds in the 70's to finish 6th in the highly competitive field. Continuing into the summer, Higgins competed in the Women's Mid-Amateur, where she finished in the top 10, along with the Women's Amateur Stroke Play. Rounding out the month of August, Gigi represented Florida at the Women's Southeastern Challenge Matches. To finish the season, Higgins traveled to back-to-back USGA Championships, making match play in both the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championships.
Alyssa Lamoureux - Girls' Junior Player of the Year
As usual, Alyssa Lamoureux, of Seminole, has had another solid year. After finishing second in the 2015 Junior Player of the Year balloting, Alyssa has earned the right to be called the 2016 Junior Player of the Year. She started her season with her partner and fellow Girls' Junior Player of the Year, Alexa Pano, competing in the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Streamsong Resort. The two would make match play, but fall in the Round of 32. In eight FJT events in 2016, Alyssa secured two victories and finished fourth or better in five of the eight events. She followed her runner-up finish in the 2015 Women's Amateur Championship with a quarterfinals run this season. Next on the schedule was the Girls' Junior Amateur Championship. This event turned out to be the highlight of Alyssa's year. Rounds of 71-73-70 would lead to a 2-under par finish and a four shot victory. Alyssa's 70 in round three was tied for the low final round of the event and then went on to finish fifth at the Women's Amateur Stroke Play Championship.
Alexa Pano - Girls' Junior Player of he Year
Co-Girls' Junior Player of the Year Alexa Pano, of Lake Worth, had probably the most impressive year ever from someone at her age. The majority of Alexa's stellar season came as an eleven year old. She started her season with her partner and fellow Girls' Junior Player of the Year, Alyssa Lamoureux, competing in the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Streamsong Resort. The two would make match play, but fall in the Round of 32. She has competed in ten FJT events this season and she has won five of them. Most notably of the five was a win in the 16-18 age division at Old Corkscrew GC. Alexa finished 2nd in both the Girls' Junior Amateur and Girls' Junior Amateur Match Play Championships. The cornerstone of Alexa's year and quite possibly her young career came on April 3rd when she won the 10-11 age division at the Drive, Chip, and Putt competition at Augusta National Golf Club. This was Alexa's second trip to Augusta to compete in the Drive, Chip, and Putt Championship. Alexa started the month of August playing in the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship at Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield, PA. She followed that up with her fourth title in five years at the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship. On August 20th, Alexa turned twelve. Eleven days later she won the AJGA Philadelphia Junior Championship. Alexa is now the second youngest AJGA champion in their long and storied history.
