Washington Golf (WA Golf) has announced the 2020 Player of the Year recipients. The category winners are as follows: Men’s, Nathan Cogswell of Kent; Women's, Alice Duan of Seattle; Men's Mid-Amateur, Reid Hatley of Hayden Lake, Idaho; Women's Mid-Amateur, Victoria Fallgren of Spokane; Senior Men's, Tom Brandes of Bellevue; Senior Women's, Leslie Folsom of Tukwila; Junior Boys', Jahan Bains of DuPont; and Junior Girls', Lauryn Nguyen of Seattle.
The recipients will be honored at the 99th WA Golf Annual Meeting, which is being held Saturday, November 7. Because of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting will be conducted virtually.
View a complete list of accomplishments of the 2020 Players of the Year.
Men's Player of the Year
Nathan Cogswell (Kent)
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Cogswell, a junior on the Seattle University men’s golf team, won the 2020 Northwest Open Invitational, and finished tied for fifth in the Washington Open Invitational, competing against the region’s PGA club professionals in both tournaments. He also won the Puget Sound Amateur. He tied for fourth in the Washington Men’s Amateur, and was runner-up in the Washington Men’s Champion of Champions.
Women's Player of the Year
Alice Duan (Seattle)
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Duan won the 2020 Washington Women’s Amateur. She competed for two years on the University of Washington women’s golf team, and after graduating this past summer transferred to the University of Nebraska to play on their women’s team and complete a graduate degree.
Men's Mid-Amateur Player of the Year
Reid Hatley (Hayden Lake, Idaho)
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This is the sixth year in a row that Hatley has earned this honor. This summer he tied for fifth in the Washington Open Invitational, tied for sixth in the Oregon Open Invitational, and tied for 19th in the Northwest Open Invitational. Hatley tied for eighth in the Washington Men’s Champion of Champions.
Women's Mid-Amateur Player of the Year
Victoria Fallgren (Spokane)
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Fallgren won the 2020 Washington Women’s Mid-Amateur and the Washington Women’s Champion of Champions. This is the third time she has received this award, having previously been honored in 2017 and 2018. Fallgren is the assistant coach for the women’s golf team at Gonzaga University.
Senior Men's Player of the Year
Tom Brandes (Bellevue)
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This is the 10th time that Brandes has received this award. He won this year’s Washington Senior Amateur, the seventh time he has won the championship. He also won the PNGA Master-40 Amateur. In the Washington Senior Open, he tied for third, competing against the region’s senior club PGA professionals. Brandes tied for sixth in the Washington Senior Men’s Champion of Champions.
Senior Women's Player of the Year
Leslie Folsom (Tukwila)
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Folsom won twice this year, the Washington Senior Women’s Amateur, and the Washington Senior Women’s Champion of Champions. This is the third consecutive year she has received this award. Folsom was also twice named the Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the year, in 2012 and 2013.
Junior Boys' Player of the Year
Jahan Bains (DuPont)
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Bains won the 2020 Washington Junior Golf Association Eastern Open, and finished runner-up in three other WJGA tournaments, including the State Match Play, District 3 Championship, and the State Championship. He was third in the WJGA Cup, and placed seventh in the Notah Begay Jr. Seattle Qualifier.
Junior Girls' Player of the Year
Lauryn Nguyen (Seattle)
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Nguyen won four titles this season, the WJGA Girls’ State Championship, WJGA State Match Play, WJGA District 6 Championship, and the AJGA Junior at Pronghorn. She was also co-champion of the WJGA Western Open, co-medalist at the WJGA School Team Championship, medalist at the WJGA Cup, and won the Notah Begay Jr. Seattle Qualifier.
The WA Golf Championship Committee meets annually in early October to vote and select the Players of the Year in the categories of Men’s, Women’s, Senior Men’s, Senior Women’s, Men’s Mid-Amateur, Women’s Mid-Amateur, Junior Boys' and Junior Girls'. The WA Golf Performance Points list is used as the primary guide for the selection. Since WA Golf does not have a performance points list for juniors, WA Golf receives the nominations for selection from the Washington Junior Golf Association.
Founded in 1922, WA Golf is a 501c4 non-profit, amateur golf association governed by men and women volunteers. Serving over 71,000 individual members at more than 650 member golf clubs and 270 golf courses throughout the state of Washington and Northern Idaho, WA Golf works to continually expand the game of golf to people of all backgrounds. WA Golf also serves as a statewide representative of the United States Golf Association and works closely with a number of allied associations within the golf industry for the betterment of the game.
