CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE 2024 RDGA PLAYER OF THE YEAR WINNERS!
The RDGA is proud to announce our Players of the Year for the 2024 season! Players in each point category will be honored as part of our annual Holiday Party on December 3 at Irondequoit Country Club.
This year, there were SEVEN individual Player of the Year races, based on points earned in RDGA Tournaments, as well as selected other tournaments throughout the year. Players of the Year were announced for Men, Women, Men’s Senior, Men’s Super Senior (for players ages 65 and above), Women’s Senior, Boys Junior and Girls Junior.
The race for the RDGA Player of the Year awards begin each May, with the opening of the RDGA Tournament Schedule, and conclude with the end of the active playing season in October.
2024 RDGA Men’s Player of the Year – Kyle Downey
In the 2024 RDGA Men’s Point Standings race, it was Kyle Downey of Locust Hill Country Club who earned RDGA Men’s Player of the Year honors for the second time in as many years. Downey – who captured the prestigious New York State Men’s Amateur Championship in 2023 – added a new accomplishment to his resume in 2024: finishing in a tie for first in the Monroe Invitational, playing against nationally-ranked collegiate players. Although he ultimately finished second following the playoff, Downey still picked up 650 points for the event, which contributed to his 505-point finish ahead of Men’s POTY runner-up (and RDGA District Champion), Aiden Spampinato.
CLICK HERE for more about the 2024 RDGA Men’s Player of the Year Award
2024 RDGA Women’s Player of the Year – Jan LaVigne
In the 2024 RDGA Women’s Point Standings race, Jan LaVigne of Ravenwood Golf Club outpaced her two nearest competitors – past Women’s Player of the Year Julia Zigrossi and Julie Hamm of Sodus Bay Heights – by 200 and 205 points, respectively to win her first RDGA Women’s Player of the Year Award. LaVigne notched an impressive SIX victories during the 2024 campaign – including five team titles in RDGA Two Person events, along with winning the prestigious 2024 WRDGA Women’s District Championship.
CLICK HERE for more about the RDGA Women’s Player of the Year Award
2024 RDGA Men’s Senior Player of the Year – Jim Scorse
In the 2024 RDGA Men’s Senior Point Standings, Jim Scorse of Stafford Country Club emerged with the 2024 RDGA Men’s Senior Player of the Year Award in one of the most hotly contested points races of the year. Scorse battled Ken Ogden of Oak Hill neck-and-neck throughout the season – but came out on top by 145 points with victories in the New York State Men’s Senior Amateur Championship and in the Senior Division of the Brook-Lea Amateur Invitational, as well as in one of the RDGA Two Person events. Scorse also solidified his position as the year’s top RDGA Senior player by earning one of two qualifying positions in the local U.S. Senior Amateur qualifier.
CLICK HERE for more about the RDGA Men’s Senior Player of the Year
2024 RDGA Women’s Senior Player of the Year – Jan LaVigne
In the 2024 RDGA Women’s Senior Point Standings race, Jan LaVigne of Ravenwood Golf Club became the latest player to win both the Women’s AND the Senior Women’s Players of the Year in the same year – following Deb Wood of Hickory Ridge, who accomplished the same feat in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, LaVigne enjoyed a career year, winning a whopping eight times in 50-and-over competitions, including the WRDGA Senior Championship, as well as the NYS Women’s Senior Amateur Four Ball Championship, along with her other tiles in the WRDGA District Championship and five titles in RDGA Two Person events. LaVigne finished 505 points ahead of Sodus’ Julie Hamm to win top Women’s Senior honors.
CLICK HERE for more about the RDGA Women’s Senior Player of the Year
2024 RDGA Men’s Super Senior Player of the Year – Jim Burns
In the 2024 RDGA Men’s Super Senior Point Standings race, Jim Burns of Canandaigua Country Club earned his second Super Senior Player of the Year honors in as many years of the category, finishing 142.5 points ahead of Ravenwood’s Mark Battle. Burns won two RDGA Two Person Senior Division titles in 2024, as well as claiming top-5 finishes in 5 events – including runner-up in the RDGA Super Senior Match Play Championship, 3rd in the RDGA Wilson Fitch Senior Championship and 3rd in the 2024 NYS Men’s Super Senior Amateur Four Ball Championship.
CLICK HERE for more about the RDGA Men’s Super Senior Player of the Year
2024 RDGA Boys Junior Player of the Year – Alex Hill
In the 2024 RDGA Boys Point Standings race, Alex Hill of Cobblestone Creek Country Club earned his first RDGA Boys Player of the Year Award by finishing with a lead of less than 100 points by the end of the season. In addition to becoming a first-time champion in the RDGA Boys Junior Championship at Livingston Country Club in August, Hill – a member of the winning RDGA Williamson Cup team in 2023 – remained competitive and in contention throughout the 2024 campaign to win his first Boys Player of the Year honors.
CLICK HERE for more about the RDGA Boys’ Junior Player of the Year
2024 RDGA Girls Junior Player of the Year – Harper Dittman
In the 2024 RDGA Girls Point Standings race, Harper Dittman of the RDGA Junior Membership club, finished first in the tightest points race of any of the RDGA POTY categories this year. Dittman finished second to 2022 RDGA Junior POTY, Sophia Cellura, in the RDGA Girls Junior Championship in August – then wrapped up the year with a win in the Monroe County High School Girls Tournament of Champions and a second place finish in the Girls Section V High School Championship.
CLICK HERE for more about the RDGA Girls’ Junior Player of the Year