Don Snyder Recaptures the LMGA Player of the Year with Strong Two-Day Championship Tournament Performance
By Rick Colvin
Don Snyder reclaimed the Player of the Year honor that he last held in 2022 with a strong victory amid wind gusts up to 20 mph on Palmetto, on the first day of the two-day LMGA year-end Championship tournament, held Nov. 13 and 14. He edged out Jon Bokina, who had come into the tournament with a commanding lead in POY points.
Prior to the last two days of play, Snyder had 1675 POY points, which are earned by playing often and playing well during the year. But, as he proved, good play in the tournament can lead to big shakeups in the POY standings.
Snyder won the 3rd Medal tee flight the first day with 41 Stableford points, putting him in a tie with Gary Howard for the highest in the entire field for either day, and earned 1000 points. On the second day, Snyder finished 3rd in his flight, but, because of his stellar performance on the first day, his two-day total of 76 Stableford points was the highest in the field. He tallied 800 points on Day 2. Coming out of the tournament, Snyder had a total of 3475 points.
Gary Hobbs took two-day honors in the 1st Medal flight and John Higgins did the same in the 2nd Medal flight.
Gary Howard won his flight both days to accumulate 2000 points in the tournament, and to win the Course tee division. Tom Seipel and Mike Staman were tied for 2nd for the division title.
The Club tee division was won by Bobby Balmes, who led his flight on Day 1 with 34 points and came in 4th on the second day with 35 points. Division runner-up was Edgar Yu, who tied for second on Day 1 and tied for the lead the second day with Brad Battista and Rick Colvin. Yu was awarded 1st place in a card-off.
John Bellucci took home the Club-Medal tee division trophy, winning handily his flight the first day and coming in 2nd place the second day. His two-day total of 72 Stableford points was 10 points higher than the closest competitor in his flight.
RJ Jackson was the overall winner of his flight in the Club division but, to do it, he had to beat Brian Ray in a chip-off.
This year, for the first time, the LMGA also awarded prizes based on low gross scores. Jeff Kane was low gross in the Club division; Pat Beringer was low gross in the Club-Medal division; Gary Hobbs recorded the lowest gross score in the Medal division; and Gary Howard took home low gross honors in the Course tee division.
At its Annual Awards Dinner after the tournament, the LMGA membership elected Larry Batanian as its 2024-2025 President, succeeding Rick Colvin. Brian Ray will be vice president, Mark Rosenbaum will be treasurer, and Gary Hobbs will serve as secretary.
Bill Bergin, the architect who is designing the makeover of the Oakridge course, was the featured speaker. He gave an overview of the changes he and his colleagues have submitted to The Landings Golf & Athletic Club’s Board of Governors. Although the overall shape of the holes will not change, the greens complexes, in general, will be lowered, expanded and made easier to read. Bergin said he wants Oakridge to continue to be distinctive while making it more playable for average golfers.