Amateur Golfer of the Year Inside Golf Manitoba
Bobbi Uhl & Neel Soni voted as 2020 Amateur Golfers of the Year
WINNIPEG – Bobbi Uhl of the Shilo Golf & Country Club and Neel Soni of the St. Charles Country Club have been voted as the 2020 Amateur Golfers of the Year, Golf Manitoba announced today. It is the first Golfer of the Year Award for both Uhl and Soni.
Each year upon the completion of the competitive season, the Amateur Golfer of the Year Award Selection Committee reviews athlete results and votes on the candidates. This year's panel included four-time provincial women's amateur champion, provincial junior champion and former Golfer of the Year recipient, Jill Hardy, two-time men's amateur champion, provincial junior champion and touring professional, Adam Spiers, and Clayton Dreger of CFAM radio 950 and sportsnet.ca contributor Ken Wiebe.
"On behalf of the Board and volunteers of Golf Manitoba, my congratulations to both Bobbi Uhl and Neel Soni on being voted the 2020 Amateur Golfers of the Year," said Golf Manitoba President Ken Warwick. "This was an exceptional year for both Bobbi and Neel and our association is delighted to be able to recognize their accomplishments and add their names to the prestigious list of past recipients."
Bobbi Uhl began the 2020 summer competitive season with an impressive win at the Golf Manitoba Women's Match Play Championship that was contested at the historic St. Charles Country Club. Uhl started the event by earning medalist honours in the 36-hole qualifier by 8 shots. In the finals, she took the victory with a 5 and 4 victory defeating defending champion Hannah Diamond in the finals. The win was her first in the event after two straight runner-up finishes in both 2019 and 2018. She then followed her Match Play victory with a runner-up finish in the Diamond Athletic Women's Amateur Championship on rounds of 74-79-76 for a 229 total and one shot shy of tying top spot.
Bobbi Uhl, 2020 Female Amateur Golfer of the Year (photo: Thomas Friesen)
Neel Soni of the St. Charles Country Club finished his junior competitive career by winning the 2020 Junior Men's Championship. Soni took the lead in the 54-hole event after round one and never looked back posting rounds of 68-70-70 enroute to his first junior championship title. Soni continued his strong play later that week at the Nott Autocorp Men's Amateur Championship where he posted a four-day total of 289 to finish alone in 2nd and just three shots back of the winner. By right of his play with an impressive 71.0 scoring average in both the junior and amateur championships, Soni would have qualified to represent Manitoba on both the junior men's and men's amateur interprovincial teams had the 2020 national season not been cancelled due to the pandemic.
Neel Soni, 2020 Male Amateur Golfer of the Year (photo: Bob Poole)
The finalists for Female Amateur Golfer of the Year were Rhonda Orr (Southwood Golf & Country Club), Veronica Vetesnik (Kingswood Golf & Country Club) and Crystal Zamzow (Swan River Golf & Country Club). The finalists for the Male Golfer of the Year Award included Austin Dobrescu (Shilo Country Club), Braxton Kuntz (Breezy Bend Country Club) and Marco Trstenjak (Elmhurst Golf & Country Club).
The Golf Manitoba Amateur Golfer of the Year Award was presented for the 46th time on November 4, 2020.
About the Golf Manitoba Amateur Golfer of the Year Award – The Golf Manitoba Amateur Golfer of the Year award recognizes outstanding performance by Manitoba golfers in all levels of competition with the first award presented in 1975. In 2015, the award was re-established to include both a female and male category.
Past Golfer of the Year Recipients:
2019 Rhonda Orr
Colwyn Abgrall
Justin McDonald
2017 Camryn Roadley
Todd Fanning
Devon Schade
2014 Bret Thompson
2013 Aaron Cockerill & Josh Wytinck
2012 Josh Wytinck
2011 Jesse Skelton
2010 Aaron Cockerill
2009 Garth Collings
2008 Brad Kirton
2004 Jill Hardy
2002 Mike Keast
2001 Peter More
2000 Jo – Ann Lindsay
1998 Terry Hashimoto
1997 Dale Goehring
1996 Rob McMillan
1994 Rob McMillan & Aileen Robertson
1991 Todd Fanning
1989 Dave McMillan
1987 Glen Hnatiuk
1983 Gail Anderson
1982 Billy Parker
1981 Shauna Gechel
1978 Terry More
1977 Jimmy King
1975 Matt Poleschuk
About Golf Manitoba – Golf Manitoba is provincial sport organization (PSO) for amateur golf in Manitoba. Its mission is to develop, promote, govern and service the sport of golf in Manitoba and Northwest Ontario for the benefit of all participants.
Jared Ladobruk
jared@golfmb.ca