Marc Leishman last night earned his first Australian Golf Digest Player of the Year title during a glittering awards dinner hosted at the Sydney Cricket Ground by Australia’s No.1 golf magazine.
Leishman, 34, captured two titles on the US PGA Tour in 2017 and rose to a career-high world ranking of 12th in the best season of his career.
He received the main prize on the night, with the 10 other awards going to:
Katherine Kirk (Female Player of the Year): Won on the LPGA Tour for the first time since 2010 at this year’s Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic. Also finished equal third at the last LPGA Major of the year, the Evian Championship.
Hannah Green (Rookie Player of the Year): Claimed three Symetra Tour titles to finish second on the order of merit and secure an LPGA Tour card for 2018.
Dylan Perry (Amateur Player of the Year): Won the Riversdale Cup and Victorian Amateur; runner-up at the British Amateur Championship.
Sue Wooster (Senior Player of the Year): Won the Canadian Women’s Senior Amateur Championship and Victorian Women’s Mid-Amateur, runner-up at the Ladies Senior British Amateur.
Karl Vilips (Junior Player of the Year): Captured three prestigious American junior tournaments while becoming the No.1-ranked 16-year-old golfer in the world.
Frazer Droop (PGA Trainee of the Year): Won the National Futures Trainee Championship and Rich River Trainee Classic among 12 trainee tournament victories.
Phil Soegaard (Superintendent of the Year): Successfully rebuilt four greens at Lakelands Golf Club on the Gold Coast, also rebuilding most of the course’s bunkers while trimming the club’s fertiliser and chemical inputs by 15 percent.
Ritchie Smith (Coach of the Year): Guided pupils Hannah Green, Minjee Lee, Min Woo Lee, Jarryd Felton and the West Australian Boys side to significant success during 2017.
Thaxted Park Golf Club (Club Achievement Award): The Adelaide club implemented several successful initiatives, including growing its membership by more than 50 percent and establishing an Australian Sports Foundation programme to allow members to donate towards course upgrades.
David Cherry (Services to Golf): Due recognition for a decorated career in golf and golf administration, including serving as the president of the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, as well as a state representative and president, national board member and president, and Golf Australia board member.
