Heinz wins third straight Player of the Year
Jenny Heinz, of Cedar Falls, successfully defended her IGA Player of the Year title for the third consecutive year.

It was a close race, but Heinz bested second place finisher, Julie Buerman, by 92 points. Heinz earned 925 points to claim the 2016 Player of the Year title which was highlighted by two wins at the IGA Women’s Four-Ball (with partner Karli Kerrigan) and by winning the Individual Gross competition of the IGA Women’s Club Team Championship at Wakonda Club in early August. Heinz also finished runner-up in the IGA Women’s Match Play event hosted by Crow Valley Golf Club.

Cedar Rapids’ Buerman finished runner up to Heinz in the point standings. Buerman competed in five IGA events, earning a victory in the IGA Women’s Match Play Championship where she beat Heinz in the finals by a score of 3 & 1. She also finished second in the Cedar Rapids Women’s Open and fourth in the Gross Division of the IGA Women’s Club Team Championship.

Finishing third in the point race was University of Iowa golfer, Jessie Sindlinger. Sindlinger only competed in one event, but she made the most of it by claiming her first Iowa Women’s Amateur victory at Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City.

Kubesheski claims second Senior Player of the Year title
Since the inauguration of the award in 2010, Rose Kubesheski of Dubuque has been a mainstay at the top of the Women’s Senior Player of the Year standings. In 2016, she earned her third win (2010 & 2013).

Kubesheski ran away with the 2016 POTY title as she finished nearly 260 points ahead of runner-up, Janece Schwartzkopf, of Stuart. Kubesheski competed in four events which included three victories; her first coming in the IGA Women’s Four-Ball (with partner Robin Webb), her second in the IGA Forever 39 Match Play Championship, and her third when she won her fifth IGA Women’s Senior Amateur Championship at Briarwood Club of Ankeny in late September.

Schwartzkopf’s 621.5 points was good enough to earn her second place in the point standings. The high point of Schwartzkopf’s season came in mid-July when she won the Open Division of the Iowa Women’s Amateur Championship. She also finished runner-up in the Iowa Women’s Senior Amateur Championship and third in the IGA Women’s Four-Ball with partner Carroll Dethrow.

The standings may have looked differently had Robin Webb, of Clive, would not have had to withdraw from the Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, but nonetheless, Webb earned 500 points to finish in third place in the point standings. She played in three events which included winning the IGA Women’s Four-Ball with partner, Kubesheski.

Hawkins wins Junior Girls’ Player of the Year in 2016
It was a tight race, but in the end, Maddie Hawkins, of Asbury came out on top as the 2016 IGA Junior Girls’ Player of the Year.

Hawkins competed in six events this season where, after qualifying in Blaine, Minn., she earned a spot as the first alternate in the USGA Girl’s Junior Amateur Championship. Hawkins also finished second in qualifying to earn a number two seed in match play in the Western Women’s Golf Association Junior Championship. She went on to make it to the quarterfinal round in match play, but lost to the number ten seed, Penelope Tir of Illinois, 3 & 1. Other highlights included a third place finish in the Iowa PGA Junior Championship at Ames Golf and Country Club and a fourth place finish at the Midwest Junior hosted by Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City.

Casey Noble, 17, of Morning Sun never finished outside of the top ten in any of the eight events that she played this season. Noble collected a pair of runner-up finishes in the Iowa PGA Cedar Rapids Junior and the Iowa PGA Junior Championship. She also placed third in the class 1A Iowa High School State Tournament contested at Jester Park Golf Course in Granger.

Rounding out the top three in the junior girl’s point standings was Hannah Bermel of Cedar Falls. Bermel claimed runner-up finishes at the class 5A Iowa High School State Golf Tournament and at the Iowa PGA Junior Tour Kickoff held at Pheasant Ridge Golf Course in Cedar Falls. Highlighting her season was a win at the Iowa PGA Junior Championship at Lake Panorama National Golf Course in Panora.