Reigning PNGA Players of the Year Nominated for Sport BC Athlete of the Year Award
Jared du Toit of Kimberley, B.C. is a finalist for the Sport BC Male Senior Athlete of the Year, while Victoria’s Naomi Ko is a finalist in the Female Senior Athlete of the Year category.
The winners will be announced at the annual Sport BC Athlete of the Year awards dinner, to be held March 8, 2017 at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver, B.C.
Ko and du Toit were selected as the 2016 PNGA Women’s and Men’s Players of the Year, respectively.
Also nominated is Coquitlam, B.C.’s A.J. Ewart in the Male Junior Athlete of the Year category.
Du Toit has been the No. 1-ranked amateur male golfer in Canada for over 44 weeks straight as well as being ranked as high as No. 23 in the world. Included in his list of accomplishments this past summer was winning the prestigious Glencoe Invitational, along with being named the 2016 PNGA Men’s Player of the Year; winning the British Columbia Golf Order of Merit; the Golf Canada Men’s Amateur Order of Mer
it; and the Gary Cowan Medal as the Low Amateur at the RBC Canadian Open, where he thrilled the country when he finished tied for ninth after contending all week.
Immediately following that performance at Glen Abbey, du Toit found himself competing with the top amateurs in the world in the Porter Cup at Niagara Falls Country Club in New York, where he finished tied for fourth.
Du Toit is a member of the Kimberley GC and attends Arizona State University. He is a member of the Canadian National Team. He was nominated for the Sport BC award by British Columbia Golf President Patrick Kelly and Kris Jonasson, executive director of British Columbia Golf.
Ko, who had an outstanding 2016 season with two significant victories to go along with medallist honours in two other high profile events, is the No. 2-ranked amateur female golfer in Canada and will find out on March 8, 2017 during the awards ceremony dinner being held at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver whether she will be adding another honour to her name.
Included in her list of accomplishments this past summer were wins in the Canadian Junior Girls’ Championship and the Cambia Portland Classic Amateur Open.
Ko, who plays out of Royal Colwood Golf Club, finished her freshman season last spring as a member of the North Carolina State women’s golf team with a T5 at the Women’s ACC Conference Championship and followed that up in early May by earning medallist honours at the U.S. Women’s Open Qualifier at the PNGA-owned Home Course in DuPont, Wash.
She also was medallist and runner-up at the 2016 PNGA Women’s Amateur, and was named the 2016 PNGA Women’s Player of the Year.
Ko secured a spot in July’s LPGA Cambia Portland Classic Open by winning the Cambia Portland Classic Amateur Open in early June before heading across country to compete in the Porter Cup one week later, where she finished T7.
Ewart was the CJGA BC Junior Open Champion and also took medalist honours at a U.S. Junior Amateur qualifying event held at the Classic Golf Club in Spanaway, Wash. on June 21.
On top of that his high school golf team from Gleneagle Secondary won the AAA B.C. High School Golf Championship aided tremendously by Ewart’s rounds of 66, 68 for a 6-under par total and the runner-up spot in the individual competition.
He also recorded a couple of outstanding performances in the BC Men’s Amateur and the BC Junior Boys Championship, finishing 2nd in both events, missing a playoff in the Junior Championship by one shot after 4 rounds including a sparkling second round of 6-under 64.
Finishing the year as the No. 1-ranked Junior not only in BC but all of Canada, Ewart is embarking on his second year as a member of Golf Canada’s National Development Squad.
The Athlete of the Year Awards, founded by Sport BC, is the longest standing amateur sport recognition event in the country. Awards in 18 different categories are given each year to athletes, coaches, and officials on their performance and contribution to sport in the province of British Columbia. The awards play a valuable role in nurturing athletic success while recognizing extraordinary accomplishments in BC.
Visit www.sportbc.com for more information.
