Around The Commonwealth
The 2018 VSGA
Annual Meeting will
be held Jan. 12,
2019 at Willow Oaks
Country Club.
Service with a Smile
Meet the 2018 VSGA Award Winners
EACH YEAR, the Virginia State Golf Association presents four
awards to those who have made a major impact on golf and the
association at its annual meeting, which will be held on Saturday,
Jan. 12 at Willow Oaks Country Club in Richmond. The 2018
award winners are:
PRESIDENT'S AWARD: Consistent with its history of recog-
nizing ambassadors of the game, the
VSGA’s President’s Award recognizes
many years of service to the associa-
tion and the game of golf.
The 2018 winner is Vern Inge Jr. Inge
has been involved with many of the large
initiatives that have occurred since
his arrival in 2007 as the VSGA's vol-
unteer general counsel. Although he
is not a board member, he attends all
board meetings and executive commit-
tee meetings in efforts to provide legal advice on a wide range of
issues. Examples include integration of the Women's Division into
the governance of the VSGA, rewriting of the VSGA bylaws, and
advice on the new VSGA headquarters, to name a few.
SERVICE TO GOLF AWARD: This honor is presented annual-
ly to an individual who has selflessly contributed to bettering
golf in the Commonwealth as an administrator, volunteer,
VSGA staff member, PGA professional or otherwise.
The 2018 award will be presented to Gordon and Michelle
Austin, who for the last decade have been co-chairs of the Bobby
Bowers Memorial Junior Golf Tournament at Springfield Golf
& Country Club. Gordon has also served as the president of the
vsga.org
Bobby Bowers Committee that awards scholarships to young
deserving athletes from local high schools.
VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARD: This award recognizes
service to the game as a volunteer, including efforts to assist
the VSGA in the areas of tournament administration, junior
golf, rules, course rating and governance.
This year’s winner is Janet Brockwell of New Kent, who has
been a volunteer course rater with the VSGA since 2006. Brock-
well originally began as a course rater in the Williamsburg area
but her role increased as the rating area expanded to include
more of the general Tidewater region. She is a dedicated vol-
unteer who has been willing to go outside of her area to rate
courses, if needed, and she’s been a mentor to new course rating
volunteers for the VSGA.
GROW THE GAME AWARD: First
awarded in 2017, the Grow The
Game Award recognizes the positive
impact and efforts made to grow the
game of golf in Virginia.
The 2018 winner is Kandi Comer
of Crozet, who is recognized as one of
the top instructors in Virginia by Golf
Digest and as a US Kids Top 50 Junior
Instructor. She is ranked by Golf
Digest as a National Top 100 Clubfit-
ter. Her tireless work with juniors has helped many young players
earn opportunities to play college golf. In 2016, she joined the Golf
Channel Academy as a lead instructor, and she has served as a
member on the PGA President’s Council on Growing the Game.
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