CWGA Honors Kupcho, Weinstein and Eaton

After naming Jennifer Kupcho its Player of the Year for an unprecedented three consecutive seasons, the Colorado Women’s Golf Association (CWGA) will reward the Wake Forest University junior with its “highest honor,” the President’s Award.

According to a press release from the CWGA, “The President’s Award is unlike any other CWGA award, as it is only given when we recognize exceptional achievements and contributions to the game of golf,” CWGA President Juliet Miner wrote in a congratulatory letter to Kupcho.

The 20-year-old Kupcho’s stellar 2017 season has vaulted the Westminster native into the No. 3 spot in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings.

After a heartbreaking runner-up finish in the NCAA Division I women’s championship, she rebounded to qualify for her second straight U.S. Women’s Open, where she went on to finish 21st overall—and second among amateurs.

In addition, she qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur, advancing to the match-play round of 64.

In Colorado, she also won her third consecutive CWGA Stroke Play, this one by a 13-shot margin, and at the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open, she placed second for the second time while competing against a field comprised of numerous professionals.

Kupcho also won the Canadian Women’s Amateur by five strokes. She earned two individual collegiate victories, including an NCAA Regional, leading to her becoming a finalist for the Women’s Golf Coaches Association’s Division 1 player of the year.

The USGA this month announced that Kupcho is one of a dozen American players invited to a Dec. 17-18 Curtis Cup practice session at Shoal Creek Golf Club in Birmingham, Ala., site of the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open.

The Curtis Cup, a biennial competition between the top 16 women’s amateurs from the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland, takes place June 8-10 at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y.  Kupcho isn’t guaranteed a spot on the eight-person U.S. squad, but odds are in her favor.

Kupcho heads a list of three players honored by the CWGA for their play this year.

Mary Weinstein of Highlands Ranch earned her first CWGA Player of the Year title, while Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton became the CWGA Senior Player of the Year for the eighth time in nine years.

Weinstein transferred to the University of Denver in July after a season at Regis University, during which she was named Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Player of the Year. A former Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado Player of the Year, Weinstein placed fourth at this year’s Colorado Stroke Play Championship, second place in the CWGA Match Play and made the Colorado Women’s Open cut. She also qualified for the US Women’s Amateur Championship at San Diego Country Club.

Weinstein’s spectacular summer has led to terrific play as a Pioneer during the fall season. She finished tied for 15th at the Golfweek Conference Challenge back on Sept. 27 and the Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate on Oct. 8, both DU team wins.

“To be named player of the year for amateur women golfers in Colorado is an exceptional honor to receive,” DU head coach Lindsay Kuhle said in a release from the university. “Mary has a very solid game and has many birdie opportunities every round within 15 feet because of her ball striking and aggressive play. She’s fun to watch and has a quiet confidence about her on the golf course, which I love to see and coach.”

Since turning 50 in 2009, Kim Eaton has claimed the CWGA Senior Player of the Year award every year except 2014, when she briefly “retired” from CWGA championship play. Also during that time, she was the overall Player of the Year in 2009 and ’10.

This year, she swept the association’s major titles for the third time, winning CWGA Senior Stroke Play for the fifth time and the CWGA Senior Match Play for the fourth. She now owns 24 CWGA titles, one fewer than the 25 of record-holder Carol Flenniken.

Eaton also advanced to the round of 32 at the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. A full-time Arizona resident, she helped her adopted state finish seventh in the final USGA Women’s State Team Championship and won the Arizona Women’s Golf Association State Amateur Seniors Championship for the eighth time.

The former City of Evans police officer took home two gold medals and two silvers at the World Police and Fire Games in Los Angeles.

RELATED STORIES

Colorado Golf Association names 2017 Players of the Year