Mayer, Franz, Madden, Rencis, & Black Named Carolinas PGA Players of the Year

Greensboro, North Carolina (November 3, 2023) – Congratulations to the 2023 Carolinas PGA Players of the Year! These awards are presented to Carolinas PGA Professionals and Associates who have gained the most playing points during the 2023 season.

Jon Mayer, PGA, a native from Hyannis, MA, is named the 2023 Bob Boyd Section Player of the Year. The award is named after the 2007 CPGA Hall of Fame inductee Bob Boyd who won player of the year in 1988, ‘89, ‘92. ’93, ‘98, ‘99, and 2002. Boyd recorded 22 CPGA Major Championship victories during his career. Mayer, an Assistant Professional at Grandfather Golf & Country Club, had an excellent tournament season competing in all five majors and finishing in the top 10 for three of them. Mayer was the victor of the 2022 Carolinas PGA Professional Championship and was given an exemption to compete in the 2023 Wyndham Championship held at Sedgefield Country Club in August. He will receive another exemption into a 2024 PGA Tour event.

Ray Franz, PGA is named the 2023 Tommy Card Senior Player of the Year. This award is named after the 1994 CPGA Hall of Fame inductee who was instrumental in the formation of the CPGA senior tournament program. Franz, an Assistant Professional at Daniel Island Club, won after a dominant 2023 tournament season. Franz finished in the top 3 of every senior division he competed in this year except for one event. He recently competed in the Senior PGA Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida where he finished T11 and qualified to play on the Corebridge PGA Team of 35 at the 2024 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. 

Sophie Madden, PGA, a graduate of the Florida Gulf Coast University PGM Program, is named the 2023 Peggy Kirk Bell Women’s Player of the Year. This award is named after the 2013 CPGA Hall of Fame inductee who has been instrumental in golf in the Carolinas as well as women’s golf across the country. Bell is one of only two non-PGA Professionals who have been inducted in the Carolinas PGA to date. Madden, a Teaching Professional at Old Edwards Club, won the 2023 XXIO CPGA Women’s Professional Championship by three strokes to secure her place in CPGA history. 

Nick Rencis, a graduate and former athlete at Old Dominion University, is named the 2023 Assistants’ Association Player of the Year. The Assistants’ Association a division of the Carolinas PGA Section. The purpose is to prepare golf professionals for future success as PGA Members and the goal of the Association is to elevate the standards of CPGA Assistant Professionals through mentoring, networking and promoting the game of golf. Rencis, an Assistant at River Run Country Club, finished in the top 10 of every Assistants’ Association event he played in this year and won the 2023 National Car Rental CPGA Assistant Championship in August. 

The Johnny Palmer Trophy is awarded to the Section Member who has the lowest stroke average in a given calendar year in the Players Championship, Carolinas Open, North Carolina Open, South Carolina Open, and Carolinas PGA Professional Championship. Aaron Black, PGA, General Manager at Springfield Golf Club, has won the 2023 Johnny Palmer Trophy with a scoring average of 69.3 over the course of his best ten rounds in the five majors including his victory at the 72nd South Carolina Open.

These five individuals will be recognized and awarded at the Player of the Year Awards Dinner during the E-Z-GO CPGA Pro-Pro Championship on Tuesday, November 28th at Pinehurst Resort. 

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About Carolinas PGA

Since its inception in 1923, the Carolinas PGA Section has been committed to nurturing and improving the quality of the game for the thousands of golfers using its member facilities.  Now the largest of the PGA’s forty-one sections, the Carolinas PGA Section of the Professional Golfers’ Association boasts over 2,200 professional members and represents more than 700 golf facilities within North and South Carolina as well as portions of southern Virginia. Carolinas PGA Website: carolinas.pga.com

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