Cazenovia — Mark Tucker, head golf professional at Cazenovia Country Club, has been named 2015 Section Player of the Year and Senior Player of the Year by the Central New York Professional Golf Association. The award is based on points accumulated per the number of tournaments a PGA member plays, and how he or she ranks in each tournament.
“I’m always surprised because it’s not my goal [to win awards]. I play as much golf as I can,” said Tucker, who has been the pro at Cazenovia CC for 12 years. “It is special, at my age, having four kids. It was a good year; I hit the ball good all year.”
This is the first time Tucker, age 50, was eligible to win the Senior Player of the Year award, and it is his second time winning the Section Player of the Year award as a PGA. He won the award multiple times in the 1990s when he was an assistant pro, he said.
Tucker played in 15 CNY PGA events this year, six of which he won. He also placed in the top 25 at the state open tournament in Bethpage, which qualified him to play next spring in the PGA Professional National Championship tournament. The top 20 golfers in that competition qualify to play at the National PGA tournament.
“Next year, I’m excited for the PNC tournament because Dennis [Colligan, head pro at Cazenovia Golf Club] and I both get to play that. It’s exciting to have two guys from Cazenovia there. I hope we’ll have a big Caz contingent there at Turning Stone,” Tucker said.
Tucker received his awards at the CNY PGA awards ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 3, at Drumlins Country Club. Also at the event, Richard Winstead, head professional at Woodcrest Golf Club in Manlius, was named 2015 Central New York PGA Golf Professional of the Year; and Stan Gorman, PGA professional at the Pompey Club, received the Horton Smith Award and the Player Development Award.
