2023 Alabama Players of the Year (Left To Right): Nick Dunlap, Taylor Trible, Shaw Pritchett, Linda Jeffery, Scarlett Schremmer, Tyler WattsHOOVER, AL (Jan. 12, 2023) – The Alabama Golf Association (AGA) has announced the 2023 AGA Players of the Year. To honor Alabama amateur golfers who performed exceptionally in the preceding tournament season, the AGA identifies award recipients as the number one golfer based on a season-long ranking system.
In 1994, the Men’s Player of the Year Award was established. Throughout time, the award expanded to include Women (2010), Senior Men and Senior Women (2016), and Junior Boys and Junior Girls (2017).
Seven Alabama Men's Players of the Year have competed on the PGA Tour or PGA Tour Champions. Notable past award winners include Garrett Osborn (2000), Patton Kizzire (2003), Bobby Wyatt (2011-2012), Michael Johnson (2013), and Robby Shelton IV (2015). Will Swift (2002, 2005, 2006), Steve Hudson (2004, 2009, 2010), and Gordon Sargent (2020-2022) are tied for the most awards with three apiece.
Complete Alabama Amateur Player Rankings are available on the Alabama Golf Association website here.
2023 Alabama Amateur Player of the Year Award Winners
Men’s
Nick Dunlap of Huntsville wins his first Alabama Men’s Player of the Year award. A sophomore at the University of Alabama, Dunlap won the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship, his second USGA title (U.S. Junior Championship, 2021). In 2023, he claimed two Elite Amateur Golf Series event titles at the North & South Championship and the Northeast Amateur Championship. Dunlap also won the Linger Longer Invitational and the SEC Stroke Play. Dunlap also represented the United States at both the Walker Cup and the World Amateur Team Championship (finishing second individually). He had top-five finishes in the Western Amateur Championship, NCAA Norman Regional and the Hamptons Intercollegiate. Overall, Dunlap recorded 12 top-ten finishes in 2023.
With his U.S. Amateur victory, Dunlap will receive invitations to play in the 2024 Masters Tournament, 2024 U.S. Open Championship and the 2024 Open Championship. Currently he is the third-ranked golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR).
Dunlap has one career AGA Championship title – 2018 Alabama Boys State Junior Championship. He is a three-time Alabama Junior Boys’ Player of the Year award recipient (2018, 2021, 2022) and now an Alabama Men’s Player of the Year award recipient.
Women’s
Taylor Trible of Birmingham earns her first Alabama Women’s Player of the Year award. In 2023, she claimed the Alabama Women’s State Amateur title, finished fifth at the Alabama Women’s Stroke Play Championship, and tied for fifth at the Alabama Women’s Four-Ball Championship. Trible had top-ten finishes in the Tchefuncta Invitational and The Judson.
A sophomore at the University of Southern Mississippi, Trible now holds a total of three career AGA Championship titles – the 2023 Alabama Women’s State Amateur Championship, 2021 Alabama Women’s State Amateur Championship, and 2021 Alabama Women’s State Four-Ball Championship.
"As I reflect on this past year, the AGA has helped prepare me to play against players at the highest level in college. In order to compete in the AGA and at the college level I have learned to really focus on my short game because there is a lot more to golf than ball striking!" said Trible.
Senior Men’s
Shaw Pritchett of Montgomery receives his second consecutive Alabama Senior Men’s Player of the Year award. In 2023, Pritchett won the Alabama State Senior Amateur Championship, the Alabama State Senior Match Play Championship, and the Alabama State Senior Four-Ball Championship titles, becoming the first player to win all three of those Championships in the same year. Pritchett also represented Alabama in the 19th Southeastern Challenge Match.
Pritchett has six career AGA Championship titles – the 2020, 2022, 2023 Alabama State Senior Four-Ball Championships, 2021 and 2023 Alabama State Senior Match Play Championships, and the 2023 Alabama State Senior Championship.
“I’m fortunate to have played in tournaments run by the Alabama Golf Association throughout my life and can’t thank the organization enough for the efforts they put into running such high-quality events and recognizing their champions,” said Pritchett.
He has now received two Alabama Senior Men’s Player of the Year awards.
“I’m so excited to have been named the 2023 Alabama Senior Men’s Player of the Year!” said Pritchett. “It’s an incredible ending to such a successful and fulfilling year for me and my golf journey. It’s hard to believe that I’m able to be mentioned alongside some of the great champions of Alabama golf as an event winner and now a two-time Player of the Year.”
Senior Women’s
Linda Jeffery of Prattville wins her first Alabama Senior Women’s Player of the Year award. In a successful 2023 campaign both locally and nationally, she won two AGA Championship titles at the Alabama Women’s State Senior Championship and the Alabama Women’s State Senior Four-Ball Championship with partner Lea Green. On the national stage, she was a semifinalist at the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship in Arizona, finished fifth at the Ladies National Golf Association Senior, and finished 13th at the North and South Senior Women’s Championship.
Jeffery has three career AGA Championship titles – the 2023 Alabama Women’s State Senior Championship, 2023 Alabama Women’s State Senior Four-Ball Championship, and the 2011 Alabama Women’s Four-Ball Championship.
2023 marked Jeffery’s first year eligible to compete in the Alabama Women’s Senior divisions. Recounting her performance at the 2023 Alabama Women’s State Senior Amateur Championship, Jeffery said, “I played well the second day, but I was behind after 3 holes the final day. I tried mentally to just play the course and not worry about the competition—I ended up birdie-birdie to finish up, but unaware that I actually won till we went to the scoring table. I feel honored to have won, and gained valuable experience.”
Junior Girls
Scarlett Schremmer, 2025, of Birmingham is a high school junior who is home-schooled. She claimed her first AGA Championship title this year at the 2023 Alabama Girls State Junior Championship with rounds of 66-72-66 and made the semi-finals at the 2023 Alabama Women’s State Amateur Championship. Scarlett qualified for both the 2023 U.S. Girls Junior and 2023 PGA Junior Championship. She had multiple top-ten AJGA finishes this year, including a T3 finish at the Arnold Palmer Junior Invitational. Scarlett is a verbal commitment to the University of Miami.
This is Schremmer’s first Alabama Player of the Year award.
Junior Boys
Tyler Watts, 2026, of Huntsville is a sophomore at Grissom High School. “The Summer of Watts” got off to an electric start when Tyler won the 2023 Alabama State Amateur Championship at The Country Club of Mobile by seven shots to become the youngest Champion in the 107-year history of the tournament. The following week, he won the prestigious Southern Junior Championship at Baton Rouge Country Club. He continued to steamroll through the golf season by qualifying for the U.S. Junior Championship and making the Round of 32 only to lose to the eventual champion, winning the AJGA Keith Mitchell Junior, and earning a T6 finish at the Western Junior Championship.
Watts now has two AGA Championship titles, the 2023 Alabama State Amateur Championship and the 2022 Alabama 13 & Under Junior Championship. This is Watts’s first Alabama Player of the Year award.
"The AGA has been more than just a tournament organizer, it's been a launchpad for my journey. I'm incredibly grateful to the AGA for providing the platform and sharing the same passion for the game. This past year was a whirlwind of fantastic moments, and winning the State Am is at the top of the list," said Watts.
The Alabama Junior Players of the Year awards are based on Alabama State Junior Golf Rankings. The points accumulated from September 1 thru August 31 of the current year are taken into consideration. The top Boy and Girl in the current year rankings, as of August 31, will be awarded the Alabama State Junior Player of the Year.
Past Alabama Players of the Year Award Winners
Men
1994 - Eric Hamilton
1995 - Patrick Levio
1996 - John Coles
1997 - Eric Hamilton
1998 - Scott Weatherly
1999 - Joey Holley
2000 - Joey Holley
2001 - Talbert Griffin
2002 - Will Swift
2003 - Patton Kizzire
2004 - Steve Hudson
2005 - Will Swift
2006 - Will Swift
2007 - Garrett Osborn
2008 - Talbert Griffin
2009 - Steve Hudson
2010 - Steve Hudson
2011 - Bobby Wyatt
2012 - Bobby Wyatt
2013 - Michael Johnson
2014 - Stewart Jolly
2015 - Robby Shelton IV
2016 - Patrick Martin
2017 - Matt Gourgeot
2018 - Clay Guerin
2019 - William Buhl
2020 - Gordon Sargent
2021 - Gordon Sargent
2022 - Gordon Sargent
Women
2010 - Kathy Hartwiger
2011 - Kathy Hartwiger
2012 - Kathy Hartwiger
2013 - Cammie Gray
2014 - Virginia Green
2015 - Kathy Hartwiger
2016 - Elaine Wood
2017 - Elaine Wood
2018 - Cammie Bentley
2019 - Anna Claire Little
2020 - Mychael O’Berry
2021 - Molly Brown Davidson
2022 - Michaela Morard
Senior Men
2016 - Steve Hudson
2017 - Steve Hudson
2018 - Claud Cooper
2019 - Robert Nelson
2020 - John Wright
2021 - John Wright
2022 - Shaw Pritchett
Senior Women
2016 - Susan West
2017 - Susan West
2018 - Susan West
2019 - Susan West
2020 - Susan West
2021 - Kathy Hartwiger
2022 - Kathy Hartwiger
Junior Boys
2017 - Ethan Hagood
2018 - Nick Dunlap
2019 - Gordon Sargent
2020 - Gordon Sargent
2021 - Nick Dunlap
2022 - Nick Dunlap
Junior Girls
2017 - Michaela Morard
2018 - Michaela Morard
2019 - Michaela Morard
2020 - Michaela Morard
2021 - Molly Brown Davidson
2022 - Molly Brown Davidson
About the Alabama Golf Association (AGA)
The Alabama Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization founded in 1915 whose mission is to serve and promote amateur golf in Alabama. AGA membership consists of 120 member clubs represented by over 28,000 individuals. The activities and services of the Alabama Golf Association are governed by a Board of Directors consisting of Alabama golfers who wish to serve the game and the association through service. A full-time professional staff of seven individuals handles day-to-day activities.
Based in Hoover, the AGA is the USGA's Allied Golf Association in Alabama conducting national championship qualifying, administering the World Handicap System including the GHIN Handicap service, course & slope rating, and Rules of Golf & Handicapping education. The AGA annually conducts 24 championships; team match competitions for men, women, junior and seniors; AHSAA high school golf championship and the SEC Men's Golf Championship. The AGA manages the Junior Golf Alabama program that is a joint venture between the AGA and Alabama-NW Florida PGA Section.
In addition to competitions, the AGA administers the AGA Scholarship Fund through the Alabama Golf Foundation that is dedicated to assisting young golfers in higher education. Additionally, the Alabama Golf Foundation supports the Youth on Course Alabama program providing facility access to junior golfers and provides funding for the Alabama Turfgrass Research Foundation. In 2016, the AGA earned the Gold Tee Award for “Outstanding Tournament Operations – Small Association” by the International Association of Golf Administrators (IAGA).
Since 1980, the AGA has managed the affairs of the Southern Golf Association which includes conducting the historic Southern Amateur Championship and Southern Junior Championship, in conjunction with the SGA Board of Directors. AGA staff also administers day-to-day operations of the Elite Amateur Golf Series.
For more information about the Alabama Golf Association, visit www.alabamagolf.org.
Media Contact:
Savannah Russo
Director of Media, Marketing & Communications
Alabama Golf Association
205-803-6524
savannah@alabamagolf.org
