MGA BESTOWS DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD AND HONORS CLUB OF THE YEAR AT 107th ANNUAL MEETING

EDINA, Minn. (October 23, 2007) – The Minnesota Golf Association named Joe Cockriel the 2007 Fritz Corrigan Evans Scholar of the Year at the 107th Annual Meeting and Awards Program Monday at Midland Hills Country Club in St. Paul. Also at the dinner program the association honored Max Horn with its MGA President’s Award (also known as Volunteer of the Year); and Tianna Country Club, in Walker, Minn., as MGA Member Club of the Year.

In addition, the University of Minnesota’s President’s Award was bestowed on the MGA, for its generous philanthropic support of turfgrass research in the Department of Horticulture Science at the College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Sciences. The award was co-presented by Adam Fischer, associate development officer for the University of Minnesota College of Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resource Science, and Brian Horgan, Ph.D., turfgrass extension specialist.

Also honored were the six individual MGA Players of the Year (Stephen Bidne, Randall Garber, Hillary Gerster, Leigh Klasse, Claudia Pilot and Clayton Rask); and George Reynolds, as the Warren J. Rebholz Distinguished Service Award winner (news of these award winners appeared in an MGA press release, dated Oct. 19, 2007).

The MGA Fritz Corrigan Evans Scholar of the Year award is bestowed annually to the Evans Scholar from the University of Minnesota chapter house for outstanding achievement in academics, leadership and community service. Cockriel, a caddie from Hillcrest Golf Club of St. Paul and a senior at the University of Minnesota in the Carlson School of Management honors program, with a double major in finance and economics. He was recognized by the Evans Scholars National Committee with its Academic Achievement Award and received the Carleton Blunt Scholarship Award. Cockriel is currently president of the Minnesota Evans Scholars chapter and previously served as treasurer. He orchestrated the Evans House participation in Centerplate at the Metrodome, which grossed $25,000 for improvements to the Evans house, as well as other charitable causes. Cockriel is active in the accounting and finance association student groups and is a member of the West Coast Swing Dance team. He has served internships with Ernst and Young, Minneapolis; Travelers; General Electric Fleet Services; Wells Fargo; and the American Red Cross. In addition, Cockriel ran in the Twin Cities Marathon this fall. After graduation in May 2008, he plans to join a leadership development program to work around the country.

This year’s outstanding finalists for the Evans Scholar of the Year were Andrew Adams, Matthew Bohl and Sarah Colletti. Adams, who caddied at Golden Valley Golf & Country Club, is a senior who will graduate in Dec. 2007, magna cum laude, with a bachelor’s degree in English, mass communications, and video production. Bohl, a senior in the Carlson School of Management Honors program, with two majors, caddied at Hillcrest Golf Club of St. Paul. And Colletti, a senior majoring in psychology, caddied at North Oaks Golf Club.

The Evans program is a four-year college scholarship for deserving caddies, which is sponsored by the Western Golf Association in association with the MGA. Amateur golf champion Charles "Chick" Evans Jr., after his win at the 1916 U.S. Open Championship at the Minikahda Club in Minneapolis, established what would become the largest privately funded scholarship program in the country. There are currently 800 Evans Scholars attending 19 universities around the country. More than 6,000 Evans Scholars have graduated from college since the program was founded. The Evans Scholarship is funded by contributions from golfers around the nation.

In 1996, the MGA renamed the award in honor of Fritz Corrigan, a longtime friend of the Evans Scholarship program. Corrigan, a member at Minikahda, was an active leader on the MGA board of directors and helped establish the Evans Scholars house at the University of Minnesota. Corrigan, himself a former caddie, was a lifelong advocate of the program. Unable to finish college after the death of his father, he was forced to work to support his family. He embraced the program and maintained an interest in it until his death in 1995.

President’s Award

Also known as the Volunteer of the Year, the President’s Award was given to Max Horn of Minnesota Valley Country Club for exceptional volunteer service during the year. Horn, who began volunteering for the MGA in 1999, has worked more than 900 hours in the previous eight golf seasons. He has served as a site captain for numerous MGA qualifying tournaments, attended several USGA/PGA of America Rules Workshops and has achieved a perfect "100" score on the Rules of Golf certification test.

In addition, Horn has officiated at the Minnesota State High School Class A tournament at Izatys Resort over the last four years, and the men’s and women’s MIAC conference championships. In attitude, actions and rapport with colleagues, staff and tournament players, Horn truly reflects the spirit of the President’s Award.

Member Club of the Year

Tianna Country Club was named MGA Member Club of the Year. The honor is based on the facility’s support of the MGA Associate Members program, involvement with the MGA Junior program, and willingness to host MGA championships and qualifiers.

Tianna has been a member of the MGA since the golf club was first established in the lake country of north central Minnesota in 1922. Since that time, Tianna has graciously hosted several amateur championships, including the MWGA Junior Championship in 1972 and more recently, the Minnesota Senior Women’s State Amateur in 2007. In addition, Tianna has hosted several MGA Players’ qualifiers, an MGA Amateur qualifier and an MGA Junior Team Championship (2006). Furthermore, the club has been actively involved in the MGA Junior program for many years, and supports the golf association’s non-profit mission through a large and active MGA Associate Members program, which includes more than 260 members.

The club will receive a plaque and a cover photo on the February/March 2008 issue of the Minnesota Golfer, the official publication of the MGA.

For news on the individual MGA Players of the Year, check this link to the MGA news pages, online at http://www.mngolf.org/news.cfm.

See Mike Fermoyle's story on George Reynolds and the Warren J. Rebholz Distinguished Service Award, online at http://www.mngolf.org/press_release.cfm?id=1353.

Founded in 1901, the Minnesota Golf Association is the governing body over amateur golf in the state, responsible for administering the Rules of Golf, and committed to uphold and promote the game of golf and its values for all golfers in Minnesota. The MGA conducts 16 major amateur championships and nine USGA qualifying events each year. Thanks to the support of its member clubs and associate members, and the efforts of its volunteers and staff, the MGA provides a variety of services such as handicapping, course rating and measuring, and publishing the Minnesota Golfer magazine that benefit all golfers throughout Minnesota.