Overview
On November 24, 2023, the Florida State Golf Association held its Annual Dinner at Shingle Creek in Orlando, Fla. More than 200 individuals attended this year's dinner including some of the 2023 champions, volunteers throughout the state, board and staff members and their families. Hall of Fame inductees, Mary Jane Hiestand and Jerry Pate were the special guest in attendance.
Introduction Movie
To begin the 2023 Annual Dinner, guests were shown an introduction video that highlighted some of 2023's best moments. There were 40 state championships held throughout the state in 2023 that required the help of hundreds of volunteers. The success of the qualifiers, events and championships would not have been possible without our incredible players and volunteers.
Welcome - Jeff Magaditsch
Executive Director, Jeff Magaditsch, welcomes guests to the 2023 Annual Dinner.
Champions Movie
The champions from the year are each recognized in a video highlighting their accomplishments.
President's Award
This is just the fourth time in FSGA history that the President’s Award has been awarded to a player. The honor is awarded to a player who has had a standout season or won a national championship.
Gianne Clemente
- Started the year with a victory at The Sally, one of the nation's longest-running amateur tournaments
- Made her first appearance at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, finishing in a tie for 14th
- Took home the victory at the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball Championship with her partner, Avery Zweig
- Continued her successful season with a Semifinal run at the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship and a Round of 32 appearance at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship
- Added a win at the Junior PGA Championship, earning her a spot on the Junior Ryder Cup team
- Currently ranked 25th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and first in the Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings
Sampson Zheng
- Picked up his first collegiate win at University of California-Berkley
- Captured the victory at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship, with his partner and Cal teammate, Aaron Du
- Currently ranked 31st in the World Amateur Golf Rankings
- Earned Medalist honors at the U.S. Amateur Championship in August, advancing to the Round of 32
- Finished runner-up at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in October
- Member of the International Team at the prestigious Arnold Palmer Cup
Junior Player of the Year
Chloe Kovelesky - Girls' Junior Player of the Year
- Captured the victory at the 94th Women's Amateur Championship
- After earning the No. 1 seed, Kovelesky defeated Victoria Zheng, 4 and 3, to become the youngest player ever to win the prestigious event
- Represented the United State at the World Junior Girls Championship through the U.S. National Development Program
- Verbally committed to the Wake Forest University
Darren Zhou - Boys' Junior Player of the Year
- Earned four Florida Junior Tour wins in 2023, including two 16-18 victories at 13 years old
- Finished eighth at the Boys' Junior Championship, as one of the youngest players in the field
- Qualified for his first USGA championship, earning medalist honors at the U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier, and was the youngest player in the U.S. Junior Amateur field
- Youngest player in FSGA history to be named Boys' Junior Player of the Year
Women's Players of the Year
Megan Schofill - Women' Amateur Player of the Year
- Capture the victory at the 2023 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, defeating fellow Floridian, Latanna Stone, 4-and-3
- Became the first Floridian to win the title since Morgan Pressell in 2005 and the first Auburn Tiger to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur
Kim Keyer-Scott - Women's Senior Player of the Year
- Advacnced to the Semifinals at the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship
- Made it to the Round of 64 at the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship
- Finished fifth at the Women's Senior Amateur Championship and sixth at the Florida Women's Senior Open
- Won the Southern Senior Amateur, a victory that secured the Player of the Year honors
Men's Player of the Year
David Anthony - Super-Senior Player of the Year
- Captured the Super-Senior Amateur Match Play Championship in June
- Added another top finish at the Super-Senior Amateur Championship, finishing in fourth place in March
- Secured a fourth-place finish at the Two-Man Scramble Championship with Steve Sponder in July
Miles McConnell - Senior Player of the Year
- Earned the victory at the Senior Amateur Championship
- His championship total of 208 ties the lowest three-day total in Florida Senior Amateur history with Jim Carley
- Teamed up with Pete Williams to win the Senior Four-Ball Championship
- Qualified for his second-straight 2023 U.S. Senior Open Championship and competed in his third-straight U.S. Senior Amateur Championship, advancing to match play for the third-consecutive year
- Help the Southeastern Challenge team to a victory in October with a 4-0-1 record
Marc Dull - Amateur & Mid-Amateur Player of the Year
- Captured the 106th Amateur Championship in June, becoming the first Mid-Amateur in 20 years to raise the Florida Amateur trophy
- Took home the victory at 17-under 271, the lowest under-par score in Florida Amateur history
- Teamed up with Rhett Pooley to take home the win at the Two-Man Scramble Championship
- Added a victory at the Mid-Amateur Stroke Play Championship in October, winning in wire-to-wire fashion
- Helped lead Florida to a victory at the 19th Southeastern Challenge Matches, finishing the weekend with a 3-2-0 record
Volunteer Appreciation - Jeff Magaditsch
The Florida State Golf Association would not be able to conduct over 600 days of competition each year without the support and dedication of their volunteers. Jeff Magaditsch, Executive Director of the FSGA, thanks them for their ongoing support of the organization.
Thanks you, Volunteers!
The Florida State Golf Association has over 500 volunteers around the state. This is a short video highlighting their accomplishments and involvement throughout the year.
Service Award
Mike Magrone was recognized and received an award for his 20 years of volunteer service with the Florida State Golf Association.
Volunteers of the Year
Donna Baginski - Course Rating Volunteer of the Year
- Captain of the Section 8 Course Rating team in Pasco and Hernando counties
- Started volunteering with the FSGA in 2002, became a Course Rating co-captain in 2013
- Golf has been a part of Baginski’s life for 50 years and she began learning the game after marrying her husband, Dennis
- Native of Ohio where she had a career as a Legal Secretary and raised two sons
- Demonstrates great leadership, attention to detail, and commitment to the game of golf through course rating
Joe Small - Tournament Volunteers of the Year
- Started volunteering with the FSGA in 2011
- Volunteered nearly 500 days for the FSGA in the past 13 years and spending 30 days this year alone officiating
- First introduced to to the game by his father when he was 11 years old
- Enjoys the challenges a tournament presents from rulings to setup.
- A Certified Senior Rules Official and in 2015 became a FSGA Tournament Chairman in Southeast Florida
Hall of Fame
Clarence Camp - Hall of Fame Inductee
An Ocala native, Clarence Camp was the first president of the Florida State Golf Association when the association was founded in 1913. Camp was an avid golfer and although he passed away in 1946, the legacy he left on the game of golf is still felt to this day.
Born in Virginia to William Nelson and Texana Camp, Clarence was the eldest of nine children. In 1891, the family moved to Florida just outside of Gainesville where William Nelson achieved great success mining phosphate, building hydro-electric power plants and raising cattle. The Camp family, including Clarence, settled in Ocala in the early 1900s, where members of the family still live today.
Clarence Camp, a golf enthusiast, purchased a nine-hole golf course in 1910 to save it from residential development. Originally opened as Ocala Heights Golf Club, the course was Ocala’s first golf course and thought to be one of the first in the state. After purchasing the course, Camp renamed it to Ocala Country Club and replaced the original log structure with a new clubhouse that quickly became the social hub in Ocala, where family, friends and local golfers gathered. While the golf course was closed in the 1940s, the clubhouse Camp built remains to this day as a private residence.
Three years after purchasing Ocala Country Club, Camp met with representatives of other courses in Florida at the San Juan Hotel in Orlando and on February 27, 1913, the Florida State Golf Association was formed. In recognition of his standing among Florida's golf community, Camp was named the first president of the FSGA.
Camp served as the FSGA president for 27 years and is credited with helping bring the game to the Southern region of the country. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Southern Golf Association for more than 20 years. In honor of what Camp did for the FSGA, each year the Florida Amateur winner is awarded the Clarence Camp Championship Trophy.
Jerry Pate - Hall of Fame Inductee
A U.S. Open champion and eight-time PGA Tour winner, Jerry Pate has made his mark on the golf world both on and off the course. Growing up in Pensacola, Pate won the 1974 Florida Amateur Championship and had a storied amateur and professional career, before delving into ventures in golf broadcasting and golf course design.
Born in Macon, Georgia, Pate came from a family with a deep love of golf. Pate was one of six children and credits his passion and love to his father and grandfather. While spending summers down in Jacksonville Beach, a young Pate would get dropped off to play a small par-3 course on Beach Boulevard, while his father and grandfather played at The Ponte Vedra Club (now Ponte Vedra Inn & Club).
Moving to Alabama when he was very young, Pate learned to play the game at Anniston Country Club from his father, grandfather and the golf professionals at the course. His family moved to Florida in 1967 when his father was relocated for work.
When it came time for college, Pate headed to the University of Alabama where he walked onto the men’s golf team. Pate had not been a standout junior golfer but he always had the drive to become a better player. The turning point in his career came after his junior season in the summer of 1974. Pate made his way to Lakeland and teed it up in the 59th Florida Amateur Championship and raised the trophy at the end of the week. A few weeks later, Pate won the U.S. Amateur at The Ridgewood Country Club, completing one of the most impressive match-play runs in history in his championship debut at 20 years old.
His storybook summer came to an end at the World Amateur Team Championship, where he helped lead the United States team to victory. The Pensacola resident was also a member of the victorious United States team at the 1975 Walker Cup and the low amateur at the 1975 U.S. Open Championship, finishing in a six-way tie for eighteenth place at Medinah Country Club.
In Pate’s first season on the PGA Tour, he won the 1976 U.S. Open at Atlanta Athletic Club at age 22. Pate went on to be selected the Rookie of the Year and the Co-Player of the Year after a storied first season on the PGA Tour. Six more PGA Tour victories followed for Pate, along with a victorious Ryder Cup win in 1981 but a shoulder injury at the age of 28 curtailed his career.
After his injury took him away from playing, Pate found a different way forward in different aspects of golf. The Alabama native served as a golf broadcaster for nearly 10 years, has opened a golf course design business, a turf and irrigation company, among many other things.
Pate has designed and developed more than 25 golf courses, including Kiva Dunes in 1995 and the Ol' Colony Golf Complex in 2000, which is the home course for his alma mater, the Alabama Crimson Tide golf team. After being plagued by his shoulder injury for years, Pate finally found a surgery that worked in 2002 and made his way back to competing on the Champions Tour when he became eligible and captured two victories in 2006 and 2008. Now Pate spends most of his time tending to his businesses and spending time with his wife of 48 years and their children and grandchildren.
Mary Jane Hiestand - Hall of Fame Inductee
A lifelong amateur, Mary Jane Hiestand has been involved with the FSGA for more than 20 years, but has been a mainstay in the amateur golf scene for more than 30 years. She has captured nine FSGA championships and has been named a FSGA Player of the Year eight times on her way to this honor.
Growing up in a small town in Michigan, Hiestand first picked up golf at eight years old, when she was introduced to the game by her dad and older brother. Her love for the game grew with close family friends who were learning the game at the same time. The kids would go to a lighted par-3 course nearby and play all night, while their parents were hanging out together inside.
After graduating from college, Hiestand made her way back to Michigan and took a step back from golf as she began her professional career as a real estate appraiser. She still played the game, but didn’t get back into the competitive golf space until her late twenties. This was when she won her first Michigan Women's Amateur Championship in 1990.
She would go on to add two more Michigan Women’s Amateur titles in 1995 and 2000, along with a Michigan Public Links title in 1999. The Naples resident was voted the Michigan Women Player of the Decade in 2000 and was inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame in 2004.
Since moving to Florida, Hiestand has put together a stellar resume. She has been named the FSGA Women’s Senior Player of the Year seven times, the FSGA Women’s Player of the Year once and is a nine-time FSGA champion, including the Women’s Amateur Championship in 2007.
In addition to her accomplishments at the state level, Hiestand has also had great success at the national level. She captured the Women’s Southern Mid-Amateur title in 2017 and has competed in 51 USGA championships. In 2017 at age 58, she played in her 43rd USGA championship and finished as the runner-up to Kelsey Chugg in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur in Houston.
Hiestand is close and mentor’s players in Naples along with having spent time as a golf coach at the high school and college level. While in Michigan, she was the assistant coach at Oakland University and after moving to Florida was the girls’ golf coach at St. John Neumann Catholic High School. She also spent a few seasons at Florida Gulf Coast University, as the men’s golf assistant coach.
