On behalf of selection committee members Clayton Dreger, Jill Hardy, Adam Speirs and Ken Wiebe, Golf Manitoba is pleased to recognize the 2022 Female and Male Amateur Golfer of the Year Award winners.
This year’s recipients were announced at the annual Golf Manitoba Awards reception that was held at the Breezy Bend Country Club.
Rhonda Orr of Southwood Golf & Country Club is the Female Amateur Golfer of the Year.
Orr, 61, from Winnipeg, won the Mid-Amateur Flight and finished second overall at the Diamond Athletic Women’s Amateur Championship. She represented Team Manitoba at the Canadian Women’s Amateur. The Southwood Golf and Country Club member won the Hodson Financial Women’s Senior Championship, her seventh senior provincial championship in a row and ninth in the last ten years. Orr went on to finish 10th on the leaderboard playing for Team Manitoba at the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship. Orr also tied for eighth place at the AGA Women’s Senior Amateur Championship in the United States.
With the selection, it is the fourth time that Orr has been recognized as Female Amateur Golfer of the Year (2016, 2018, 2019).
Braxton Kuntz of Breezy Bend Country Club is the Male Amateur Golfer of the Year.
Kuntz, 18, from Winnipeg, won the Manitoba Junior Championship presented by the Alex & Peggy Colonello Foundation and represented Team Manitoba finishing in a tie for fifth place at the Canadian Junior Boys Championship. The Breezy Bend Country Club member also won the Nott Autocorp Men’s Amateur Championship. Kuntz is the first player in Manitoba to win both the Manitoba Junior and Amateur Championship in back to back seasons (2021 and 2022). He also finished tied for third place at the Elmhurst Invitational.
With the selection, it is the second time in as many years that Kuntz has been named Male Amateur Golfer of the Year (2021).
About the Golf Manitoba Amateur Golfer of the Year Award – The Manitoba Amateur Golfer of the Year award recognizes outstanding performance by Manitoba golfers in all levels of competition with the first award presented in 1975. In 2015, the award was re-established to include both a female and male category.
About Golf Manitoba – Golf Manitoba is the governing body for golf in the province of Manitoba and North West Ontario. Its mission is to develop, promote, govern and service the sport of golf for the benefit of all participants.