PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State fifth-year Senior Pono Yanagi received the honor of Washington Golf 2023 Men’s Player of the Year, the organization announced earlier this week.
“We’re super happy for Pono,” said WSU Head Coach Dustin White. He had a great summer in winning the State Am, being medalist in US Amateur qualifying and competing in the Pacific Coast Am. Being recognized for that has to feel good. He’s been a go-to guy for us and it’s been fun watching him develop his game. It’s great recognition for our program as well and shows the caliber of players representing Washington State.”
Yanagi won the 2023 Washington Men’s Amateur and was the qualifying medalist for the US Amateur this past summer. In the Pacific Coast Amateur at Capilano Golf and Country Club, he finished tied for 20th while posting scores of 69-73-65-69.
Yanagi led the Cougars during the 2022-23 season with a 71.64 scoring average, the second-best single-season scoring average in WSU history. He placed third at the 2023 Pac-12 Championships, the best finished by a WSU golfer on program history, shooting a four-round score of 12-under-par, 268, setting the WSU record for the lowest individual score at the tournament.
Over the course of the season, Yanagi had his score count in a team-best 27 rounds and shot under par in 14 of those rounds. He helped the Cougs win their first tournament as a team in Seattle in program history with a 2-under 54-hole score.
Yanagi capped his 2022-23 WSU season by becoming the first Coug to earn a bid to an NCAA Regional in 13 seasons, and one of only three Cougs to be selected to play at an NCAA Regional as an individual. He completed his tournament a 6-over 222, tied for 32nd.
The Washington Golf award recipients will be highlighted at the 102nd WA Golf Annual Meeting, held on Saturday, October 28, 2023 at Mill Creek Country Club.
About the Washington Golf (WA Golf) Player of the Year Awards
Founded in 2007 as a way of recognizing and awarding excellence in competition, the WA Golf Players of the Year are selected each year in early October by the WA Golf Championship Committee, which meets to vote for honorees in the categories of Men’s, Women’s, Senior Men’s, Senior Women’s, Men’s Mid-Amateur, Women’s Mid-Amateur, Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’. The WA Golf Performance Points list as the primary guide for the…
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