Pictured L-R: Steven Bartkowski (WNYPGA Executive Director) and Kirk Stauffer (Chautauqua GC) with the Lonnie Nielsen Player of the Year Trophy.

October 1, 2020
For Immediate Release
Contact: Steven Bartkowski, WNYPGA Executive Director, sbartkowski@pgahq.com

East Amherst, NY – The 2020 WNYPGA Professional OMEGA Player of the Year Tournament season officially came to a close this past Wednesday, September 30th in the Tour Championship at The Kahkwa Club.  The top 30 WNYPGA Professionals from the Player of the Year Points standings battled it out over 36-holes in tough weather conditions.  Matt Stasiak (Battistoni Golf Center) came out victorious over Kirk Stauffer (Chautauqua Golf Club) in a sudden death playoff to win the final major on the 2020 circuit. In addition to recognizing the 2020 Tour Champion, players also solidified Player of the Year, Senior Player of the Year, Assistant Player of the Year and Woman Player of the Year honors.

For the 11th time in his career, Director of Golf at the Chautauqua Club Kirk Stauffer, has been named the WNYPGA OMEGA Player of the Year only adding to his impressive playing career throughout WNY.  Highlighting this year for Stauffer was a Match Play Championship title, low Pro honors in the Lakeview Invitational, a top 5 in the Section Championship, and runner-up finishes in the Professional Stroke Play at Wild Wood CC and the Tour Championship.

For the 7th time in his career Stauffer was also named the 2020 WNYPGA OMEGA Senior Player of the Year.  Kirk won his 6th Senior Championship this year which qualifies him for the National Senior PGA Championship.  Kirk also took or tied for low Senior Pro honors in the Ellicottville Library Pro Am, Lake View Invitational, Section Championship, Wellsville Pro Am, Match Play Championship and Tour Championship.

Winning his first ever WNYPGA OMEGA Assistant Player of the Year Honors was Matt Stasiak, Teaching Instructor at Battistoni Golf Center.  Matt solidified this honor with a tied for 1st place at Holiday Valley in the final Assistant Professional tournament of the year.

Teaching Instructor at Ravenwood Golf Course, Lauren Tallmen, won the Woman Player of the Year honors for the 2nd time in her career.  Tallman finished low female in the WNY Open, WNY Classic, Ellicottville Library Pro Am and Section Championship.

Due to COVID-19 gathering restrictions, all honorees will be recognized around the 2020 WNYPGA Spring Meeting to be held at the home offices of the WNYPGA at Glen Oak GC, East Amherst NY.  Each Player of the Year will also be added to the Award Winners wall this offseason.

For all Final OMEGA Player of the Year Standings, CLICK HERE. 

For photos from the 2020 WNYPGA Events, CLICK HERE.

Congratulations to all 2020 Professional Tournament winners.  A huge thank you to our host PGA Facilities and Tournament Sponsors for helping to make the season such a success!

It should also be noted that WNYPGA Professionals and Sponsors gave back over $3,000 this season through a new campaign called #PLAYINGFORCOVID19.  This was an optional program in which WNYPGA Professionals chose to sign up to donate 1% or other % of their tournament earnings throughout the entire season to the front line workers across our Section. PGA REACH WNY (charitable arm of the WNYPGA) additionally matched all tournament winnings donated. For a list of Professionals and Sponsors that donated, CLICK HERE.

About the Western New York Section, PGA of America: The Western New York Section, PGA of America (WNYPGA) is a group of approximately 300 PGA Members and Associates serving the needs of golfers across Buffalo, Rochester and Northwest Pennsylvania.  The Section was founded in 1925 and is one of the 41 Sections that make up the PGA of America. The PGA of America, founded in 1916, has grown into the world’s largest working sports organization with more than 27,000 Members and Associates. Geographically, the Western New York Section is bordered to the west and north by lakes Erie and Ontario respectively.  The southern border dips about 2 miles into Pennsylvania and includes the cities of Erie, Warren and Bradford. The eastern border is a line that extends along and beyond NYS Route 14. There are approximately 200 golf facilities in the section. The Western New York PGA also operates a non-profit and charitable foundation called PGA REACH Western NY that focuses on its three founding pillars: youth, military, and diversity/inclusion.

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