Min Woo Lee and Kirsten Rudgeley simply show no signs of slowing down.
The pair continues to lead from the front within Western Australian Golf, securing WA’s most prestigious awards at the Annual Golf Day & Dinner last Friday at Royal Perth Golf Club.
Lee claimed his second straight Paxton Averages title in 2018, an award that recognises WA’s best male golfer with the lowest scoring average each season. His total of 66.82 is the lowest average in the history of the coveted award.
Like Lee, Rudgeley clinched her second straight Ivie Temperley Averages trophy, with a average of 70.78.
The youngster had extremely strong results throughout the Australian summer; finishing third at Bowra & O’Dea Women’s Classic and claiming another medal at the WA Amateur, seeing her score the best female average over the past 12 months.
The Wanneroo member took her form overseas too, recording top five finishes at the English Women’s Open Match Play and English Girl’s Open Amateur.
Rudgeley follows the trend of the award over the past decade, with Minjee Lee and Hannah Green also able to collect back-to-back trophies since 2012.
Min Woo has proved to be a dominant force in Australian Amateur golf over several seasons, currently sitting at 12th in the World Amateur Rankings.
The former US Junior winner collected many accolades in 2018, including a victory at the SA Amateur Classic, following on from a Quarterfinal appearance at the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth.
Mixed results in the US will see the leading Amateur primed for another big summer both in Australia and abroad.
Lee has become the first player since Michael Dennis in 2011/2012 to gain back-to-back Paxton trophies.
“It means a lot to win this award because winning the Paxton trophy means you played well consistently over the year,” Lee claimed.
“It’s an honour to have my name on the trophy next to some of the state’s best players.”
The Royal Fremantle member will hope to follow in the footsteps of many WA greats by competing as a touring professional in the future, a feat he is firmly focused on completing.
“I will keep working hard day in and day out to prove to myself that I can play on the main tour,” he said.
“I also want to inspire kids of our next generation to play golf or even compete at the highest level,” he said.
Both Rudgeley and Lee currently sit at the top of the state rankings moving into the new season.
The Annual Golf Day & Dinner perpetual trophy, The Hastings Reid Trophy, was claimed by The Vines Golf & Country Club on Friday, taking out the 18-hole Stableford team competition.
