It’s been obvious for a while now that Jennifer Kupcho has been in a class by herself when competing in CWGA events and other tournaments in Colorado.

Now the CWGA is further cementing her lofty status. After being the CWGA Player of the Year for three consecutive seasons — an unprecedented feat — Kupcho has been awarded the CWGA’s “highest honor” for 2017, the President’s Award.

“The President’s Award is unlike any other CWGA award as it is only given when we recognize exceptional achievements and contributions to the game of golf,” CWGA president Juliet Miner said in her congratulatory letter to Kupcho. “Your outstanding performance in the U.S. and Canada this year illustrates why you have received this award.”

Kupcho (pictured), a 20-year-old from Westminster who’s a junior at Wake Forest, is one of three golfers being recognized by the CWGA for their play in 2017. Mary Weinstein of Highlands Ranch, the Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado’s Girls Player of the Year in 2016, was named the CWGA Player of the Year for the first time, while Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton earned the CWGA Senior Player of the Year honor for the third straight year and for the eighth time in nine years. Eaton has also been the CWGA’s overall Player of the Year a record four times, the last coming in 2010.

Here’s a rundown on the highlights of the season for each of the CWGA player honorees:

— Jennifer Kupcho, CWGA President’s Award: With a stellar 2017 season, Kupcho has vaulted into the No. 3 spot in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings.

The Jefferson Academy graduate, who was inducted into the Sportswomen of Colorado’s Hall of Fame in 2017 after being named the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame’s Golf Person of the Year in 2016, continued to blossom on a national/international level, while continuing to add to her Colorado resume. As a Wake Forest sophomore, she nearly became the first Coloradan to win the women’s individual NCAA Division I title as she led by two strokes with two holes left before a triple bogey resulted in a runner-up finish. A few days later, she bounced back to qualify for her second straight U.S. Women’s Open, and she went on to finish 21st overall — and second among amateurs — in arguably the most presigious women’s golf tournament in the world.

Additionally, Kupcho won her third consecutive CWGA Stroke Play, this one with a 13-shot victory margin. And at the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open, she placed second for the second time while competing against a field that included many professionals. Kupcho also claimed her first national title as she won the Canadian Women’s Amateur by five strokes. At the U.S. Women’s Amateur, she made the match play round of 64. Collegiately, in the 2017 calendar year, Kupcho earned two individual titles, including at an NCAA Regional, and she was a finalist for women’s college player of the year.

The USGA announced earlier this month that Kupcho is one of a dozen American players invited to a Dec. 17-18 practice session in Birmingham, Ala., leading up to the 2018 Curtis Cup, a biennial competition between the top women’s amateurs from the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland. Kupcho isn’t guaranteed a spot on the eight-person U.S. Curtis Cup squad, but certainly has a leg up toward earning a berth in the matches, which will be played June 8-10 in Scarsdale, N.Y. Next month’s practice sessions are set for Shoal Creek Golf Club, host of the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open.

After her eventful 2017, Kupcho was thankful for the latest honor from the CWGA.

“Wow! What a great honor to receive such a high award,” Kupcho said in an email over the weekend. “Thank you to the Colorado Women’s Golf Association for awarding me.

“It has truly been a remarkable and memorable year for me on the golf course. I always love playing the events in Colorado and when I go out of state or country it’s always fun to hear and know that I have Colorado golf cheering me on. I want to thank everyone in the Colorado Golf Association and Colorado Women’s Golf Association for supporting me, and of course my parents for making everything I do golf-related possible as I continue to chase my dreams!”

— Mary Weinstein, CWGA Player of the Year: Weinstein, who transferred to the University of Denver in July after a season at Regis University, didn’t compete in a lot of tournaments this past summer, but she was a factor most of the time when she did tee it up.

Weinstein earned a spot in her first U.S. Women’s Amateur, becoming the first Colorado resident since 2015 to qualify in the state for the national tournament. In CWGA championships, the Highlands Ranch resident finished fourth in the Stroke Play and made the semifinals at the Match Play. She also made the cut and placed 35th in the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open, finishing fourth among amateurs.

After being named the women’s Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Player of the Year and placing 22nd in the Women’s NCAA Division II Championship Finals in the spring, Weinstein made the transition to D-I at DU. The sophomore helped the Pioneers win two team titles in 11 days this fall and posted three top-15 showings individually.

“It is such an honor and I am humbled to be named the 2017 CWGA Player of the Year,” Weinstein told DenverPioneers.com. “I would like to thank the Colorado Women’s Golf Association for this award and all of the support they have given me throughout the years. I am also beyond grateful to be a part of the University of Denver women’s golf team and for all of the amazing opportunities that the program has given me.”

— Kim Eaton, CWGA Senior Player of the Year: Since turning 50 in 2009, Eaton has claimed the SPOY award from the CWGA in 2009 through ’13, and from 2015 through ’17. The one year she didn’t earn the honor, 2014, she was in a short-lived “retirement” from CWGA championship play. Also during that time, she was the overall Player of the Year in 2009 and ’10.

This year, the Colorado Golf Hall of Famer won the CWGA Senior Stroke Play for the fifth time — and for the third time with a double-digit victory margin. She also claimed her fourth CWGA Senior Match Play, sweeping the association’s major senior titles in a single year for the third time.

The now-full-time Arizona resident owns 24 CWGA titles for her career, leaving her one behind Carol Flenniken’s record of 25.

Elsewhere, Eaton advanced to the round of 32 at the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, a championship where she’s made the quarterfinals four times. She helped Arizona finish seventh in the final USGA Women’s State Team Championship and won the Arizona Women’s Golf Association State Amateur Seniors Championship for the eighth time. And the former police officer earned two gold medals and two silvers in golf in the World Police and Fire Games in Los Angeles. 

Jennifer Kupcho, who has accomplished so many golf “firsts” in her teenage years, just added another one to the list.

The 19-year-old from Westminster has been named the CWGA Player of the Year for 2016, becoming the first person to earn that award three consecutive years.

And, speaking of repeat winners, Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton landed CWGA Senior Player of the Year honors for the second straight year and for the seventh time in eight years. Eaton has also been named CWGA Player of the Year a record four times, the last coming in 2010. For more on her accomplishments, see below.

Kupcho and Eaton will be presented their awards at the CWGA annual meeting March 4 at the Inverness Hotel & Conference Center in Englewood.

Kupcho has become arguably the most accomplished young female golfer in Colorado since Jill McGill, the Cherry Creek High School graduate who won the 1993 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the ’94 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links before earning more than $2.3 million in her LPGA Tour career.

How high has Kupcho climbed?

She’s currently No. 16 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings. And in the women’s college ranks, the Wake Forest sophomore is No. 1, 3 or 4 in the country, depending on which ranking is used.

In Colorado in 2016, Kupcho ran away with the titles in both of the CWGA’s top two championships (pictured above), prevailing 12 and 10 in the scheduled 36-hole final of the CWGA Match Play, and by 19 shots in the CWGA Stroke Play. This year marked the first time since 2004 — when Eaton did it — that one person swept both of those titles in the same year. Taking it a step further, Kupcho has now won the last three CWGA majors, dating back to the 2015 CWGA Stroke Play, making her the first to win three straight since Wendy Werley claimed four in a row in 1988 and ’89.

It should also be noted that during her Stroke Play victory this year, Kupcho set the women’s course record at historic Denver Country Club with a second-round 65, bettering the old mark of 68, established by world-renowned athlete Babe Zaharias on July 3, 1946.

But that just scratches the surface of Kupcho’s accomplishments in 2016. At the end of her freshman season at Wake Forest, the two-time Colorado 4A state high school champion finished second individually at the women’s ACC Championship and sixth at the NCAA Division I Championship.

She also qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open — arguably the top women’s golf tournament in the world — for the first time, though she missed the cut there. And once she returned to Wake Forest for her sophomore season, Kupcho not only went 4-for-4 in notching top-10 finishes, but she won individual titles in each of last two college starts, which pushed her into the No. 1 spot on the women’s college golfer of the year watch list.

Besides being named CWGA Player of the Year this fall, Kupcho was also voted the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame’s Golf Person of the Year.

“Jennifer, she is a brick wall” as a competitor, said Gillian Vance, the 2015 5A state high school champion who teamed up with Kupcho to win the CWGA Mashie Championship. “She is so good, and I’m so proud of her.”

At the senior level, Eaton likewise has a way of setting herself apart. In Colorado this year, she won the CWGA Senior Match Play for the third time, this one by defeating fellow Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Christie Austin in the final. It was Eaton’s 22nd CWGA title overall.

Eaton (left), a 57-year-old former Greeley resident who now calls Arizona home, finished ninth in the CWGA Stroke Play that Kupcho won.

On the national/international stage, Eaton advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur for an amazing fourth time in eight years. And she won the senior title in the prestigious Ione D. Jones/Doherty national women’s amateur championship and claimed the Women’s Trans National Four-Ball title with teammate Leigh Klasse.

In Arizona, Eaton not only earned a victory at the AWGA State Amateur Seniors Championship, but she won the open-age-division title in the AWGA State Amateur Stroke Play. She captured both the Player of the Year and Senior Player of the Year awards from the AWGA this year.

Lindsay Kuhle was named the league’s coach of the year for the third consecutive time, while junior Jessica Carty earned women’s golfer of the year honors, and freshman Kathi Baratta landed the newcomer of the year award. (Kuhle and Baratta are pictured lining up a putt last fall.)

In April, Kuhle’s Pioneers won their league tournament for the 13th consecutive year, and Carty claimed top individual honors, tying the tournament record with a 217 total for 54 holes.

As a team, DU recorded a 52-stroke victory in the Summit League tourney.

(June 9 update: Also this week, the DU women announced that Lauren Whyte of Scotland, a transfer from Baylor, will join the team in the fall. Whyte competed for the Bears when they finished NCAA runner-up in 2015.)

A group of about 220 gathered on Sunday at Pinehurst Country Club to celebrate a rather remarkable year in Colorado golf.

Among those in attendance at the Colorado Golf Awards Brunch were seven Colorado Golf Hall of Famers — along with another person who will be inducted next year — and an eclectic group of award winners ranging from young kids to retirees.

Among the honorees were:

— Jennifer Kupcho of CommonGround Golf Course, who was named the CWGA Player of the Year two years after her brother, Steven, received the CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year award. At 17, Kupcho is the youngest CWGA POY since 1999. And for good measure, she earned the CWGA Junior Player of the Year honor for the third straight year. That matches a record and thus Kupcho becomes the first winner of the CWGA Player of the Year and Junior POY in the same season.

— Michael Harrington of Kissing Camels at Garden of the Gods Club became, at age 42, the second-oldest CGA Player of the Year since the award was first given out in 1978, with only Rick DeWitt (age 50 in 2006) being older. Like Kupcho, Harrington also won another major award on Sunday as the CGA’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year.

“I take a look at the people who are on this Player of the Year award — the Steve Joneses (twice), the Derek Tolans and the Kevin Stadlers — and I’m honored that my name is going to be etched on the same trophy,” Harrington said.

— Christie Austin of Cherry Hills Country Club received the CWGA Senior Player of the Year honor roughly six months before she’ll be inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame along with PGA life member Ron Vlosich.

“I hope you appreciate the great game that we all play,” Austin said on Sunday. “I didn’t start golf until I was 26. It has brought me incredible joy, dear friendships and life-changing experiences that I never could have even imagined.”

— Organizers of the BMW Championship, held in September at Cherry Hills, earned special recognition after the record-setting and award-winning PGA Tour playoff event they put on.

— The CWGA’s Most Improved Junior Player of the Year, Anna Kennedy of Denver Country Club, lowered her USGA Handicap Index from 7.4 to 0.7 in less than six months, thus earning a spot on the roster for the Brigham Young University women’s golf team next year. Kennedy was among a half-dozen players honored on Sunday who will play NCAA Division I golf starting next year. That includes Kupcho (Wake Forest) and CGA Junior Player of the Year Ross Macdonald (University of Colorado).


Here’s a rundown of the various awards that were given out on Sunday:

CWGA Player of the Year — Jennifer Kupcho (left) of CommonGround Golf Course. Kupcho, a senior at Jefferson Academy who recently signed to play college golf at Wake Forest, had a year to remember, particularly considering she accomplished what she did as a 17-year-old.

 A member of the Hale Irwin Elite Player program at CommonGround, Kupcho won three CWGA championships, a couple of major CJGA titles and a state high school crown. She also qualified for two USGA national championships and finished second in the HealthOne Colorado Women’s Open.



Here are some of the specifics:



Kupcho not only won numerous tournaments, but she posted huge margins of victory. She prevailed in the 4A state high school meet by 14; the CWGA Junior Stroke Play by nine, the CJGA Tournament of Champions by 12; the CJGA Junior Series Championship by eight; the 99th CWGA Match Play by 6 and 5 in the final, and she took low-amateur honors in the Colorado Women’s Open by 12.


“Winning three CWGA championships this year (was memorable), especially the 99th Match Play,” Kupcho said on Sunday. “To have my name on that trophy with women’s names all the way back to 1916 is pretty awesome.”


Kupcho also posted a victory in the CWGA Chapman (with Jaclyn Murray) and qualified for the 2014 U.S. Girls’ Junior and the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball (with Gillian Vance). At the U.S. Girls’ Junior, Kupcho finished eighth in the stroke-play portion of the event before falling in the round of 64 of match play.



Kupcho’s runner-up showing in the Colorado Women’s Open marked the best finish by an amateur in that event since 2008. She also placed eighth in the Girls Junior America’s Cup and 29th in the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships, marking the best finish ever by a Coloradan in the girls 15-17 girls age division.

CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year — Michael Harrington (left) of Kissing Camels at Garden of the Gods Club. Harrington’s most eye-catching feat of this year was advancing to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur. It was his best showing in nine USGA championship appearances. Harrington lost in the quarterfinals to Tom Werkmeister of Kentwood, Mich., who won the 2013 Michigan Open title as an amateur and subsequently was elected into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame. By making it to the final eight, Harrington will be exempt into next year’s national Mid-Am.



Harrington also qualified for his third U.S. Amateur since 2009. And at age 42, he was the top Colorado finisher in the championship, at 134th place.



The Colorado Springs resident also won another CGA championship, capturing the title in the Mid-Amateur Match Play Invitational. He placed fifth in the CGA Mid-Amateur and represented Colorado at the Pacific Coast Amateur.

CWGA Senior Player of the Year — Christie Austin (left) of Cherry Hills Country Club. Austin also captured this honor in 2007, when she was a senior “rookie”. This time ended a five-year run of winning this award by Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton, who “retired” from CWGA championships at the end of the 2013 season. Austin will join Eaton in the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame on May 31 after recently being voted in.



The former USGA Executive Committee member won two CWGA championships and qualified for two USGA national tournaments.



Austin won the CWGA Senior Stroke Play for the second time, this one in a playoff with Lynn Larson. And she placed second in the senior division of the CWGA Match Play, losing 1 down to champion Deb Hughes. In a team event, Austin and Tori Glenn earned the trophy in the CWGA Brassie.



In qualifiers, Austin landed spots in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, advancing to match play in the latter.

CGA Senior Player of the Year — Kent Moore (left) of Cherry Hills Country Club. It’s been eight years since Moore last won this award, as a senior “rookie”, but an impressive season as a 58-year-old made him a two-time honoree in this category (he also was named the CGA’s Les Fowler Player of the Year in 1989).



The Colorado Golf Hall of Famer won the CGA Senior Stroke Play by six shots, matching the largest margin in the event since 2007. With that victory, he’s accomplished the remarkable feat of winning CGA championships in five consecutive decades. He captured the Junior Match Play in 1973, the Stroke Play in ’86, the Match Play in ’89, the Mid-Amateur in ’95, the Senior Match Play in ’06 and the Senior Stroke Play in ’14.



Moore earned low-amateur honors in the HealthOne Colorado Senior Open for the second time (he first managed the feat in 2006). This time, Moore placed sixth overall in the Senior Open.

CGA Mid-Amateur Player of the Year — Michael Harrington of Kissing Camels at Garden of the Gods Club. Harrington captured this award for the second time in the last six seasons. See the CGA Player of the Year entry for Harrington above.

CGA Junior Player of the Year — Ross Macdonald (left) of the Country Club at Castle Pines. Macdonald, a member of the Hale Irwin Elite Player Program, won the CGA Junior Stroke Play for the second straight year, becoming the first competitor since Scott Petersen in the 1980s to capture consecutive Junior Stroke titles.
 


The Valor Christian senior, who has signed to play college golf at the University of Colorado, also won the CJGA Junior Series Championship this year. And he placed third in the 2014 4A state high school tournament.

CWGA Junior Player of the Year — Jennifer Kupcho of CommonGround Golf Course. Kupcho becomes just the second player to win this award for three consecutive years, joining Becca Huffer (2005-07). See the CWGA Player of the Year entry for Kupcho above.
 

CGA Jim Topliff On-Course Official of the Year — Cope and Judy Bradford (left) of Colorado National Golf Club. This marks the first time a joint award in this category has been given out.

Program Partner of the Year — Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado.

CWGA Volunteer Award — Karla Harding (left) of Collindale Golf Course.

CJGA Junior All-Stars (pictured at bottom) — Christian Agelopoulos, Pierce Aichinger, Traejan Andrews, Katie Berrian, Chunya Bead Boonta, Jack Castiglia, Jake Chesler, Alex Chitkoksoong, Amy Chitkoksoong, Sofia Choi, Andrew Jang, Jordan Jennings, Anna Jordaan, Caroline Jordaan, Marie Jordaan, Christopher Kennedy, Cade Kilkenny, Elijah Knudsen, Jennifer Kupcho, Maxwell Lange, Katelyn Lehigh, Lauren Lehigh, Ross Macdonald, Gage Messingham, Sarah Murphy, Jaclyn Murray, Brittlynn O’Dell, Canon Olkowski, AJ Ott, Morgan Sahm, Amisha Singh, Jackson Solem, Gillian Vance, Mary Weinstein, Coby Welch, Jake Welch, Ashleigh Wilson, Liam Wood.

CJGA Academic All-Stars (honorees must carry at least 3.0 grade-point average) — Christian Agelopoulos, Drew Anderson, Dietrich Berning, Katie Berrian, Aili Bundy, Cole Bundy, Caden Campbell, Jack Castiglia, Cole Chalmers, Sofia Choi, Mariah Ehrman, Delaney Elliott, Ty Findlow, Carly Gallant, Daniel Gallant, Sydney Gillespie, Freddie Gluck III, Kacey Godwin, TJ Hicks, Mark Hillary, Nicholas Hughes, Jordan Jennings, Clara Jeon, Jake Johnson, Max Johnson, Trey Jones, Caroline Jordaan, Marie Jordaan, Anna Jordaan, Cade Kilkenny, Brett Krants, Cole Krantz, Jennifer Kupcho, David Leede, Lauren Lehigh, Katelyn Lehigh, Nick Leibold, Charles Markel, Madison McCambridge, Trevor McCord, Peyton Mogavero, Hannah More, Tyler Mulligan, Lauren Murphy, Roger Nakagawa, Brittlynn O’Dell, Trevor Olkowski, Andrew Reppe, McKenna Reppe, Ashlee Sample, Ryan Sangchompuphen, Erin Sargent, Hailey Schalk, Tim Scherman, Gary Schlatter Jr., TJ Shehee, Parker Skiles, Jackson Solem, Jake Staiano, Amisha Singh, Emilee Strausburg, Sam Taylor, Brady Wilson, Ryan Zetwick, Ben Zimmerman.

They range in age from 16 to 64, but what they all have in common is an exceptional year on the golf course in 2013.

All have shined in Colorado’s biggest amateur tournaments, and some on the national stage. And they’ll all come together on Nov. 24 at Pinehurst Country Club, where the CGA and CWGA will honor their players of the year and many others during the 2013 Colorado Golf Awards Brunch.

Several of the honorees are no strangers to earning player-of-the-year awards at the annual brunch. Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Kim Eaton will be recognized as CWGA Senior Player of the Year for the fifth consecutive time, and two of those years she was also overall CWGA Player of the Year. All told, this will be Eaton’s ninth time being honored as CWGA Player of the Year or Senior Player of the Year.

Keith Humerickhouse of Glenwood Springs Golf Club will be the CGA Mid-Amateur Player of the Year for the second consecutive year and for the third time in the last four. At age 16, Jennifer Kupcho of CommonGround Golf Course will earn the CWGA Junior Player of the Year award for the second straight season. And Harry Johnson of Eagle Ranch Golf Course, who recently turned 64, will be the CGA Senior Player of the Year for the second time in the last three years.

But the top player honors go to former University of Colorado golfer Derek Fribbs of Colorado National Golf Club, and Colorado State player Christina Spinzig of Hiwan Golf Club, the CGA and CWGA Players of the Year, respectively.

Here’s a rundown on the 2013 highlights for all of the players of the years who will be recognized on Nov. 24:

— CGA Les Fowler Player of the Year: Derek Fribbs (pictured above) of Colorado National Golf Club. This marks the eighth time since 2000 that a CU golfer — or former Buff golfer — has earned the CGA Player of the Year honor. On that list, Fribbs joins Matt Call, Ben Portie, Kane Webber, Steve Irwin, Derek Tolan and Pat Grady (twice).

Fribbs put on quite a show in winning the final CGA Public Links Championship, shooting rounds of 65-66-62 for a 17-under-par 193 total, good for a six-stroke victory. He was also medalist in U.S. Amateur Public Links qualifying, going on to the round of 32 at that national championship.

Fribbs finished third in the CGA Stroke Play and went to the semifinals of the CGA Match Play, losing in 21 holes to former CU teammate David Oraee, the eventual champion.

— CWGA Player of the Year: Christina Spinzig (pictured at left) of Hiwan Golf Club. Spinzig, now a senior on the CSU golf team, left no doubt in winning the CWGA Match Play title this year, beating Michaela Breit 10 and 9 in the 36-hole final. The margin of victory was the largest in a CWGA Match Play final since at least 2005, before which record-keeping is incomplete.

Spinzig also had a strong showing in the CWGA Stroke Play, placing fourth.

— CGA Senior Player of the Year: Harry Johnson of Eagle Ranch Golf Course. Johnson also claimed this honor in 2011. This year, he became just the fifth person to win the CGA Senior Stroke Play and Senior Match Play titles in the same calendar year. And in both cases, he’s one of the oldest champions in the history of the events. Johnson also won the Colorado-based qualifying tournament for the USGA Senior Amateur. And he made it to the round of 32 at the CGA Match Play.

— CWGA Senior Player of the Year: Kim Eaton of Riverdale Golf Courses. In claiming this honor for the fifth consecutive year, Eaton swept the CWGA Senior Match Play and Senior Stroke Play titles. In both cases, she won going away — 6 and 5 in the Match final, and by 10 shots in the Stroke Play.

The two wins give Eaton 21 CWGA championship titles in her career.

But Eaton, now a full-time resident of Arizona, also had plenty of success outside of Colorado. In all, she won six state championships in 2013 — two state senior titles each in Colorado and Arizona, plus one in California. She also captured the open-division Arizona State Amateur Stroke Play championship.

In addition, Eaton advanced to the round of 64 of the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur.

— CGA Mid-Amateur Player of the Year: Keith Humerickhouse of Glenwood Springs Golf Club. Humerickhouse accomplished quite a feat in 2013, tying an all-time CGA championship record by winning a specific title for four consecutive years — in his case, the CGA Mid-Amateur.

Beyond that, Humerickhouse advanced to the round of 16 at the U.S. Mid-Amateur, beating two-time national Mid-Am champion Tim Jackson in the process.

— CGA Junior Player of the Year: Spencer Painton of Green Valley Ranch Golf Club. Painton had a stellar fall, winning three significant titles — the 5A state high school championship, the CJGA Tournament of Champions and the CJGA Collegiate High School Invitational.

Beyond that, Painton made it to the round of 64 at the U.S. Junior Amateur, where he fell to the eventual national champion, Scottie Scheffler of Dallas.

— CWGA Junior Player of the Year: Jennifer Kupcho of CommonGround Golf Course. Kupcho, who had never played in a USGA championship before this year, competed in four USGA national tournaments in 2013: the U.S. Women’s Amateur, U.S. Girls’ Junior, U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links and the USGA Women’s State Team. Individually, she advanced to the round of 32 at the Girls’ Junior. And, along with Hannah Wood and Melissa Martin, she helped Colorado finish sixth in the USGA Women’s State Team Championship, tying the state’s best showing ever in the event.

Also team-wise, Kupcho joined with Calli Ringsby, Wood and Sydney Merchant in leading the CWGA team to a third-place finish in the Girls Junior America’s Cup, tying the state’s second-best performance ever in that event.

Kupcho won titles in the Colorado Junior PGA and the Big I Junior Classic state tournament, and she was runner-up in the 4A state high school meet and in the girls division of the CJGA Tournament of Champions.