EDINA, Minn. (Oct. 29, 2019) – University of Minnesota Evans Scholars Chapter House members Samantha Likar and Andrew Salmon were named the 2019 Minnesota Golf Association’s Fritz Corrigan Evans Scholars of the Year at the MGA’s 119th Annual Awards Dinner, Oct. 28 at Brackett’s Crossing Country Club in Lakeville. Along with Likar and Salmon, the MGA honored outstanding players, volunteers and club representatives for their contribution to the amateur game of golf in Minnesota. They include: Randy Glasmann, as the inaugural MGA Giles Kobilka Award winner, and Pebble Creek Golf Club, as MGA Member Club of the Year.
The evening’s highlights also included recognition of Jasi Acharya, Cecil Belisle, Leigh Klasse, Trent Peterson, Jerry Rose, Ian Simonich and Kathryn VanArragon as the MGA Players of the Year (see this link to a press release dated Oct. 25, 2019: www.mngolf.org/news); in addition, Hilary (Homeyer) Lunke, one of three 2019 MGA-PGA Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame inductees, was recognized during the program (Mike Barge and Robert “Bob” Olds were inducted elsewhere).
The MGA Fritz Corrigan Evans Scholar of the Year award is bestowed annually to the Evans Scholar(s) from the University of Minnesota Evans Scholars Chapter House for outstanding achievement in academics, leadership and community service.
Samantha Likar, 22, of Duluth (Duluth East H.S.), is a senior at the University of Minnesota majoring in biology with a minor in animal science, carries a 3.9 GPA and caddied at the Northland Country Club. She was elected to serve two terms as vice president of communications on the Minnesota Evans Scholars executive board, where she is responsible for managing communications to scholars and maintaining the chapter’s social media content. In 2018, Likar worked in the anesthesia department of the University of Minnesota veterinary hospital as a clinical assistant. She also studies primates and conducts research on Type 1 diabetes and obesity in the research lab. Following graduation in the spring of 2020, Likar plans to study laboratory animal veterinary medicine.
Andrew Salmon, 21, of Roseville (Roseville Area H.S.), is a senior at the University of Minnesota majoring in Electrical Engineering, carries a 3.8 GPA and caddied at Midland Hills Country Club. He was elected to serve two terms on the Minnesota Evans Scholars executive board, first as executive vice president and later as vice president of new scholars in 2018 and 2019, respectively, with both positions key to the success of the chapter thanks to Salmon’s strong leadership. In 2018, Salmon completed a summer internship with Xcel Energy working in distribution engineering, and this year he was an aerospace test engineering intern at Honeywell, where he worked on commercial aircraft. Following graduation in the spring of 2020, Salmon has accepted a position with Honeywell Aerospace in Minneapolis.
The Chick Evans Scholarship program is a four-year college scholarship for deserving caddies, sponsored by the Western Golf Association in association with the MGA. There are currently 1,010 Evans Scholars attending 18 universities around the country.
In 1996, the MGA renamed the Evans Scholar of the Year award in honor of Fritz Corrigan, a long-time supporter of the Evans Scholarship program who helped establish the Evans Scholars Chapter House at the University of Minnesota.
Gile Kobilka Award
The inaugural MGA Giles Kobilka Award was given to Randy Glasmann. The service award was created to recognize individuals whose exceptional and meritorious contributions align with the mission of the MGA and enhance the amateur game of golf in Minnesota. Glasmann, 72, of Coon Rapids and a member of Keller Golf Club, is a longtime volunteer golf administrator, a high school women’s head coach and an accomplished competitive golfer. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, where she lettered in golf, Glasmann taught physical education at North View Junior High. She promoted golf among her students and eventually became the women’s golf coach at the newly opened Maple Grove High School, a position she has held since 1997. She was a three-time Minnesota Women’s Public Golf Association (MWPGA) champion in the 1970s and qualified for the national Women’s Amateur Public Links ten times. For nearly four decades Glasmann has volunteered her time as a Rules official, committee volunteer and administrator on behalf of women’s golf in Minnesota. She served on the board of the MWPGA in the 1980s, including a two-year term as its president (1985-1986). It was during this period that Glasmann was appointed to the USGA Women’s Amateur Public Links Committee, where she served as a Rules official from 1988 to 2014. In 2004, she was part of the organizing committee for the U.S. Men’s Amateur Public Links Championship held at Rush Creek Golf Club, and three years later, she was appointed by the MGA to captain the Minnesota Women’s team at the USGA State Team Championship. She served on the MGA Board of Directors from 1989 to 2016 and was appointed an officer (metro area regional vice president), a position she held from 2002 to 2016. She remains an active tournament volunteer for the MGA. In 2013, the USGA recognized Glasmann with its Ike Grainger Award for a quarter century of volunteer service to the organization.
The new MGA award was named for Giles Kobilka, 87, of New Hope, who is celebrating his 49th year of service to the MGA, and who remains highly regarded by volunteers and competitors alike not only for his personable nature, but also for his unwavering commitment to the volunteer ethos.
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