Anthem club pro Troy Helseth earns three-peat
Anthem Country Club professional Troy Helseth was too humble to admit how dominant a player he has been in the PGA of America, Southwest Section, Southern Nevada Chapter over the past three years, but the numbers reveal the truth. Helseth was presented the chapter player of the year award for the third straight time during the annual awards dinner Tuesday at Las Vegas Country Club.
Helseth has won the award by a large margin each year and won or tied seven of the 14 tournaments he played in on the club pro schedule last season. His scoring average of 72.21 was also the best in the chapter.
“I know how good everybody I play against are, and many of them are my friends, so I feel fortunate to beat them and be just a little better over the course of the season,” Helseth said. “When I came to Las Vegas in 2002, I made it a goal to win player of the year, so to have accomplished that three times is very satisfying.”
Tom Fischer from the Las Vegas Paiute earned awards for senior player of the year and merchandiser of the year, public course. He has won the senior player of the year award four times.
Other award winners: David Enyeart, assistant professional of the year; Nolan Halterman, Bill Strausbaugh award; Timothy Sam, golf professional of the year; Kyle Helms, Horton Smith award; Mason Spalding, youth player development award; Jason Edmiston, merchandiser of the year, private; Kendall Murphy, player development award; Clif Vanetti, teacher of the year; and Jim Hart, citizen of the year.
Helms also earned the Horton Smith award at the section level. Local tour player Craig Barlow gave the keynote address at the dinner.
ENVIRONMENTAL LEADER
Dale Hahn, the golf course superintendent at TPC Summerlin, was recently named the overall Environmental Leader in Golf award winner for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, Southern Nevada chapter.
The awards recognize golf course superintendents for overall course management excellence and best practices in many areas, including water conservation, water quality management, energy conservation, wildlife and habitat conservation, and leadership.
TPC Summerlin is the host course of the PGA Tour’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
PGA TOUR IN FULL SWING
The first official full-field tournament of the new year is this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii. Players with Las Vegas ties scheduled to play include former UNLV golfers Chad Campbell and Andres Gonzales, and Las Vegas residents Scott Piercy and Kevin Na. Current Rebel junior John Oda earned a spot in the event by shooting a 66 in the official Monday qualifier.
At last week’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions, former Rebels and current residents Ryan Moore and Charley Hoffman played for the first time in 2017. Moore followed his hot play at the end of last year with a third-place finish. Hoffman tied for 17th.
DEAL OF THE WEEK
Spanish Trail Golf and Country Club is offering full memberships starting at $700 per month with zero initiation fees.
STARS ON, OFF COURSE
* Dozens of current and former major league baseball players and Hall of Famers will be in Las Vegas on Thursday for the 13th annual Player’s Trust golf tournament at Bear’s Best Las Vegas. The tournament hosts are Las Vegas residents Dexter Fowler and Bryce Harper. Hall of Fame members scheduled to play include Ozzie Smith and Dave Winfield.
The Player’s Trust is the charitable arm of the Major League Baseball Players Association. The group helps those in need as a group and also encourages players to offer assistance on their own.
The golf notebook appears each Thursday. Freelance writer Brian Hurlburt is a two-time author who has covered golf in Las Vegas for more than two decades. He can be reached at bhurlburt5@gmail.com or @LVGolfInsider.
