ELMSFORD, N.Y. (November 4, 2011) – Recording the best season of his young career, 19-year-old Mike Miller of Knollwood is the winner of the 2011 MGA Jerry Courville Sr. Player of the Year Award. Miller’s season was highlighted by two victories, two second-place, and two runner-up finishes. The award will be presented at the 114th MGA Annual Meeting and Dinner on Wednesday, December 7, at Westchester Country Club in Harrison, N.Y.

The Jerry Courville Sr. MGA Player of the Year Award is presented annually to the Met Area amateur who compiles the best record in select events during the course of the year, and is based on a system in which players earn points for their finishes in designated local, national and international championships.

Miller’s game was sharp from the get-go. He tied for third at the New York City Amateur at LaTourette Golf Course on Staten Island in May, followed that up with a semifinal finish at the Westchester Amateur in early June, and recorded a second-place finish at the Hochster Memorial at Quaker Ridge. He carried the momentum from the Hochster into the Brae Burn Invitational, played a week later, and won by three strokes. This gave Miller a total of 300 Player of the Year points, and put him ahead of early-season leader Kevin McSorley of Monmouth Golfing, who won the NJSGA Mid-Amateur in May.

Miller then nearly won the Westchester Open, but was edged out at the end by talented professional Greg Bisconti of Saint Andrew’s. Miller finished tied for second as well as the low amateur, earning him 152.5 Player of the Year points, his highest single-event total of the season up to that point.

Miller’s biggest victory of the season came at the 109th Met Amateur at Piping Rock in early August. In the 36-hole final match, Miller faced fellow 19-year-old Sam Bernstein of Century. Finding himself 3-down, Miller put on a display of golf that won’t soon be forgotten, carding five birdies and two eagles in a nine-hole stretch and squared the match after 26 holes, and closed it out, 3 & 1, on the 35th hole.

After earning 275 points from his most prestigious career win, Miller rounded out his summer by qualifying for the U.S. Amateur at Erin Hills in Wisconsin and placing second at the Bergen County Amateur.

Down the stretch, Mike Stamberger of Spring Lake became Miller’s biggest threat for the Player of the Year title. The 2003 Met Amateur champion qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur in Texas and made a terrific run to the quarterfinals. That earned the 39-year-old New Jersey native 200 points and vaulted him into the top five on the Polo Golf Standings. Stamberger’s third-place finish at the MGA Mid-Amateur moved him up even farther, to third place.

Miller put on the afterburners and secured enough late-season points to claim the title outright with a tie for third at the Boff Invitational and runner-up finish at the Nassau Invitational, losing to defending champion and two-time MGA Player of the Year (2010 & 2008), Joe Saladino of Huntington.

The biggest achievement of his career so far, Miller is aware of the rich history of the award as he joins the fraternity of Met Area golfing legends to be recognized as the MGA Player of the Year. “There are some great players on that list. To be a part of it is definitely special and something I’ll never forget.”

Rounding out the 2011 Player of the Year Honor Roll are: Max Buckley of Westchester Country Club, Stamberger, Saladino, Bernstein, Niall Handley of Essex Fells, Ryan McCormick of Suburban, Cameron Young of Sleepy Hollow, Anthony Aloi of MGA eClub-New Jersey, and Brian Komline of Black Oak.

The award will be presented at the 114th MGA Annual Meeting and Dinner on Wednesday, December 7 at Westchester Country Club in Harrison, N.Y. For more information on the 2011 Jerry Courville Sr. Player of the Year Award, please contact Billy Condon (bcondon@mgagolf.org) or Greg Midland (gmidland@mgagolf.org) at the MGA office at 914-347-4653.

For the Polo Golf MGA Player of the Year Honor Roll: click here

For final Polo Golf MGA Player of the Year Standings: click here

Complete point breakdown of all players: click here

For past winners of the MGA Jerry Courville Sr. Player of the Year Award: click here