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Senior Men’s Player of the Year – Shane McMillan
His golf story is traced to Bountiful Ridge, which remains his home course. “Golf landed in my life,” Shane McMillan said, “and I just became obsessed.”
Matthew Lyons deserves an assist for Shane McMillan’s Senior Men’s Player of the Year award. So, remarkably enough, does runner-up David Booth.
Booth’s quarterfinal loss to another team in the Senior division of the Utah Four-Ball Championship in September created an opening for McMillan to overtake him in the Player of the Year standings. That would have happened only if McMillan and his partner won the tournament, which is exactly what Booth exhorted him to do.
McMillan and Lyons followed through with a 2-and-1 victory over Brigham Gibbs-Jon Wright in the final match at Valley View Golf Course. McMillan, a financial planner who lives in Bountiful, finished with 302.5 points to 292.5 for Booth, who also won four titles this season, including a tie for the low-amateur award in the Kelly Woodland Utah Senior Open.
One highlight among Shane McMillan’s Player Performance Ranking points accumulation was making match play in the Utah State Amateur.
McMillan was credited with victories in the Coral Canyon Senior Amateur, the St. George Amateur, the senior division of the Utah Mid-Amateur Championship (tying with Bob Mitchell) and the Four-Ball.
His golf story is traced to Bountiful Ridge, which remains his home course. “Golf landed in my life,” McMillan said, “and I just became obsessed.”
He played one year for Utah State’s golf team and has had some success in amateur tournaments over the years, but this year marked a major breakthrough. In his 50s, he has caught up to the big-name players of his age group. “I’m really playing the best golf of my life, as a senior,” McMillan said. “It’s been fun to do what I’m doing now.”
Read more from Fairways Media senior writer Kurt Kragthorpe in the November issue of Fairways magazine.