Special Awards

For Michael Crowley 2022 was a banner year on the golf course. He’d set the tone early on, by getting the opportunity to tee it up at Senior PGA Championship in May. The appearance with some of the best senior players in the world gave him a different level of confidence, which stayed with him all year. At the conclusion of the season, he became just the second WPGA professional to win both the member and senior player of the year awards in one year.

In his words, last year provided him with the two most important playing accomplishments in his life to date.

Topping that performance in 2023 was certainly going to be difficult. Right out of the gate Crowley faced an unforeseen obstacle to accomplishing his goal.

His success the past few years had started to create an assumption in his head that all he needed to do was show up and he would play well. The assumption resulted in some subpar finishes to start the year and lost opportunities to earn more points.

“I think sometimes you take for granted that you’re going to play well,” Crowley said. “But then you realize you’ve got to put some more effort into it. Not only physically but mentally also.”

The switch flipped at just the right time, as his game would catch fire in late June.

He’d go on to rattle off victories at WPGA Classic #3 and the WPGA Stableford Classic in the middle of the summer. Carding sub-70 rounds at each event. The wins almost helped him catch the current points leader, Brian Brodell.

Brodell’s lead would eventually diminish just two weeks later at the Suter Ward Group at Morgan Stanley Wisconsin State Open.

After Crowley finished in tie for 20th the previous year, he had his sights set on improving on his best finish at the championship.

The SentryWorld layout would play difficult all week and his rock-solid play would pay off. He would maintain a presence in the top ten throughout the event.

Eventually during the 36-hole finale he drifted up the leaderboard, as others fell back. Patience and ability to accumulate pars turned out to be the difference. Carding rounds of 71, 73, 71 and 72 on the way to a tie for third place.

“The best part of the (final) day was getting to spend it with my assistant professional, Daniel Romero,” Crowley said. “He really just kept me calm. I putted exceptionally well, which was a big testament to Daniel. We see things very similar, so that helped a lot.”

After the State Open the player of the year picture was certainly in Crowley’s favor, yet one major championship remained. He held a 166 point lead over Mick Smith heading into the WPGA Professional Championship in mid-September. With it being a major championship Crowley knew that a lot of points would be up for grabs. He also knew that Smith had won two of the last three WPGA Professional Championships.

On an ideal scoring day Crowley jumpstarted his quest for his first WPGA Professional Championship title with a 6-under-par 66. His bogey-free round was highlighted by four birdies and an eagle.

Normally an impressive start like that could possibly separate him from the pack, but that wasn’t the case this time. Right on his heels were Smith and Jamie Christianson, just one shot back.

“It was great, as I was leaving to play, my wife asked how come you never shoot these big red numbers?” Crowley said. “She was motivating me without really knowing she was motiving me. So, it was really great to get off to a good start.”

The three-way battle would continue the next day during the final round. Throughout the day each player would grab a share of the lead. Eventually Crowley would regain the outright lead as the holes started to dwindle. Just as that was happening, he took a step back with a three-putt bogey on No. 16. The mistake left him in a tie with Smith again.

With the pressure on, Crowley battled back on the very next hole. He would hit the flagstick with his second shot, giving him a tap in birdie and the lead. After a par on the final hole, he had secured the championship victory and player of the year title.

It has been quite the run for Crowley, but the season finale left an indelible mark on him.

“The Section Championship probably tops the list,” Crowley said. “It is validation for the last three years.”

Turning fifty only comes around once and it can sometimes be viewed as a dreaded reminder of middle age. However, in the professional golfer world, it is a new lifeline. A chance to reset and compete against fellow professionals that are close to your age.

For Mick Smith that opportunity would come along in 2023. After turning fifty last fall the Australian would get his chance to hit that reset button. The timing would be just right as it came after playing some very solid golf the past few years.

The challenge in front of him would not be easy though, with competition from the likes of former senior players of the year, Michael Crowley, Jim Schuman and Kurt Mantyla.

After a bit of a slow start to the season the Summit resident would quickly turn things around.

On May 26, he would take advantage of his first chance to qualify for a PGA Tour Champions major championship. He would card an even-par 72 and earn medalist honors at U.S. Senior Open qualifying at Stevens Point CC. The performance would give him a spot in the field at SentryWorld and earn some much-needed senior player of the year points.

Just four and half weeks later he would tee it up against some of the best senior players in the world in his home state. The competitive side of the week would not pan out as he hoped, but it was a memory for a lifetime.

“It was just a great thrill to be in the field,” Smith said. “I loved the whole experience, unfortunately I had forty minutes of very poor golf, which ruined the tournament for me. Other than the forty minutes I thought I did well and loved every second of it.”

With the Wisconsin Senior PGA Professional Championship only two weeks after the U.S. Senior Open, Smith was ready to use his recent experience to his advantage. After opening with a 3-over-par 74 in round one, he had plenty of work to do to contend.

It wouldn’t take long on day two before he inserted himself into the mix. He would play his first fourteen holes without a bogey, while carding five birdies. It helped him card a 5-under-par 66 and earn his first Wisconsin Senior PGA Professional Championship.

The victory provided Smith with a sizable points lead over Michael Crowley at the midway point of the season.

Crowley would then catch fire over the course of the next two months. He’d win the WPGA Stableford Classic, earn top five finishes in the Suter Ward Group at Morgan Stanley Wisconsin State Open and Wisconsin State Senior Open, and win the WPGA Professional Championship. The impressive run of play would leapfrog Crowley past Smith for the lead.

Smith’s work was not done though, he’d bounce back by defeating Crowley and Schuman in the final two rounds of the WPGA Senior Match Play. The match play title would help close the gap to just about 75 points.

With just one point opportunity left, the duo would faceoff at the (National) Senior PGA Professional Championship at PGA Golf Club in mid-October. Smith would end up having a great week at PGA Golf Club. He’d share the lead after each of the first two rounds and ultimately end up in a tie for 7^th place.

The performance would secure him the senior player of the year honor. It also will provide Smith with a chance to play in his second PGA Tour Champions major, the 2024 Senior PGA Championship.

“It was exciting, it was a shame that Mike missed the cut,” Smith said. “It would have been good if we were going at it for four rounds together. I am very happy to win a good battle with Mike, he’s a great player and great guy. It was a nice way to win the senior player of the year.”

After taking a backseat to Josh Grisa in 2022, David Bach was determined to reclaim the WPGA Assistant Player of the Year award. The friendly rivalry among the Kohler Golf colleagues is one that doesn’t include many secrets.

They’ve had an ironclad grip on the award since 2019, by alternating back and forth as the titleholder.

Although Bach was raring to go and ready to take back ownership of the award, Grisa wasn’t going to make it easy.

Grisa would kick off the points race with a win at the Assistant Professional Stroke Play in early May. Just six weeks later he finished as the low assistant professional at the third one-day WPGA Classic of the season. The solid start to the year provided him with the points lead as the month of June wrapped up.

However, just around the corner was the National Car Rental Wisconsin Assistant PGA Professional Championship. As the defending champion, Bach would grab control of the contest midway through the first round and never look back. Two rounds of 69 would deliver him with a 4-under-par total and a three-shot win. The victory would vault Bach into first place of the points race.

About one month later he would then grow that lead further, by making the cut and finishing in a tie for 36^th at the Suter Ward Group at Morgan Stanley Wisconsin State Open.

The Brown Deer native was now in a prime position to claim the assistant player of the year honor, however what he really wanted was to cap off the season with a victory over Grisa in the Assistant Match Play finals.

The duo had challenged each other for this honor but they had never faced each other one on one in match play.

On September 10 they would battle until the very end at Whistling Straits. Neither player would lead by more than two holes, however Bach would lead most of the match. That was until he three-putted on No. 17 to go one down.

He then backed it up by finding the fairway bunker off the tee on No. 18, and the odds of forcing extra holes would seem unlikely.

With 180 yards to go and a bunker lip in front of him, Bach would somehow hit the green with a seven-iron and two putt for par. It would be good enough to force extra holes, and eventually a par on the very next hole would deliver him the match win.

“I hit a career shot to square the match on No. 18,” Bach said. “I don’t think if I had 100 golf balls, I’d be able to hit the shot I hit to twenty feet.”

In Bach’s words the match was his fondest memory of his run to the points title.

“Beating Josh in the match play was pretty cool,” Bach said. “He and I were jarring back and forth the last few years with this award and this was the only time we’ve really gone head-to-head. So, to have that one up on him was pretty good.”

To put a cherry on top, Bach would wrap up his season by making the cut and finishing in a tie for 31^st at the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship in Florida in November.