|
By Russ Christ
During the 1999 AGA tournament season Kellaney played in 14 tournaments and earned 1,075.5 points. As the only player under par, he won the 26th Arizona Stroke Play Championship at Raven Golf Club at South Mountain in early December and finished second to Marty James in the 75th Arizona Amateur at Paradise Valley Country Club in July. He also was second at the Arizona Short Course in January. Kellaney and James, who was second with 907 points, teamed to win the Arizona Four-Ball Championship in August. Kellaney also won the Phoenix City Championship, a non-AGA event, in September, and the Mixed Team in August. Kellaney is a vice president with the National Bank of Arizona on Central Ave. and moved to Valley in 1987 to play golf year round. He is a native of Rockford, Ill.. Steve Dallas of Gilbert won the Divisional Points Award in the Masters division (45-54) 76.5 points, while Mesa's Ed Smith, who participated in the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship in Portland, Ore., Oct. 2-7 at Portland Golf Club, won the Senior division (55-64) for the second consecutive year. Dallas, the co-owner and general manager of Apache Creek Golf Club in Apache Junction, started the year in impressive fashion. He won the Arizona Public Links Championship in March by draining a 50-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole.
Smith, a 56-year-old plumbing supplies salesman, won the Arizona Senior Amateur Championship for the second straight year and tallied 617 points during 1999. Smith, Haden and Dallas also won the MV III at Moon Valley Country Club last summer. Mesa's Bill Brafford repeated in the Legends division (65+) with 378 points, while Mike Perrault and Joe Riordan were co-winners in the senior scoring average category (76.0). Brafford represented Arizona in the Arizona/Utah Shootout in 1999 and has played in four U.S. Senior Amateurs, two U.S. Mid-Amateurs and the 1963 U.S. Amateur. He holds the club record (65) at LaGrange CC in LaGrange, Ill., which he set in 1963. Brafford has been the AGA's Senior Player of the Year four times and is a three-time Senior Amateur Champion. The Volunteers of the Year, Ken and Harlene Hardt of Mesa, have been married 43 years. The Hardt's moved to Arizona in 1994 from Denver, where Ken was a medical administrator for a public service company. "We volunteer because we love golf and enjoy the camaraderie outside the community," says Harlene, who is employed by Viewpoint Golf Resort. "We love to get involved." The Hardt's, who both have handicaps under 15, are residents of the retirement community Fountain of the Sun in Mesa. They have played golf for 26 years. The AGA will honor its award winners at its Annual Meeting on February 17 at Marriott's Camelback Inn. The Arizona Golf Association's mission is to foster the enhancement and expansion of the game of golf by leading in the development of member and information services, the promotion of opportunities for all who want to play, and the protection of the game's integrity and valued traditions. 1999 Arizona Golf Association Award Winners Related links: |
Weeks later he joined forces with Gary Haden to win the Master's division of the Southern Arizona Four-Ball. He also traveled to Colonial Williamsburg, Va., to compete in the USGA's Men's State Team Championship September 7-9 at Golden Horseshoe Golf Club. 
The Duke at Rancho El Dorado