Herrington Dual Winner In TGA Player Of The Year Awards

Another season is in the books for the Tennessee Golf Association and with it winners for the six different Tennessee Player of the Year awards: Men’s, Women’s, Junior, Girls’ Junior, Senior and Senior Women’s. A competitive year made it close throughout the season with winners needing every point they could get to earn their spot amongst Tennessee greats.

For the second year in a row, the Men’s and Junior Player of the Year honors go to the same person, Jackson Herrington.

He joins his friend and U.S. Four-Ball partner Blades Brown as the only other person to achieve this feat. Herrington’s year was highlighted by a number of top finishes, but maybe his best was the record-breaking win at the Tennessee State Open. His one-stroke win at GreyStone Golf Club made him the youngest player ever to win the State Open in its 75-year history.

“After coming up short so many times… this year, I didn't want to finish second again,” said Herrington after his win. “All I was focused on was ‘How can I get this shot to where I can make birdies?’ Because I did not want to finish second again. I was tired of that.”

Herrington was stellar throughout the 2024 season, which included a Runner-Up finish with Brown at the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, a Round of 32 appearance at the U.S. Amateur and a Top-3 finish in his final Tennessee Junior Amateur. The Dickson native is now a freshman making a splash on the University of Tennessee golf team.

On the women’s side, Lynn Lim finally captured the Tennessee Women’s Player of the Year honors after narrowly missing out the previous two years. Lim finished second in the points in both 2022 and 2023 for the Women’s Player of the Year but, as they say, the third time’s a charm.

“One of the goals I had was to have a good, strong, resilient attitude, having grace in the low moments but being able to fully enjoy the good moments when they came,” Lim said. “This award doesn't define me as a person or player so I wanted to make sure I enjoyed my summer… but this is really nice cherry on top of a successful season.”

Lim finished as the top amateur for the second straight year at the Tennessee Women’s Open, coming up just short of a title defense after falling in a three-way playoff at Stonehenge Golf Club. Lim also finished second at the Tennessee Women’s Amateur, an event the Vanderbilt junior has already won twice. Another top finish in 2024 came at the Women’s North & South Amateur where she advanced to the semifinals amongst a strong national field.

It is the third Player of the Year accolade for Lim, having won the Girls’ Junior award in both 2018 and 2022.

The other newcomer to the Tennessee Player of the Year family was Murfreesboro’s Isabella Johnson. The future Tennessee Lady Volunteer golfer and current Team Tennessee member took home the Tennessee Girls’ Junior Player of the Year award. She joins a strong list of award winners that include NCAA Champion Rachel Heck, three-time award winner Sophie Linder and this year’s Women’s Player of the Year Lynn Lim.

“I hope I can continue the legacy of Tennessee golf they have helped create,” Johnson said. “This is one of the highest honors in golf here in Tennessee and I can’t think of a better way to cap off my junior golf career before heading to the University of Tennessee.”

Johnson’s year was full of top finishes, cracking the Top 10 in nearly every event she played in. She finished T5 at the Tennessee Women’s Open, T9 at the Tennessee Women’s Open, fourth at the Tennessee Girls’ Junior, T2 at the Tennessee Junior PGA and won the inaugural Granny Invitational at Richland Country Club.

For the Tennessee Senior Men’s Player of the Year, Todd Burgan is one-for-one in winning. Having turned 55 earlier this year, this was his first year of eligibility to play in senior events. He wasted no time and performed well from the beginning of the season until the end. The Knoxville native had eight Top 5 finishes in eleven stroke play events. Burgan also was named co-champion of the Tennessee Senior Match Play Championship and advanced to the Round of 32 at the U.S. Senior Amateur at The Honors Course.

The Powell resident becomes the third golfer to win both Men’s and Senior Men’s Player of the Year over the course of his career, joining Tennessee legends Tim Jackson and Danny Green. Jackson has amassed 19 Player of the Year honors (11 Men’s, 8 Senior Men’s) while Jackson has earned 10 Men’s awards and a lone Senior Player of the Year.

“Anytime you can join a list that includes Tim and Danny, that’s pretty special,” said Burgan. “This feels pretty good to win this year because it’s one I wanted to win at least once when I turned 55.”

When asked to choose his favorite, Burgan leaned toward his Men’s Player of the Year award captured in 2011. Burgan’s selection interrupted a streak of seven straight years where either Jackson or Green won the award, part of an incredible period where the west Tennessee duo combined to win 19 of 22 Player of the Year honors.

”That one was pretty special because I had been trying to chase down Tim and Danny for years to win that one,” Burgan said.

Last but certainly not least is the 2024 Tennessee Senior Women’s Player of the Year Sue Miller. She successfully repeated as the winner of the award - only the fourth to do so - with stellar performances at the top events in the state.

The Loudon resident won her second Tennessee Women’s Senior Amateur this year (her first coming back in 2018), winning by four strokes at Franklin Bridge Golf Club. Miller also finished T2 at the Tennessee Senior Women’s Open.

”I am extremely honored to join that group of repeat winners and thankful that I am still physically able to play competitive golf,” Miller said.

To see a full list of past winners of the Tennessee Player of the Year Awards, go to https://www.tngolf.org/primary-nav-pages/learn/trophy-room/history-of-poy-winners-copy-5609.html