Jerry Courville, Jr. & Andrew Svoboda (2003)

For just the second time in the award’s history, the 2003 Play of the Year award had two recipients – Jerry Courville, Jr. and Andrew Svoboda. Both Courville and Svoboda had incredibly successful seasons and had accumulated near record totals in the standings which lead to the decision to declare co-winners.

Courville took his first major step towards winning the award in late June with his fourth victory in the Hochster Memorial. Shortly thereafter he finished second in the Ike Championship, but it was his performances in two national championships that made the difference. He won three matches in the U.S. Amateur, and again won three matches in the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. A twelfth-place finish in the Met Open and a late-season victory in the Connecticut Mid-Amateur capped off his season, and gave him the lead in Player of the Year points by a small margin.

Svoboda’s season was equally impressive.  Highlighted by a dominating performance in The Met Open, Svoboda become only the sixth amateur to win the area’s most coveted title. Earlier in the season, Svoboda capped a record-breaking collegiate career at St. John’s with individual wins in seven college tournaments, accomplishments that are not reflected in the point system.  He also qualified locally for the US Open, had a fifth-place finish in the WGA Open, qualified on-site for the US Amateur and late in the season posted wins in both the Boff and Nassau Invitationals. This is Svoboda’s first Player of the Year title.