Monday, February 9th the Indiana Section PGA recognized their 2014 Players of the Year at the Indiana PGA Spring Meeting at the Ritz Charles in Carmel, Ind. Brett Melton of the Country Club of Old Vincennes will receive the Indiana PGA Player of the Year Award.
For the second year in a row, Melton was named the Indiana PGA Player of the Year. His season began with a win at the first Tournament Series event of the season held at Prairie View GC. There, he posted a 3-under-par, 69 for a three shot victory.
In the second Indiana PGA event of the season, the Indianapolis Open held at Highland G & CC, Melton just fell short of a second victory. He carded a two-day total of 7-under-par, 133, finishing runner-up to Jon Jozefowski.
In late June, Melton grabbed his second runner-up finish of the season at the Monticello Open at Tippecanoe CC, where he finished just one-shot behind Champion Jon Balyeat.
As the season progressed, it became clear that Melton was always going to be a player in contention. The second Tournament Series event took place at Rock Hollow GC in late July, and Melton’s performance mirrored his first of the season. He posted a 3-under-par, 69 at Rock Hollow to capture his second title of 2014.
After a rained out Southern Open this spring, the event was rescheduled for early September and would be the final Indiana PGA event of the season. Melton capped off his season with a victory at the Donald Ross Course at French Lick, firing a tremendous score of 6-under-par, 64.
Melton also added two top-ten finishes to his list of accomplishments in 2014.
Dave Carich of Harbour Trees was recognized as the Indiana PGA Senior Player of the Year. After just falling short to Bill Schumaker in 2013 for the Indiana PGA Senior Player of the Year title, Carich played tremendously. 2014 proved to be his year. His seven top-ten finishes and participation in the PGA Senior Professional National Championship earned him the Player of the Year title.
Carich’s best performance of the year came at the Indiana PGA Senior Championship where he finished runner-up to Scott Morris. His runner-up finish earned him a spot in the PGA Senior Professional National Championship held at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. in mid-November. Although Carich did not make the cut in the national event, his participation earned him Indiana Senior Player of the Year points.
Among Carich’s seven top-ten finishes, three were ties for third place. Carich finished third at the second and third Tournament Series events of the season held at Rock Hollow GC and Warren GC at Notre Dame. He also finished third at the Indiana PGA Professional Championship contested at Prairie View GC which qualified him for the PGA Professional National Championship which will take place this summer.
Carich’s low round of the season came at Ulen CC during round one of the PGA Senior Championship where he carded a 4-under-par, 66.
Michael Asbell of The Sagamore Club received the Indiana PGA Assistant Player of the Year Award. Asbell truly became a player to watch this season. In almost every Indiana PGA event, he was in contention. Asbell’s season consisted of 11 top-ten finishes, including one victory and three runner-up finishes.
Asbell began his season at the first Tournament Series event at Prairie View GC. There, he fired a 1-under-par, 71 to finish in a tie for second behind PGA Player of the Year, Brett Melton.
In early June, Asbell proved he was a force to be reckoned with, posting a 7-under-par, 65 across the difficult Kampen GC layout. This tremendous round earned him a one-shot victory over Andrew Havill of Carmel.
One month later, Asbell grabbed his second runner-up finish of the season at the Indiana PGA Pro-Assistant Championship, along with teammate Daniel Witt. The duo carded a 36-hole total of 13-under-par, 129 finishing in a tie for second along with Cody McNew and Rick Witt of The Bridgewater Club.
Asbell’s third runner-up finish came at the Indiana PGA Assistant Championship held at Brickyard Crossing GC. This finish earned him a spot in the PGA Assistant National Championship which was held at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. in late October.
Asbell finished in a tie for 25th at the national event, which was partly made possible by a hole-in-one on the par-3, 17th. His ace also earned him the $25,000 National Car Rental Hole-in-one Challenge Grand Prize.