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It had already been a pretty good weekend for Derek Gutierrez. Santa Ana Golf Club鈥檚 general manager and director of golf was settling down after a long day at the Ryder Cup hosted by Marco Simone Golf and Country Club outside Rome when he got an unexpected call from Sun Country PGA President Tom Yost.

鈥淚t was like 11 p.m. and I got the call from Tom,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was just a great surprise to hear I had won the award. It was an honor to be nominated but to find out I had won, it blew me away.鈥�

Gutierrez was named SCPGA鈥檚 Professional of the Year, in recognition of his leadership ability, service to the section and overall performance as a golf professional. He previously won the award in 2014.

鈥淭o be recognized by my peers and the Sun Country PGA section, which is over 200 PGA members, and then more specifically by the section awards committee, it鈥檚 the highest honor you can receive in this section,鈥� Gutierrez said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a humbling experience for sure. There鈥檚 so many talented golf professionals, men and women, in our section that are equally deserving.

鈥淭o win this award amongst those professionals means the world to me.鈥�

In addition to Gutierrez, a slew of other SCPGA professionals were recognized through the section鈥檚 yearly awards. Sandia Golf Club鈥檚 Ben Gasparich was named SCPGA鈥檚 Assistant Professional of the Year while Dan Hon was honored for his 鈥渆xtraordinary鈥� dedication to the game with the Marilea Bush Amateur of the Year award.

Dan Koesters, the former director of golf at New Mexico State University and former head coach at Washington State, was honored with SCPGA鈥檚 Lifetime Achievement award in light of his contributions to the Sun Country section.

Pat Gavin, the director of PGA golf management at NMSU since 1993, was recognized with the Bill Strausbaugh award for professionals 鈥渨ho by their day-to-day efforts have distinguished themselves by mentoring their fellow PGA Professionals in improving their employment situations and through service to the community.鈥�

As for the award in Gavin鈥檚 name? Jason Baldwin, the head professional at G & L Golf Inc. in Alamogordo, won the Pat Gavin Professional Development award in recognition of his assistance to professional education.

NMSU PGA golf management instructor and Red Hawk Golf Course director of instruction Henry Stetina was named the Jack Hardwick Teacher of the Year for his continued success as an instructor.

Gerome Espinoza, a teaching professional based out of sa国际传媒官网网页入口, was honored with the Player Development award. Sandia Golf Course鈥檚 general manager and director of golf Nicholas Knee took home Youth Player Development honors.

In merchandising, Ryan Zonski, the head golf professional at Paako Ridge, took home Public Merchandiser of the Year honors while Donald Yrene, the head professional at The Canyon Club, was named Private Merchandiser of the Year. Twin Warriors head professional Zach Hoefel rounded out the section by being named Resort Merchandiser of the Year honors.

Perry Kauppinen, a sales representative with TaylorMade, was named Salesperson of the Year in light of his exemplary customer service shown to Sun Country members.