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South Florida PGA

Taylor Collins, PGA

Named ROLEX Women’s PGA Professional Player of the Year, Earns LPGA Tour Berth

Taylor Collins, PGA will add two more

accolades to cap one of the most historic seasons ever by a female PGA Professional: ROLEX Women’s PGA Professional Player of the Year and LPGA Tour tournament participant with a berth in the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio.

The Assistant PGA Professional at Coral Ridge Country Club in Fort Lauderdale has already claimed the South Florida PGA Women’s ROLEX Player of the year and has now secured the award at the national level.

“The national Player of the Year award and the Section Championship win are the highlights of my career and they are goals I’ve set for down the road, so to have achieved them this year is wild,” said Collins. “I hope to keep the ball rolling into the upcoming years. It’s great to be surrounded by such great golfers.”

The ROLEX Women’s PGA Professional Player of the Year was honored for the first time by the PGA of America following the 2019 season and is based on Player of the Year points a player accumulates in their respective section and national events. Collins will join Joanna Coe, PGA and Ashley Grier, PGA as the only two female professionals to receive this honor.

Collins made history in September when she became the first female to win the South Florida PGA Professional Championship in the event’s 42-year history. The 32-yearold former Nova Southeastern University golfer went 68-68-72 (-8) at BallenIsles Country Club, beating the male-dominated field by four strokes.

The unprecedented victory earned Collins a spot in the 2022 PGA Professional Championship, a place on the winning South Florida PGA Challenge Cup team and ultimately the South Florida PGA Women’s Player of the Year and the Women’s PGA Professional Player of the Year honors.

Through seven South Florida PGA Section events, Collins earned 522 national points to edge out Ashley Grier, PGA of the Philadelphia Section and Allie Knight, PGA of the Tennessee Section.

Collins is a South Florida Junior Tour alum who also won the Division II Individual National title while competing at Nova Southeastern and spent time on the Symetra Tour. However, she has never played in an LPGA Tour event, until now.

As a result of her outstanding play this season, the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio has extended an invitation to Collins to tee it up with the best players in the world at Boca Rio Golf Club on January 27-30th.

Collins will be honored by the PGA of America with her Player of the Year award during the 2022 PGA Professional Championship at Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas in April.