Tacoma, Wash. – The Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA) has announced the region’s Players of the Year for 2025. Those honored include Men's Player of the Year, Max Herendeen of Bellevue, Wash.; Women’s, Lauren Kim of Surrey, B.C.; Men's Mid-Amateur, Nate Smith of Tetonia, Idaho; Women's Mid-Amateur, Taya Battistella of Bellingham, Wash.; Senior Men's, Pat O’Donnell of Happy Valley, Ore.; Senior Women's, Shelly Stouffer of Nanoose Bay, B.C.; Junior Boys', Austin Krahn of Christina Lake, B.C.; and Junior Girls', Clara Ding of White Rock, B.C.
The PNGA Player of the Year candidates are nominated by the state and provincial golf associations that comprise the PNGA (Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington) and are selected by a vote of the PNGA Championship Committee.
Click here for a full list of playing accomplishments of this year’s recipients and a complete history of all past PNGA Player of the Year award recipients.
Men’s
Max Herendeen – Bellevue, Wash.
Herendeen has earned this honor for a second consecutive year. During the 2025 season, he advanced to the round of 16 in the U.S. Amateur, defeating the World No. 1 player in doing so. Herendeen also made the round of 16 at the Western Amateur and finished T-10 at the Sunnehanna Amateur. Currently a junior at the University of Illinois, Herendeen also finished T-11 at the NCAA Division I Regionals and T-27 in the NCAA Championship. His back-to-back Men’s Player of the Year selections follow his honor as the 2022 PNGA Junior Boys’ Player of the Year.
Women’s
Lauren Kim – Surrey, B.C.
Kim has earned this honor for the third consecutive year. Currently No. 20 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), she qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur, CPKC Women’s Open and Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2025. She finished T-19 in the Canadian Women’s Amateur. Continuing a decorated career at the University of Texas at Austin, Kim took the Betsy Rawls Invitational individual title in March and earned both WGCA All-America Second Team and Golfweek Second Team All-American Honors, to go with a T-13 finish and berth in the NCAA Division I Women’s National Championship. Her third straight honor follows her being named the PNGA Junior Girls’ Player of the Year in 2022. Now a junior at Texas, Kim is also a member of Team Canada.
Men’s Mid-Amateur
Nate Smith – Tetonia, Idaho
Smith’s 2025 accomplishments came in the Northwest and elsewhere. A former PGA Tour pro who has regained amateur status, Smith, 42, won the PNGA Men’s Master-40 Amateur and The Snedeker Memorial during his travels. Playing in the U.S. Amateur, he advanced to that championship’s round of 32, and collected a T-13 result at the Pacific Coast Amateur. Other strong amateur results included a T-19 finish at the Azalea Invitational and T-22 at the Gasparilla Invitational.
Women’s Mid-Amateur
Taya Battistella – Bellingham, Wash.
Battistella won the BC Women’s Mid-Amateur and Washington Mixed Chapman. She also made the rounds of 32 at both the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and PNGA Women’s Amateur. Other top-5 runs came at the BC Women’s Amateur and Washington Women’s Champion of Champions. This fall, she was also named the Washington Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year, an honor she also earned in 2024.
Senior Men’s
Pat O’Donnell – Happy Valley, Ore.
O’Donnell recorded another season that validated his status as a PNGA Hall-of-Famer. He won the PNGA Super Senior Men’s Amateur, as well as both the Oregon Senior and Super Senior Amateur championships. He made the round of 64 at the U.S. Senior Amateur and notched a T-2 finish at the Oregon Men’s Stroke Play. O’Donnell padded his great year with other top-10 finishes at the 7 Cedars Senior Washinton Open, the OGA Tournament of Champions and Callaway Invitational. This year’s honor marks O’Donnell’s fourth in the category (2009, 2016, 2019).
Senior Women’s
Shelly Stouffer – Nanoose Bay, B.C.
Stouffer has received this award for the third time in the past four years. Her 2025 saw a quartet of victories in the PNGA Senior Women’s Amateur, Canadian Women’s Senior, Irish Senior Women’s Amateur and BC Senior Women’s Amateur. Never a stranger to USGA championships, Stouffer was a semifinalist in the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and qualified for both the U.S. Senior Women’s Open and U.S. Women’s Amateur. She also finished T-9 in the R&A Women’s Senior Amateur. She was inducted into the PNGA Hall of Fame in 2024 and is also enshrined within the Golf Hall of Fame of B.C.
Junior Boys’
Austin Krahn – Christina Lake, B.C.
Krahn put together an exceptional junior season. He scored five victories, which included the trifecta of winning the BC Amateur, BC Junior Boys’ Amateur, and BC Indigenous Amateur championships. His game took him well outside his province, as he made appearances in the Toyota Junior World Cup and Dustin Johnson World Junior, among others. Representing Team BC at the Canada Summer Games, he won individual and team gold. Having won seven total WAGR events as a junior, he is currently No. 805 in the men’s ranking.
Junior Girls’
Clara Ding – White Rock, B.C.
Ding was dependable in 2025. Her titles came at the GolfBC Group BC Women’s Open and Women’s Orlando International Amateur Championship, and she came within one stroke of victory at the World Junior Girls’ Championship. Another second came at The Nelly Invitational. Ding teed it up in both the U.S. Junior Girls’ and CPKC Women’s Open, among other prominent events. She is a member of Team Canada’s NextGen women’s team, a roster spot well-earned. A member of the high school class of 2029, she is No. 30 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, and No. 143 in WAGR.
About the Pacific Northwest Golf Association
The PNGA was founded on February 4, 1899. It is a 501c3 charitable, international, amateur golf association dedicated to preserving the true spirit of golf by supporting its member associations, conducting quality championships, and promoting activities beneficial to golfers in the Pacific Northwest. The PNGA remains committed to being a truly regional organization providing benefits and support to its member associations throughout the Northwest. For more information visit thepnga.org.