Pleasant Valley head coach Steve Krechel will miss Ryan Adamonis next year when the golf season rolls around. Not only was the senior his number one player, but Adamonis made more of an impact as the leader of the Bears throughout his fourth and final season.

The list of his accomplishments is lengthy and noteworthy, however his contributions to the overall improvement of the Pleasant Valley golf program may be even lengthier.For his accolades on and off the course, Ryan Adamonis has been named the 2014 Times News Golfer of the Year.When Adamonis was young, his grandfather Bill Fitzsimmons would take him out to learn the game of golf and develop his skills early on."When I was 3 years old, I started playing with my grandfather," Adamonis said. "We would play two times a week back then, and we've continued to play that much since then."Eventually Ryan improved, and his skill increased to the point that he realized that there could possibly be a future for him in the sport."I was in eighth grade, I figured I was pretty good," Adamonis said. "So I thought, 'Why not go out for the golf team next year?"In his freshman year, his older brother Kyle was a senior and it helped him transition into being a contributing member of the golf team.I was a freshman and he was the number one player for the team; it gave me something to aim for," he recalls. "He's been through it all, and I looked up to him back then and he's been there to support me ever since."A four-year letter winner for the Bears, he served as the team's number one player for the past three seasons, collecting accomplishments along the way. In his junior season, he finished in eighth place at the District 11 Championships, which was the third best male golfer finish in the history of the sport at Pleasant Valley.In his senior season, he finished with a season average of 80, recorded a new Pleasant Valley low-round record at Blue Shamrock Country Club of 71, was part of the new Pleasant Valley record-low five-man total, qualified for the PV Hole-in-One Club in which there are only two members, and finished in 15th place in the District Finals with an 83. He also finished tied for 30th in the EPC Tournament this past season as well."Ryan was very valuable on the team and led by example," coach Krechel said. "He's not very outgoing, but he was determined to get his message across to teammates to do their best. He was always the most upset about a team loss, but he would never accuse the other team members. I always liked to switch up the players that played with him because I knew he would get the fullest effort out of them."Before this past season, Adamonis took it upon himself to make the most of the season."There were four seniors on the team this year and we came together and said, 'Let's get these younger kids developed so that PV can have a decent golf team," Adamonis said. When it came time for the team to take to the links, he knew his objective."Being the number one, I needed to get good scores each and every match so that we could compete with other teams. Then when I'd finish my individual round, I'd try and cheer on the other players."Krechel recalled examples of leadership, saying, "Over the summer, when we met for intramurals, he was the kid for the others to look up to and learn from," Krechel said. "As a team, we spent hours on the range, hitting balls. I'd set up targets and we had competitions to see who could hit them. Everyone loved to challenge Ryan, but most everyone ended up on the losing end of those challenges."When asked what Krechel would miss the most, he said, "Overall, the most important thing about Ryan is his politeness. I've known Ryan and his family since childhood, and he is always the kid to say 'thank you' and help others around him. When we would get off the bus, he would be the one to say, 'clean up, put the windows up, make sure you have everything,' and he would always have a genuine thanks to the bus driver."He certainly will be missed next year," Krechel said. "His quiet leadership of the players will be hard to replace."Adamonis loves the sport of golf for many reasons, but most importantly, he says, "The people that you meet while playing golf are great. Each person that I've met throughout the years are generally good people, and I've enjoyed each of them."He plans to move on to Kutztown University in the fall to begin his studies in the field of sports and leisure studies.When asked who he'd like to thank for his successes in the sport, he mentioned a few. "Obviously, I'd like to thank my grandfather Bill Fitzsimmons for taking me out all of those times, and it has definitely had an effect on my game. Also, my brother, Kyle, Coach Krechel and Tom Maddalena, as well. Maddalena is a graduate of the Professional Golfers Career College and he has a license to teach golf. He completely changed my game and my swing, and it helped me out a ton. He has also been a great friend, and I appreciate it."