WCHS senior golfers Julia Hildebrand and Chase Byron sit with Sondra and Don Dicken after the two WCHS golfers were awarded the Don Dicken Awards for service and performance within the Warsaw golf programs. (Photo provided)

WARSAW – The Warsaw golf programs presented the annual Don Dicken awards to the program’s top graduating seniors.

Receiving the honors, presented by Don and Sondra Dicken, were Julia Hildebrand and Chase Byron.

The Don Dicken Golf Award is named after local golfing legend and Master PGA Professional, Don Dicken, who served as head professional at Rozella Ford Golf Club for 35 years. During that time, Dicken was a passionate promoter and supporter of the WCHS golf teams, junior golf and Warsaw community golf as a whole. During his years of service, Dicken was named Golf Professional of the Year, Teaching Professional of the Year and Public Merchandiser of the Year by the Indiana PGA.

Dicken retired from Rozella Ford Golf Club in 1995, but his legacy still continues as he continues to mentor golfers in the area, and his legacy continues to help shape the success of the Warsaw golf programs.

The Don Dicken Golf Award recipients were chosen by the golf coaches and presented to the senior golfers excelling in leadership, academics, citizenship, and promoting team success and effort.

Hildebrand received two varsity letters, earned the Most Improved Player Award and the Striving Toward Excellence Award during her tenure at Warsaw. She has been involved in multiple community service projects, including Feed My Starving Children, Vacation Bible Study, and she is a childcare volunteer for Warsaw Community Church. She is a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and she plans to continue her golf career at Grace College and major in Pre-Vet Health Services.

Byron is a four-year varsity letterman and earned the Most Improved Player Award in both his sophomore and junior years. He was part of the sectional champion teams of 2017 and 2018, and he recently earned All-Northern Lakes Conference distinction.

Byron has been an active member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes for four years, and he was on the leadership team of the renewed Campus Life program at WCHS. He served as a Dare Role Model, and he has been serving actively in the youth programs at Warsaw Community Church where he helps kids from four years old to fourth graders. He was also a youth camp counselor, experienced world missions with a trip to Honduras in 2017, and he plans to return again this summer. He has a GPA over 10.0 and he plans to continue both his academic and golf pursuits at Grace College this fall where he will major in Youth Ministry Studies.