Jim Nantz, Trump Family, Metropolis Country Club among other awardees

June 9, 2011— PGA Tour CommissionerTim Finchem was recognized for his outstanding leadership, contributions and advancements in the game of golf by the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association at their 60th National Awards Dinner on Tuesday, June 7, at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, New York. Finchem received the Gold Tee Award, the MGWA’s highest honor. 

Finchem joined an elite group of distinguished individuals who have received the Gold Tee Award. Past honorees include Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Patty Berg, Nancy Lopez, Annika Sorenstam, Bob Hope and President Gerald R. Ford. 

Other 2011 award winners included recently inducted World Golf Hall of Famer and three-time major winner Ernie Els, who received the Winnie Palmer Award for his work on autism research, Metropolis Country Club(Club of the Year), CBS Sports broadcaster Jim Nantz (Linc Werden Golf Journalism Award), the Donald J. Trump family (Family of the Year), American Lake Veterans Golf Course (Mary Bea Porter Award), and Mary Bea Porter-King (Distinguished Service Award).

Finchem has been commissioner of the PGA Tour since 1994, and in that time the Tour has expanded purse sizes at tournaments, and become a global leader in promoting the game worldwide. Since 1994, the PGA Tour and its tournaments have raised more than $1 billion for charitable organizations.

The MGWA’s National Awards Dinner is the largest and longest-running golf dinner held annually in the U.S. All of golf’s governing bodies actively support the dinner—the USGA, PGA of America, the LPGA, PGA Tour and Champions Tour—and over 500 industry leaders and local golfers attend. Proceeds from the dinner are distributed to the caddie scholarship funds in Westchester, Long Island, and New Jersey, along with the MGA Foundation. More than $1 million has been raised over the years for charitable endeavors.

For additional information, please contact Kate Keller (kate@metgolfwriters.org) at  914-347-4653.