Met Golf Writers to present Distinguished Service Award on June 16th

 

ELMSFORD, N.Y. (May 21, 2009) – Gene Westmoreland, the Metropolitan Golf Association’s longtime Tournament Director and Senior Director of Rules and Competitions, will receive the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association’s Distinguished Service Award at the Association’s National Awards Dinner on Tuesday, June 16 at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich in Greenwich, Conn. As the head of the MGA tournament department for nearly three decades, Westmoreland, who retired from his full-time post at the end of 2008, was the person primarily responsible for cultivating the MGA’s reputation as the nation’s premier tournament organization. The award will be presented by MGA President, Al Small.

The MGWA Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to individuals as well as organizations for their contributions and service to golf and for inspiring others who love the game.

Westmoreland, a lifelong resident of Westchester County, was born in New Rochelle on December 29, 1943. Growing up in Harrison, he got his start in golf as a caddie at Harrison Country Club (now Willow Ridge). He pursued his undergraduate studies at Pace University in Manhattan and coached at the school for 14 years after graduation, rising to head coach of the school’s varsity baseball and basketball teams, and to assistant athletic director. He is a member of the Pace University Athletic Hall of Fame.

In 1978, Westmoreland joined the MGA’s field team which helps conduct the on-site activities at MGA tournaments. He was quickly recognized for his knowledge of the game and superb organizational skills, and, in 1980, was hired to take over the MGA tournament department. From the start, he showed an innate capability to manage the many tentacles of the MGA tournament program: the corps of more than 300 volunteer officials and 3,000 active competitors, the screening of host clubs and courses years in advance, and the logistical challenges of a calendar that sees the MGA run more than 80 tournament days (including both MGA and USGA qualifiers) in the busy summer season.

“In the process of building the finest regional tournament program in the country, Gene has developed wonderful friendships and relationships with the players, tournament volunteers and all of the clubs in the Met Area,” said MGA President Al Small, also a longtime MGA tournament competitor. “There certainly is no person more respected and revered in our golfing community, and Gene is a true ambassador for the game of golf.”

During his tenure, Westmoreland played a critical role in the MGA’s acquisition of the Ike Championship, which has become the Met Area’s premier amateur stroke play event. He also supervised the re-launch of the MGA/MetLife Public Links Championship and the debut of the Women’s Public Links, as well as the introduction of events such as the Senior Net Four-Ball, Father & Son Net Tournament, Women’s Net Team and Senior Open, which attract wider audiences to MGA tournament competition. He has also been instrumental in recruiting Rules of Golf experts who provide an important service at all championships. In 2007, he oversaw the creation of a new championship, the MGA Mid-Amateur, whose permanent trophy was named “The Westmoreland Cup” in his honor.

A nationally respected authority on the Rules of Golf, Gene served on the Rules Committee for several USGA championships, including the 2002, 2004 and 2006 U.S. Opens, which were all played in the Met Area. He has worked for many years with local high school and college golf coaches to ensure that a proper understanding of the Rules and etiquette of the game was being passed on to the next generation. A past president of the International Association of Golf Administrators, Gene was equally influential in the area of golf course maintenance, spearheading the creation of the Tri-State Turf Research Foundation. He was given the Metropolitan Golf Course Superintendents Association’s highest honor, the John Reid Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2005. 

The words “class” and “dedication” are often overused, but they fit perfectly in the case of Gene Westmoreland. He raised the bar on tournament administration and leaves a lasting legacy of excellence for the next generation of leaders. Rarely has a person given so much to the game as a whole, exceeding even his own extraordinarily high standards. For that reason and many others, the MGWA is pleased to award its highest honor to Gene Westmoreland.

The MGWA National Awards Dinner is the largest (and longest running) golf dinner held annually in the United States. All of golf’s governing bodies actively support the dinner-the USGA, PGA of America, the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, the LPGA-and some 700 industry leaders and local golfers attend. Proceeds from the dinner are distributed to the Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey caddie scholarship funds as well as the Metropolitan Golf Association Foundation. More than $950,000 has been raised over the years for charitable endeavors.

For more information please contact Kate Keller at kkeller@mgagolf.org or 914-347-4653.