| | Brewer To Receive USGA's 2009
Bob Jones Award October 2, 2008
Far Hills, N.J. - O. Gordon Brewer Jr., 71, a two-time USGA
Senior Amateur champion, longtime volunteer and dedicated
servant to the game of golf, has been chosen to receive
the United States Golf Association's 2009 Bob Jones Award.
 | | O. Gordon Brewer has won two USGA
titles, both USGA Senior Amateur championships. (USGA
Museum) |
Presented annually since 1955, the USGA's highest honor
is given in recognition of sportsmanship in golf. The Award,
selected from nominations across the golf community and
chosen by a diverse and distinguished committee, seeks to
recognize a person who emulates Jones' spirit, his personal
qualities and his attitude toward the game and its players.
The Award will be presented to Brewer on Feb. 7, 2009, at the
USGA's Annual Meeting in Newport Beach, Calif.
"It's a tremendous honor," said Brewer. "In fact, when I
received the phone call, I had to pinch myself to make sure I
wasn't dreaming.
"When you look at the list of winners, you're humbled. To be
part of such an esteemed group and to know this award
reflects Bobby Jones and the model he set for the game, makes
me very grateful for the recognition."
"Gordon is well-known as a golfer and person, and he has a
deservedly outstanding reputation on and off the course,"
said fellow Bob Jones Award winner Bill Campbell, who won the
U.S. Amateur eight years after receiving the Award in 1956
and is the only person ever to serve as both USGA president
and captain of The R&A. "He knows golf from the inside
out, and is widely admired in all respects."
Like Campbell and other past winners of the USGA's most
prestigious award - a list that includes inspirational sports
figures such as Byron Nelson, "Babe" Zaharias and Arnold
Palmer - Brewer is more than just a great champion.
"The Bob Jones Award going to Gordon Brewer is recognition
well deserved," said Palmer. "Gordon has been a great
credit to the game, both as a fine player and as a longtime
supporter of amateur golf and its principles of competition
and sportsmanship."
Brewer began his storied career as a top amateur golfer in
1967, when he won the Philadelphia Amateur Championship. He
added a second Philadelphia Amateur in 1976 and a
Pennsylvania Amateur title in 1984. Competing at the national
level, Brewer played in more than 40 USGA championships,
beginning with the 1968 U.S. Amateur. He finished runner-up
to longtime fellow-competitor and friend Jay Sigel in the
1985 U.S. Mid-Amateur and won the USGA Senior Amateur in 1994
and 1996. In 2008, Brewer won three Golf Association of
Philadelphia Super-Senior titles.
Brewer's career was highlighted in 2002, when he captained
the USA Team at the World Amateur Team Championship, leading
D.J. Trahan, Hunter Mahan and Ricky Barnes to victory in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
"It was an honor to serve as captain of the team," Brewer
said. "I have the utmost respect for the team competition and
what it means."
As a key figure in the Pennsylvania golf community, Brewer
served as the president of the Pennsylvania Golf Association
and chairman of the J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust
Fund. He also served on the USGA Executive Committee from
1996 to 2001 and on the PGA Board of Directors from 2001 to
2003.
"It's hard for me to describe the importance of golf in
my life," said Brewer. "That's why I agreed to accept the
request to become a candidate for the USGA Executive
Committee. When one has gotten as much as I have out of golf,
it's hard to say no when you're asked to give something back
to the game."
Brewer served the USGA tirelessly while dealing with
some of the organization's most complex issues. As
Chair of the Implements and Ball Committee, Brewer was a key
player in the efforts to limit the spring-like effect of golf
clubs. He was also a charter member of the Mid-Amateur
Championship Committee, established in 1981.
A former president at Huntingdon Valley (Pa.) Country Club -
and seven-time club champion - Brewer currently serves as
President of Pine Valley Golf Club in New Jersey.
"They don't come any finer than Gordon," said James D.
Sykes, former executive director of the Golf Association of
Philadelphia and Brewer's longtime friend.
An accomplished sportsman in his youth who earned a
basketball scholarship to Guilford College in Greensboro,
N.C., Brewer didn't play golf until he was 19 years old. He
became fascinated with the sport after a few trips to the
driving range, and soon was a devoted student of the golf
swing and its mechanics. His diligence resulted in his making
the golf team his final two years at Guilford. "I
wasn't very good at all starting out," said Brewer. "But
once I started to play, I just absolutely fell
head-over-heels in love with the game."
"Gordon doesn't do anything lightly when it comes to golf,"
said Jack Connelly, a longtime head professional at
Huntingdon Valley and a former president of the PGA of
America. "He loves the game and gives a lot back, because of
the gentleman and the sportsman that he is. He was my first
golf chairman when I became head professional 35 years ago,
and I learned a lot from him. And as a PGA board member, he
contributed immensely, because of his knowledge of the game
and his business acumen."
Professionally, Brewer served as the Vice President of
Finance for Alco Standards, Inc. and IKON Office Solutions in
Philadelphia where he operated with the greatest integrity,
living Jones' philosophy about sportsmanship and fair play on
and off the golf course.
Brewer and his wife, Gail, have been married for 49 years and
reside in Pine Valley, N.J. Brewer's son, Oliver G. (Chip)
III, is president and chief executive officer of Adams Golf
in Plano, Texas.
About TheBobJonesAward
Presented annually since 1955, the Bob Jones Award is the
USGA's highest honor and is given in recognition of
sportsmanship in golf. The Bob Jones Award winner is selected
from nominations from across the golf community and chosen by
a diverse and distinguished committee that includes the
Commissioners of the PGA and LPGA Tours, members of the
press, and leaders of affiliated golf organizations such as
PGA of America and the Golf Course Superintendents
Association, as well as the USGA.
The complete list of past recipients of the USGA's Bob Jones
Award is available
if you click here
.
About The USGA
The USGA is the national governing body of golf in this
country and , a combined territory that includes more than
half the world's golfers and golf courses. The Association's
most visible role is played out each season in conducting 13
national championships, including the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's
Open and U.S. Senior Open. Ten additional USGA national
championships are exclusively for amateurs, and include the
U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Women's Amateur. The USGA also
writes the Rules of Golf, conducts equipment testing,
provides expert course maintenance consultations, funds
research for better turf and a better environment, maintains
a Handicap System and administers an ongoing "For the Good of
the Game" grants program, which has allocated more than $62
million over 11 years to successful programs that bring the
game's values to youths from disadvantaged backgrounds and
people with disabilities.
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