Green & Diaz GWAA Writing Awards; Cybergolf Scribes Bring Home Two


Global Golf Post's Ron Green, Jr., and Golf Digest/Golf World's Jaime Diaz both picked up the seventh wins of their careers and Sports Illustrated's Alan Shipnuck earned his sixth career win in the Golf Writers Association of America's annual writing contest.

Two Cybergolf contributors, Tony Dear and Jay Flemma, received Honorable Mention honors in the Daily News category. Tony was recognized for his story, "Els Wins But Victory is Bittersweet" (http://www.cybergolf.com/golf_news/bittersweet_british_open), while Jay was honored for his piece, "Triple Double . . . at Winged Foot" (http://www.cybergolf.com/golf_news/triple_double_smith_crockett_defy_darkness_storms_to_defend_title_at_anderson).

Green won the Daily News honor for his Charlotte Observer story on Rory McIlroy's win at the 2012 PGA Championship, while Diaz won the Non-Daily Features category for his Golf Digest story on Billy Casper, "Out of the Darkness." Shipnuck won the Special Projects honor for "Best Sunday Ever" and also picked up four honorable mentions, including two in Non-Daily Columns.

Golf World's Tim Rosaforte, who will host the 2013 Awards Dinner, earned his fourth career win and the second one for Golf Digest Companies in 2013 with his Non-Daily News story "No Rest for Rory."

Golf Channel's Jason Sobel, Yahoo! Sports' Dave Seanor and Golfweek's Beth Ann Baldry were all honored with their second career wins. Sobel won Daily Features for "The Jungle Bird," the man who disrupted the U.S. on GolfChannel.com, while Seanor won Daily Columns for "The False Promise of Tiger Woods." Baldry's winning Non-Daily Column was on Paula Creamer's tearful farewell to Pops.

Green and Diaz are now two wins behind Golf Digest's Dan Jenkins, who holds the record for career first-place honors with nine. Scott Michaux of the Augusta Chronicle is second on the all-time list with eight.

Stories from 19 different publications/outlets were honored this year, and the only double winner was Golf Digest Companies (Diaz and Rosaforte). All winners will be honored at the GWAA's 41st Annual Awards Dinner April 10 at Savannah Rapids Pavilion in Martinez, Ga.

2013 GWAA Writing Contest Results

The following is a full list of the winners, including honorable mentions. There were a record 546 entries in the contest.

DAILY COLUMNS - 1, Dave Seanor, Yahoo! Sports, The false promise of Tiger Woods; 2, Jeff Rude, Golfweek.com, Vivid memories of Hogan and Nelson; 3, John Hopkins, GlobalGolfPost.com, In praise of the Amateur Honorable mention: Ron Borges, Boston Herald, PoulterHeist; Steve Eubanks, GlobalGolfPost.com, A Selah for Furman; Jim McCabe, Golfweek.com, Remembering Furman Bisher; Josh Sens, Golf.com, Invited to The Country Club, finally.

DAILY NEWS - 1, Ron Green, Jr., Charlotte Observer, McIlroy slays field in PGA Championship; 2, Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.com, Bubba is part artist, part magician; 3, Ian O'Connor, ESPN.com, Olympic's 16th Hole doomed Furyk.

Honorable mention: Tony Dear, Cybergolf.com, "Win by Els is Bittersweet"; Bill Dwyre, Los Angeles Times, A new name in Masters lore; Jay Flemma, Cybergolf.com, "Triple Double at Winged Foot."

DAILY FEATURES - 1, Jason Sobel, GolfChannel.com, More to The Jungle Bird; 2, Lisa Mickey, New York Times, A path to opportunity; 3, Jeff Babineau, Golfweek.com, Good attitude a must at Open.

Honorable mention: Gary D'Amato, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel; Chuasiriporn left game behind; Ron Kroichick, San Francisco Chronicle, Rory's future is limited only by his drive; Jim McCabe, Golfweek.com, Euro teammates trust Poulter; Alan Tays, GolfChannel.com, Back on course after accident.

NON-DAILY COLUMNS - 1, Beth Ann Baldry, Golfweek, Creamer's tearful farewell to Pops; 2, Jim McCabe, Golfweek, Jack: Heart of a champion spans generations; 3, Ron Sirak, Golf World, Pepper's pardon. Honorable mention - Jeff Babineau, Golfweek, A band of believers; Alan Shipnuck, Sports Illustrated, Dufner is golf's coolest man; Alan Shipnuck, Sports Illustrated, Rory is not Tiger.

NON-DAILY NEWS - 1, Tim Rosaforte, Golf World, No rest for Rory; 2, Damon Hack, Sports Illustrated, Red Storm Rising; 3, Michael Bamberger, Sports Illustrated, Phil wins, Tiger loses at Pebble.

Honorable mention - Jim Moriarty, Golf World, Beach Party, Rory wins PGA; Jeff Rude, Golfweek, Duval returns to Lytham; Curt Sampson, Golf World, Collectibles, bidding for history; Alan Shipnuck, Sports Illustrated, Rory, globe-trotting star.

NON-DAILY FEATURES - 1, Jaime Diaz, Golf Digest, Billy Casper, Out of the darkness; 2, Gary VanSickle, Sports Illustrated, Education of Tom Watson; 3 (tie) Steve Rushin, Golf Digest, Bad to the Bone and Jeff Silverman, Golf World, Book worms.

Honorable mention - Jim Moriarty, Golf World, Upside-down world of Randy Simmons; Alan Shipnuck, Sports Illustrated, How Jhonny V made good; Stina Sternberg, Golf Digest, Christina Kim: Tears of a clown.

SPECIAL PROJECTS - 1, Alan Shipnuck, Sports Illustrated, Best Sunday ever; 2, Guy Yocom and John Huggan, Golf Digest, Rowdy Ryder Cup at Kiawah; 3, Gregg Dewalt, Times Daily, Revisiting Robert Trent Jones Trail.

Honorable mention: Mercer Baggs, Rex Hoggard, Randall Mell and Jason Sobel, GolfChannel.com, The year 1912 and how it changed the game; Peter Finch and Stina Sternberg, Golf Digest, How golf really treats women; Scott Michaux, Augusta Chronicle, Charl Schwartzel, rise of a natural.