Indiana Man to Receive Joe Dey Award


Joe Luigs of Carmel, Ind., has been selected as the recipient of the 2010 Joe Dey Award by the United States Golf Association. Presented annually since 1996, the Joe Dey Award recognizes meritorious service to the game as a volunteer. The 66-year-old Luigs will receive the honor Feb. 6 at the USGA's Annual Meeting in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C. The award is named after the late Joseph C. Dey Jr., who served as USGA executive director from 1934 to 1969 and was later the first commissioner of the PGA Tour.

The owner of an insurance agency, Luigs has been a USGA committee member since 1982, when he first was appointed to the Green Section Committee. In 1991, he was also appointed to the Sectional Affairs Committee, which became the Regional Affairs Committee in 2004. He has served in a volunteer capacity over the past 25 years at more than 80 national golf championships and assisted the USGA in conducting more than 70 local qualifying events for USGA championships.

"Joe's history of volunteerism and service to the game is inspiring," said USGA President Jim Vernon. "He has dedicated countless hours of his time promoting and supporting the game. Golf is most fortunate to have such an advocate. We congratulate Joe on being the recipient of the 2010 Joe Dey Award, an honor he has most certainly earned."

Luigs was the co-general chairman for the 2007 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship and the caddie chairman for the 1989 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, both of which were hosted by his home course, Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind. Luigs has worked in an official capacity for all six of the USGA championships that have been held at Crooked Stick, including the 2009 U.S. Senior Open, for which he served on the Rules Committee.

"It's quite an honor to be chosen from among the hundreds of men and women across the country who love golf and who might be deserving of this award," said Luigs. "Certainly, it's not something that I set out to pursue, but I'm very humbled by the gesture. All I've really done is help organize golf championships, and by now there have been quite a few of them, because I'm getting pretty old."

A former director of the Indiana Golf Association and trustee for the Evans Scholars Foundation, Luigs has traveled throughout his home state to promote or initiate caddie programs at various clubs. He was inducted into the Indiana Golf Hall of Fame in 2003.

Luigs' wife, Marcia, was a member of the USGA Women's Committee from 1990 to 2006 and was chairman of the committee in 2005 and 2006. She was the captain of the USA team for the 2008 Women's World Amateur Team Championship in Australia and, with Joe, has volunteered at many USGA competitions.

"We do work together," Joe explained last summer. "If it's her qualifier, she is the boss. If it's my qualifier, she is the boss. If it is a USGA national championship, the USGA is the boss."

Previous winners of the Joe Dey Award are: Charles N. Eckstein (1996); John Staver (1997); Joe King (1998); Frank Anglim (1999); Jack Emich (2000); Bill Dickey (2001); Clyde Luther (2002); John Hanna (2003); Adele Lebow (2004); Pearl Carey (2005); Dr. Bob Hooper (2006); Harry McCracken (2007); Gene McClure (2008); and Dick Rundle (2009).