Here’s the complete list from the GJAC’s awards at Dundas Valley on Monday. Congrats to all the entrants:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 23, 2012
TORONTO—Golf Journalists Association of Canada announce winners of fourth annual writing/photography awards
From travel stories about “Sweet Home Alabama” to insightful editorials on golf’s most pressing issues, the best in Canadian golf writing and photography was showcased Monday night at Dundas Valley Golf & Curling Club.
The Golf Journalists Association of Canada (GJAC) held its annual awards banquet to recognize excellence in writing and photography. Each year, GJAC presents its awards in conjunction with the RBC Canadian Open, which this year takes place at Hamilton Golf & Country Club in Ancaster, Ont.
First, second and third place awards were handed out in the following writing categories: Feature/Profile, Travel, News, and Editorial. Three Landscape Photography winners were also awarded.
Bob Weeks, editor of ScoreGolf, won first prize in the Feature/Profile category for his in-depth analysis of what makes Sean Foley —Canadian golf instructor to some of the top PGA stars — tick.
Multiple winners included Grant Fraser, Rick Drennan, Rick Young and Robert Thompson.
Fraser won first place in the Travel category for his story: “Blazing a Golf Trail in Sweet Home Alabama.” The piece published in The Alabama Tourism 2011 Trail Guide chronicled Fraser’s discovery last autumn of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail. Fraser won third place in the same category for his piece on “The German Golf Empire,” published in Tee to Green. The founder of the Golf Management Institute of Canada added another first prize in the Landscape Photography category for a picture he took of Alberta’s Silvertip.
Drennan picked up a first place in the News category for his political piece on tax reform and the golf industry — “These Numbers Don’t Add Up.” The story, which appeared in the Mississauga Business Times, looks at the Canadian tax code and the issue of whether businesses can write off golf as a legitimate entertainment expense. Drennan also took the top prize in the Editorial category; his opinion piece on how the RCGA can become more profitable hooked the judges with this lead: “Jesse James was a pistol packin’ wacko, and a man of few words.”
Young, past president of GJAC, and columnist for ScoreGolf, Golf Canada, and The London Free Press, picked up a pair of writing awards. His editorial, “Pace of Play: Stupid is as Stupid Does,” that spoke out on the need to speed up play won second prize in the editorial category. Young added a third place prize for the story he co-wrote with Jason Logan in ScoreGolf “PGA Tour Rescues CAN Tour.”
Thompson added a pair of runner-up finishes: “The Great Whit” published in ScoreGolf, about Canadian golf architect Rod Whitman in the Feature/Profile category and his piece “Northern Exposure” from GolfWorld, won second prize in the News category.
Here is the complete list of winners and runners-up in the GJAC 2011 Writing and Photography awards:
Feature/Profile
FIRST
Writer: Bob Weeks
Story: The Real Story on Foley
Publication: ScoreGolf
SECOND
Writer: Robert Thompson
Story: The Great Whit
Publication: ScoreGolf
THIRD
Writer: Curtis Gillespie
Story: Eras of Excellence
Publication: ScoreGolf
TRAVEL
FIRST
Writer: Grant Fraser
Story: Sweet Home Alabama
Publication: Alabama Trail Guide
SECOND
Writer: Ted McIntyre
Story: Island Green (Cape Breton Island)
Publication: Ontario Golf
THIRD
Writer: Grant Fraser
Story: The German Golf Empire
Publication: Tee to Green
NEWS
FIRST:
Writer: Rick Drennan
Story: These Numbers Don’t Add Up
Publication: Mississauga Business Times
Second place:
Writer: Robert Thompson
Story: Northern Exposure
Publication: GolfWorld
Third place:
Writers: Rick Young/Jason Logan
Story: PGA Tour rescues CAN Tour
Publication: ScoreGolf
EDITORIAL
FIRST
Story: Golf Canada Can Cash In
Writer: Rick Drennan
Publication: Mississauga Business Times
SECOND
Story: Parting Shot: Pace of Play
Writer: Rick Young
Publication: Golf Canada
THIRD
Story: Let Bellyaching Begin
Writer: Ross MacDonald
Publication: Pro Shop
Photography contest
Golf Landscape
FIRST
Grant Fraser: Silver Tip (Alberta extravaganza)
SECOND
Bernard Brault
THIRD
Brent Long
About the Golf Journalists Association of Canada
The Golf Journalists Association of Canada’s mandate is to attain proper media facilities and improved working conditions at professional and amateur golf events across Canada. It also encourages and promotes golf journalism in Canada, recognizes outstanding contributions to golf and golf journalism in Canada and aims to add a sound, objective voice to the direction of golf in this country.
