USGA NEWS
Courtney Myhrum, of Pittsburgh, Pa., has become a fixture at USGA championships in the past two decades. (Darren Carroll/USGA)
Each year, the USGA presents the Ike Grainger Award to those individuals who have served the Association as a volunteer for 25 years. These dedicated men and women tirelessly give back to the game through a variety of roles. Many serve as Rules officials at USGA qualifiers/championships. Others assist in administrative roles. But they all have one common attribute: they love the game of golf.
Below is a list of Ike Grainger Award recipients for 2021 and 2022.
| NAME | HOMETOWN | VOLUNTEER BIO |
|---|---|---|
| Mack Clapp | Missoula, Montana | Well known for his Rules knowledge, Clapp was instrumental in bringing U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Girls' Junior qualifiers to The Los Angeles Country Club as well as played a role in the course being awarded the 2023 U.S. Open. He also annually assists in running local U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur qualifiers in his home state of Montana. |
| Sherry Corsello | Las Vegas, Nevada | Since 1994, Corsello has been active member in the Las Vegas golf community as a Rules official and golf administrator. She served two terms as president of the Women's Southern Nevada Golf Association and was a member of the Southern Nevada Golf Association board for six years. She is heavily involved as a Rules official at USGA qualifiers conducted in the Las Vegas area. |
| Chip Essig | Greenwood, Indiana | The son of 1957 U.S. Amateur Public Links champion Don Essig III, Don "Chip" Essig IV was literally born into the game. The owner of a family-operated golf management company, Essig served on the USGA's Public Golf Committee from 1998-2000 and the Amateur Public Links Championship Committee from 2000-15 before joining the Regional Affairs Committee in 2015. An expert Rules official and educator, Essig currently serves as the Chair of the PGA of America Rules Committee. |
| Robin Farran | Chandler, Arizona | Farran, a member of the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame, consistently works 100-plus days a year as a volunteer Rules official for state/regional/USGA events. He also has worked more than 100 USGA championships. An expert in the Rules, Farran currently is an instructor at the Professional Golf Career College. He is a mentor and resource for many up-and-coming Rules officials. |
| Ali Harivandi | Oakland, California | An environmental horticulturist who specialized in turf, soil and water for the University of California Cooperative Extension for 33 years, Dr. Harivandi served on the USGA's Turfgrass and Environment Committee and Green Section Research Committee. He is recognized nationally and internationally as an expert on recycled water use on golf courses and other landscape sites. |
| Michael E. Helmer | Short Hills, New Jersey | A partner in a New Jersey law firm, Helmer has provided valuable pro bono legal assistance to the USGA Museum & Library Committee in addition to sharing his expertise and passion for golf history. Helmer also is a volunteer with the New Jersey State Golf Association. |
| Don Hershfelt | Tupelo, Mississippi | The Ole Miss graduate has served on both the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship Committee and Regional Affairs Committee. He fell in love with the volunteer arm of the game when he served time as the Tournament Director for the Mississippi Golf Association. |
| Charles King | Koloa, Hawaii | King, whose wife Mary Bea served on the USGA Executive Committee and has been a longtime Rules official at USGA championships, served on the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association Board of Directors since its inception in 1998 until retiring in 2020. His support of the organization has been instrumental in the development of a bevy of junior golfers, including 2014 U.S. Women's Open champion Michelle Wie. |
| J. Frank Kinsel | Fort Worth, Texas | A career attorney, Kinsel has served as the Official in Charge of USGA championship qualifying in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for 25 years. Kinsel also has served as a Rules official at many USGA championships, including the U.S. Open. |
| Bob Klug | Pinehurst, N.C. | Klug, an accomplished player who has qualified for U.S. Senior Amateur and won numerous club championships at The Country Club of North Carolina and Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, is a lifetime board member of The First Tee. As a member of the USGA Regional Affairs Committee since 1998, Klug has been an extraordinary asset to the USGA and Carolinas Golf Association. |
| Debby Light | Mattaponi, Virginia | For the past 25 years, Light has played a pivotal role on the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship Committee. She also has served as president of the Women's Eastern Golf Association and founded a program called Women Golfers Give Back, which has supported young players in the Philadelphia area since 2005. |
| Bryan Lewis | Pinehurst, N.C. | If you competed in a USGA championship, chances are you ran into Lewis. The Michigan native who has worked at more than 70 USGA championships, including the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur. He qualified for the 1980 U.S. Junior Amateur and served on the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship Committee for 23 years. |
| James E. Magette | Littleton, Colorado | The past president of the Colorado Golf Association served on the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship Committee, and has officiated at many USGA Open and amateur competitions. Before he retired, Magette was a commercial airlines pilot. |
| Pat McKamey | Tulsa, Oklahoma | Past president of both the Women's Oklahoma Golf Association and Women's Southern Golf Association, McKamey served on the USGA's Women's Committee and U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship Committee. As a Rules official, she worked eight U.S. Women's Opens and a Curtis Cup Match. |
| J. Michael Millen | Ivy, Virginia | Millen has done almost everything for golf in Virginia and Mid-Atlantic region, whether that be playing or volunteering. On the adminstrative front, he served as president of the Virginia State Golf Association and Mid-Atlantic Golf Association. Millen received the VSGA President's Award and MAPGA David Wortman Citizen of the Year Award for his volunteerism. |
| Courtney Myhrum | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | A current member of the USGA's Executive Committee, Myrhum also served as chairman of the USGA Women's Committee. You'll often find Myrhum behind a microphone announcing competitors at the first or 10th tee at USGA championships. An accomplished player, Myrhum has qualified for 14 USGA events. |
| David Nelson | Littleton, Colorado | An accomplished player, Nelson currently serves as the director at Hole-in-One USA, a world leader in hole-in-one insurance. Nelson has competed in 30-plus USGA championships, including the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. |
| Dot Paluck | Bernardsville, N.J. | Paluck has been volunteering in the game since 1980 when the U.S. Open was conducted at her home club, Baltusrol Golf Club. In 1990, she also volunteered at the Curtis Cup Match at Somerset Hills Golf Club, where she also is a member. Paluck spent many years on the USGA Women's Committee, where she eventually chaired the group. She also is past president of the Women's Metropolitan Golf Association and an expert course rater with the New Jersey State Golf Association. |
| Laura Saf | Lincoln, Nebraska | Saf, who passed away from COVID-19 in December, was a longtime member of the USGA Women's Committee who served as a Rules official at numerous USGA championships. She first served the USGA as the general chair of the 1996 U.S. Women's Amateur that was held at her home club, Firethorn Golf Club in Lincoln. She worked 16 U.S. Women's Opens, two U.S. Opens, one U.S. Senior Open and 11 U.S. Women's Amateurs as a Rules official. She was the first female board member at the Nebraska Golf Association and a director of the Women's Trans-National Golf Association. |
| Jeff Thurman | Highland, Utah | Thurman has served as the Executive Director of the Utah Junior Golf Association for the past 26 years. His passion for junior golf development carried over to his 25 years on the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship Committee. His daughter, Annie Thurman-Young, won the 2002 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship and was a member of the 2004 USA Curtis Cup Team. |
| John Wagner | Goodyear, Arizona | Before moving to Arizona last year, Wagner was a longtime volunteer with the Washington State Golf Association and the Pacific Northwest Golf Association, serving a three-year term as president of the WSGA. He also has been a passionate volunteer for the Western Golf Association's Evans Scholarship Program, creating the Evans Cup in 1992, an annual fundraiser for the program. |
| Patti Wildman | Concord, New Hampshire | A past president of the New Hampshire Women's Golf Association and past president of the New England Women's Golf Association, Wildman served as a Rules official at many USGA championships. She also was a member of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship Committee and most recently, the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship Commitee. She currently serves on the board of the New Hampshire Golf Association. |
| Richard C. Wight III | Virginia Beach, Va. | Wight has served on the USGA Rules Committee and worked numerous USGA championships, including the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Junior and the now-retired U.S. Amateur Public Links. He also has used his Rules experience to officiate at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship and NCAA East Regionals. |
| W. Richard Wilson | Columbus, Ga. | Wilson, a former football player at the University of Georgia, began volunteering in golf with the Georgia State Golf Association in 1987, and has helped to conduct more than 200 championships, including every U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier in Georgia. He has not missed a U.S. Junior Amateur since being appointed to the committee in 1998. Wilson served as president of the GSGA from 2002-04. He also serves on the Rules Committees for numerous amateur events such as the Jones Cup, Augusta National Women's Amateur and Southeastern Amateur. |
| Guy Yamamoto | Waipahu, Hawaii | Since winning the 1994 U.S. Amateur Public Links, Yamamoto has been involved with the administrative side of the game. He currently serves as the general manager at Royal Hawaiian Golf Club in Kailua. His perspective as a golf facility manager has been of great value to his service as a USGA volunteer. |