GGCSAA SELECTS NEWTON, MORRIS AS RECIPIENTS OF ASSOCIATION’S Pinnacle Awards for 2023

The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) has selected the recipients of the association’s two highest honors for 2023 — the Col. John Morley Award, which goes to superintendent members, and the Old Tom Morris Award, which goes to golf dignitaries.

advancement of the golf course superintendent's profession. The contribution must be significant in both substance and duration.

Newton, a 40-year GCSAA member, had a storied career in golf course management in the state of Iowa. A proud graduate of Iowa State University, Newton spent more than three decades overseeing maintenance at the university’s golf course, Veenker Memorial, and became a tremendous supporter of Iowa State’s turfgrass programs, ensuring Veenker served as a living lab for ISU horticulture students.

During Newton’s tenure, he worked with countless ISU turfgrass students pursuing careers in the industry, operating the golf course with mostly student labor and only a few full-time team members. The number of golf industry careers Newton influenced, from superintendents to researchers, is well over 100, but the number of people whose lives he impacted throughout his career is near 2,000.

“It’s a big deal to me,” Newton said of winning the Col. John Morley Award. “I’m very humbled by it, and I’m still overwhelmed by it.”

Crenshaw’s Ozark National; and Payne’s Valley, a Tiger Woods design — brought worldwide acclaim and, for five years, professional golf in the form of the PGA Tour Champions’ Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf to the Ozark Mountains.

John Newton, CGCS Retired, who served as superintendent of Veenker Memorial Golf Course at Iowa State University for 33 years, has been selected to receive Col. John Morley Award, while Johnny Morris, founder of Big Cedar Lodge and its five golf courses, has been named the recipient of the Old Tom Morris Award. Both will be honored at the 2023 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in Orlando, Fla.

These two awards are GCSAA’s Pinnacle Awards, the highest awards bestowed by the association. While the Old Tom Morris Award is granted to those outside the GCSAA membership who have helped mold the welfare of the game, the Col. John Morley Award is presented annually to an individual who is, or has been, a GCSAA Class A or B superintendent member and has made a significant contribution to the

GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans said, “Throughout his career and beyond, John has exemplified the characteristics that the Morley Award represents. His passion for the turfgrass management profession, successful track record of mentoring the next generation of superintendents, and consistent delivery of outstanding golf course conditions perfectly aligns with the spirit and criteria of this pinnacle GCSAA award.”

Morris, who founded Bass Pro Shops, is a conservationist who created Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Mo., as a destination for families and friends to connect in the great outdoors. He has used golf as a catalyst to get people out to enjoy nature, and the resort’s five golf courses — the Jack Nicklaus-designed Top of the Rock; Buffalo Ridge, designed by Tom Fazio; Mountain Top, a 13-hole, Gary Player design; Bill Coore and Ben

The 4,600-acre Big Cedar Lodge property also includes Arnie’s Barn, a 150-year-old barn relocated from Arnold Palmer’s backyard in Latrobe, Pa., and a Tom Watson-designed putting course at Mountain Top. Palmer (1983), Watson (1992), Fazio (1996), Crenshaw (1997), Nicklaus (2005) and Player (2020) are all previous Old Tom Morris Award recipients.

“On behalf of the Big Cedar Golf team, I am honored to accept this wonderful award,” Morris said. “We are proud of the reception our nature golf experience has received by golfers from across six continents who have come to play with us. Our golf courses are a wonderful way to bring friends and families closer to nature and to each other.”

For more information on GCSAA’s annual awards, go to https://www.gcsaa.org/aboutgcsaa/awards.