George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, welcomed almost 100 guests to the annual European Tour International Media Dinner on Tuesday evening held for an eighth successive year at the Augusta Country Club.
Members of the media from around the world including the United States and executives from The Golf Channel joined representatives of The European Tour at the dinner which is regarded as a firm fixture in the build-up to the Masters Tournament.
O’Grady welcomed a strong cast of internationally recognised golf writers including the highly respected Nuria Pastor who received a special award from the Association of Golf Writers to mark her retirement from La Vanguardia (Barcelona) for whom she is this week covering her 99th Major Championship.
In his speech O’Grady referenced the importance of the golf writers in shaping and enriching the game globally so making this such a special start to Masters week. O’Grady also spoke of how delighted The European Tour was, following the vision and leadership of The Golf Channel, to be entering in 2013 an historic new era in which NBC, one of the prime TV networks in the United States, will bring to a new audience live coverage of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open in conjunction with the already outstanding coverage on The Golf Channel.
The guests of honour included seven golf writers who between them have covered more than 800 Major Championships – they are pictured above: L-R: Derek Lawrenson, Golf Correspondent of The Daily Mail; Bill Elliott, Chairman of the Association of Golf Writers; Art Spander, freelance writer who is covering his 43rd consecutive Masters; Nuria Pastor, Golf Correspondent of La Vanguardia; George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour; Renton Laidlaw, Golf Channel commentator and President of the Association of Golf Writers; Jerry Tarde, Chairman and Editor in Chief of Golf Digest; and Jeff Rude, Senior Writer, Golfweek.
