(Left to Right): Jerry Tarde, Chairman and Editor in Chief, Golf Digest; George O’Grady, Chief Executive, The European Tour; David Williams, Chairman, The European Tour; Paul McGinley; Renton Laidlaw, Golf Channel commentator and President of the Association of Golf Writers; Wolfgang Scheffler, golf editor, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; and Derek Lawrenson, Golf Correspondent of The Daily Mail and Chairman of the Association of Golf Writers.
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 a ninth successive time 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.
Paul McGinley, Europe’s captain for The 2014 Ryder Cup match with the United States which takes place at The Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder, Perthshire, Scotland, on September 26-28, was among the guests which also included Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland.
In his speech O’Grady recalled how a meeting in the early 1990s with Arnold Palmer and cable-entrepreneur Joe Gibbs, whose friendship sparked the idea of The Golf Channel, led to one of the most enduring partnerships in golf with The European Tour and The Golf Channel having recently announced a new ten year agreement until the end of the 2024 season.
O’Grady also paid tribute to acclaimed Italian golf writer Maria Pia Gennaro, who sadly died on Sunday, and those members of the golf writing family who had passed away in the previous year including Ron Balicki, Golfweek senior writer, Frank Hannigan, a former newspaper columnist who became Executive Director of the USGA, and Bev Norwood, golf historian, writer and editor.
George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, welcomed Executives of The Golf Channel to The European Tour International Media Dinner: (Left to right) George O’Grady; David Williams, Chairman, The European Tour; Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBC Sports Group; Paul McGinley, The 2014 European Ryder Cup captain; Mike McCarley, President, The Golf Channel; Molly Solomon, Executive Producer and SVP Productions and Operations, The Golf Channel; Chris Murvin, SVP Business Affairs, The Golf Channel; and Tim Rosaforte, Senior Writer Golf World/Golf Digest, Insider Golf Channel/NBC.
