LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. (Jan. 31, 2022) – Elevating outstanding examples of those who unite, showcase, govern and advance the game of golf, the United States Golf Association announces the recipients of its 2022 Annual Awards.

This year’s honorees are Ede Rice, the recipient of the Joe Dey Award, which recognizes meritorious service to the game as a volunteer; David Franklin “Frank” Dobie, the Green Section Award recipient, for introducing new technologies and processes that advance golf course management; and “A Matter of Course: The Life of William Herbert Fowler, 1856-1941, Golf Course Architect,” by Derek Markham, the winner of the Herbert Warren Wind Book Award, which recognizes and honors outstanding contributions to golf literature.

“We need more people in golf like Ede, Frank and Derek, who are ensuring that the game of golf is better for all of us 50 or 100 years from now,” said Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA. “Just as Fowler did a century ago, we can be inspired and learn from the past as we propel the game forward, and these awards are a shining light for all of us.”

The USGA recently announced that it would conduct its Annual Meeting in a virtual setting for the second year in a row, with the result that its in-person Annual Awards Dinner will move from February to its biggest stage in June during the week of the U.S. Open Championship, which will be played at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

Joe Dey Award - Ede Rice

Rice, of Edina, Minn., the first woman to serve on the Western Golf Association’s Board of Governors, has served as a leader, Rules official, mentor and active supporter of the game for more than 35 years. She has officiated at 39 USGA championships and countless other golf events at the local, state and national levels. An avid supporter of the Evans Scholar program who has served on numerous committees, she has inspired generations of golfers to give back to the game and to their communities.

Named for Joseph C. Dey Jr., the USGA’s executive director from 1934-1968 and the first commissioner of the PGA Tour, the Joe Dey Award has been presented annually since 1996.

USGA Green Section Award - Frank Dobie

The USGA Green Section Award honors distinguished service to golf through an individual’s work with turfgrass.

Dobie, of Sharon Center, Ohio, superintendent, senior agronomist and retired general manager of Sharon Golf Club, has passionately promoted turfgrass research, education and innovative course maintenance practices through his career. A mentor and friend to countless golf management workers over 60 years, he started working on golf courses at age 15 and went on to graduate from Penn State’s prestigious turfgrass management program. He would later dedicate himself to the stewardship of the Musser International Turfgrass Research Foundation, which honors top doctoral turfgrass students nationwide. Through hands-on trial and error, he co-developed over a dozen golf course innovations, including bunker liners that improve drainage and quality, air pumps on greens and automated irrigation systems. 

Herbert Warren Wind Book Award - Derek Markham

The Herbert Warren Wind Book Award acknowledges and encourages outstanding achievement in golf literature.

“A Matter of Course: The Life of William Herbert Fowler, 1856-1941, Golf Course Architect,” is a detailed biography of one of golf’s greatest pioneers of modern course architecture, who might also be one of the least known. Markham, a member at West Surrey Golf Club in the southeast of England, became interested in Fowler while writing a centennial book about his club, a Fowler design. The book reflects Markham’s commitment to scholarship through its extensive research into Fowler’s significant contributions, which include both courses at Walton Heath in his native England, as well as the design of the famed 18th hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links and many others.

In recognition of excellence in golf literature, Markham’s book will be added to the USGA Golf Museum and Library, the largest collection of golf books in the world, with more than 100,000 individual volumes and periodicals.

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For more information on the USGA’s annual awards, visit usga.org/awards.

About the USGA  
The USGA is a nonprofit organization that celebrates, serves and advances the game of golf. Founded in 1894, we conduct many of golf’s premier professional and amateur championships, including the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open. With The R&A, we govern the sport via a global set of playing, equipment, handicapping and amateur status rules. The USGA campus in Liberty Corner, New Jersey, is home to the Association’s Research and Test Center, where science and innovation are fueling a healthy and sustainable game for the future. The campus is also home to the USGA Golf Museum, where we honor the game by curating the world’s most comprehensive archive of golf artifacts. To learn more, visit usga.org.