ONTARIO GOLF HALL OF FAME MEMBER JOHN GORDON NAMED THE 2017 DICK GRIMM AWARD WINNER

MISSISSAUGA – The Golf Journalists Association of Canada (GJAC) announced Monday John Gordon is the 2017 recipient of the Dick Grimm Award at the GJAC Annual Writing and Photography Awards Dinner held this year at Mississaugua Golf and Country Club in conjunction with the RBC Canadian Open.

A committee of past GJAC presidents selected Gordon, who was inducted into the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame in 2016, as this year’s winner. He has innumerable journalist achievements to his name in a career that has spanned more than 30 years, which makes him so deserving of this honour.

Grimm, who passed away in 2014, was a true giant of the game in Canada, and in the world of golf. He was an energetic supporter of GJAC, and the association’s highest annual award is named after him.

“GJAC is thrilled to announce John Gordon as the recipient of this year’s Dick Grimm Award,” said Garry McKay, a past GJAC president and chair of the Dick Grimm Award committee. “Given John’s lengthy career in golf journalism, and his robust list of accomplishments, he was an ideal winner.”

After working as a reporter and editor for the Canadian Press, Gordon was hired as the managing editor of SCOREGolf Magazine, where he re-focused the magazine on strictly Canadian content and was instrumental in creating SCOREGolf TV.

In 1991, he was recruited by Golf Canada (then the Royal Canadian Golf Association) to establish its communications and member services departments. During his time with Golf Canada, he became the founding editor of Golf Canada Magazine.

Gordon spent some time as the Executive Director of the Ontario Golf Association, but turned his focus back to writing full-time and for more than 30 years his work has appeared in golf publications around the world, including the Toronto Sun and National Post – where he was a golf columnist – and for Rogers Sportsnet, where he was the on-air and online golf analyst. He most recently lent his expertise to the creation of an in-house communications department for ClubLink, re-launched the member magazine, and supervised a robust website build project before returning to golf writing once again. He now contributes to both Golf Canada’s website and Morning Read.

Gordon is also the author of eight books on golf, including four volumes of The Great Golf Courses of Canada.

As a winner of numerous awards for his writing including a National Newspaper Award for reporting, the George Knudson Award, three International Network of Golf writing awards, and after receiving recognition from the PGA of Canada for outstanding contributions to the development of the Canadian Tour, Gordon has seemingly done it all in the world of golf journalism in Canada.

He lives in Midland, Ont. with his wife Leslie, and has helped raise more than $300,000 via Mikey’s Tournament for Autism, which takes place annually in their hometown and supports a resource centre for families and children affected by the disease. He and his wife have three children, and Gordon recently became a grandfather for the first time.

$1,000 will be donated in Gordon’s name to Golf in Schools.

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