David Fay joins Golf Digest as a columnist

Golf Digest made the following announcement on Monday:

New York, NY -- Golf Digest has signed on former USGA Executive Director David Fay as a monthly columnist beginning in the April 2011 issue.

"David Fay has one of the brightest minds in sport, as his friends in golf have known for 30 years," said Golf Digest Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Jerry Tarde. "He's incisive, witty and opinionated. He understands the game at the highest level from the perch of the U.S. Open -- and the lowest level as a passionate golfer with a bag full of hybrids. He has participated in every major decision and event in golf for the last generation. And he brings to all this a democratizing sense of inclusion. It was no accident he's known as the man who took the Open public. This kind of refreshing attitude and insight is what he'll share with readers. In other words, don't be fooled by the bowtie."

Until December 31, 2010, Fay worked at the USGA for 32 years -- the last 21 as its executive director. His legacy as the association's sixth executive director includes not only his involvement with getting golf back into the Olympics, but bringing the USGA's marquee event, the U.S. Open, to true public courses (Bethpage in 2002 and 2009, Torrey Pines in 2008, Chambers Bay in 2015 and Erin Hills in 2017).

Fay, who started his career as a caddie, is a graduate of Colgate University, where he majored in English and political science and was a member of the varsity golf team. He was employed as communications director at the Metropolitan (N.Y.) Golf Association from 1976 to 1978 and was the recipient of the MGA's Distinguished Service Award for 2009.