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Se Ri Pak is named the 2020 recipient of the Bob Jones Award by the USGA
Chung Sung-Jun
Se Ri Pak was responsible for inspiring a generation of Korean golfers who have become a dominant force on the LPGA and she did so cheerfully and humbly, for which she has been named the 2020 recipient of the Bob Jones Award by the United States Golf Association.
Pak, 42 and now retired, was 20 and an LPGA rookie when she won the McDonald’s LPGA Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open. She went on to win 25 times on the LPGA, five of them major championships, and in 2007 was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
The Bob Jones Award “recognizes an individual who demonstrates the spirit, personal character and respect for the game exhibited by Jones,” the USGA said.
Pak will receive the award during the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in June.
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Meanwhile, Lon Haskew will receive the Joe Dey Award recognizing “an individual’s meritorious service to the game as a volunteer. Haskew, a USGA committee member since 1993, has been a volunteer rules official at state, regional, national and international events, including more than 100 USGA championships.
Dr. William Meyer, a professor at Rutgers University, is the USGA Green Section Award honoree for “distinguished service to golf through an individual’s work with turfgrass.” Meyer’s impact was via turfgrass breeding, developing grasses resistant to adverse factors.
Kevin Robbins’ book, “The Last Stand of Payne Stewart,” earned the Herbert Warren Wind Book Award that “acknowledges and encourages outstanding achievement in golf literature." It was the second time Robbins won the award; his book, “Harvey Penick: The Life and Wisdom of the Man who Wrote the Book on Golf,” earned the award in 2016.