GOLF ASSOCIATION OF PHILADELPHIA AMMERMAN WINS ARNOLD PALMER AWARD By Joe Logan hen Dan Burton phoned Craig Ammerman to inform him he had been selected to receive the Arnold Palmer Lifetime Service Award, his response was not what Burton expected: Silence. “He was speechless,” recalled Burton, president of the Golf Association of Philadelphia. “He had no idea this was coming. And I’ve got to tell you, we were both very emotional.” Ammerman becomes only the sixth winner of the Palmer Award. William C. Campbell, Judy Bell, both former presidents of the USGA, and Sir Michael Bonallack, former secretary of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of Scotland, were the initial winners in 1997. In 2001, they were joined by two local men of distinction, O. Gordon Brewer, Jr., former USGA Executive Committee member, and Jim Sykes, who was exec-utive director of the Association for 25 years. For Ammerman, 60, of Cherry Hill, N.J., who was president of the Golf Association of Philadelphia from 2000-02 and served as a mem-ber of the U.S. Golf Association’s ruling Executive Committee from 2002-07, the Palmer Award couldn’t be more fitting or meaningful. Not only is it the highest honor bestowed by the GAP, it is named for a man Ammerman idolized as a kid and came to know personally and admire as an adult. When Ammerman finally met Palmer, in 1997, he discovered that there was a rich and famous ath-lete who actually lived up to his generous image. It was the night of the Association’s Centennial Gala, where Palmer was to be the keynote speaker, and it was Ammerman’s duty, as chairman of the Centennial Committee, to host the living legend for the evening. As Ammerman introduced Palmer around the room that night, he was struck by the number of people who approached with some vari-ation of the same opening line: “Arnie, you probably don’t remember me but we met in 1968 as you were walking off the 13th green at ...” Clearly, Palmer had no idea who most of these people were, but you never would have known it from his responses. “Arnold would put his hand on their shoulder and say, ‘Nice to see you again. How’ve you been?’” said Ammerman, marveling at the very quality that has made Palmer one of the most beloved figures in W sports. “He sure knows how to make people feel good.” The respect and affection Ammerman feels for Palmer is not unlike the trail of good-will that marks his own life and career. Whether it was at the old Philadelphia Bulletin , which he ran at the ridiculously USGA Executive Director David Fay (right) attended the Association’s Annual Meeting in which Craig Ammerman was awarded the Arnold Palmer Award. young age of 31, or the GAP or USGA, the word on Ammerman is always the same: smart as a whip, works hard as a mule, loyal as a dog, volunteers for everything, talks more than a teenage girl on her cell phone and full of stories and tales from the front lines of golf. “I didn’t know Craig from the man on the moon when he came onto the [USGA] Executive Committee,” said Jim Reinhart, a Milwaukee financial adviser who would become one of Ammerman’s best friends on the USGA’s 15-member board. During Ammerman’s first USGA Executive Committee meeting in 2002, in Colorado Springs, Colo., Reinhart said he couldn’t help but notice that this newcomer had an opinion and running commentary on every item on the agenda – and he wasn’t shy about speaking up. VISIT THE GOLF ASSOCIATION OF PHILADELPHIA WEB SITE AT WWW.GAPGOLF.ORG FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS AND NOTES 6
GAP Magazine 2008 Winter: Page 6
