(March 3, 2025) — A season of triumph and tragedy was highlighted in the Golf Writers Association of America’s 2025 Writing Contest, with some familiar names claiming the top prizes.
Joel Beall of Golf Digest won two first-place awards to lead the honorees as his magazine and website racked up 10 total honors, featured by three first-place titles. Michael Bamberger of Golf.com and Golf Magazine claimed a first place as his outlet also grabbed 10 overall mentions.
Beall won top honors in the Long Profile category for “The Misunderstood Life of Grayson Murray” and in Enterprise for “Why is Tony Finau being sued?”
One judge praised Beall’s profile of the late Murray, a 30-year-old two-time PGA Tour winner who took his life last spring, for “deftly” exploring mental-health issues.
With the two top prizes, Beall has won six first-place GWAA honors in his career. Two years ago, he also won two top awards.
Bamberger also was recognized for his work in the wake of Murray’s tragic death, winning first place in the Commentary/Analysis category for the piece “Grayson Murray’s life touched many. So, too, has his death.”
Bamberger, a regular among the GWAA’s annual award winners, also added a runner-up in the Short Feature category. He has won 10 first-place career honors. This was the second consecutive year in which he claimed first-place and runner-up awards.
Among the other first-place winners, GolfChannel.com’s Ryan Lavner was recognized in the News/Game Story category for his deadline work on Bryson DeChambeau’s major-championship victory over Rory McIlroy at Pinehurst Resort. It was the fourth time he’s earned a first-place nod. One judge remarked of “Bryson’s star is reborn”: “This story does an excellent job of capturing Bryson DeChambeau’s many emotions—pre, during, and post—of his U.S. Open victory.” Lavner also collected a third-place in the Long Profile category.
Mike Stachura of Golf Digest ventured beyond France’s Le Golf National for a post-Olympics profile of Golf de Morfontaine that won top honors in the Short Features category. With Beall’s two top awards, Stachura’s honor for “Le Golf National is a success, but another Paris course is quiet” gave Golf Digest its contest-leading third No. 1 result among the seven categories.
In the Short Profile division, Golfweek’s Adam Schupak chronicled instructor Billy Harmon’s inspirational comeback from alcoholism in a winning entry. One judge praised “Harmon’s full-circle road to the Champions Tour,” saying that it “told a complete redemption story that was well-sourced and easy to read. I wanted to keep reading.”
And in the Long Feature category, Alan Bastable joined colleague Bamberger among Golf.com’s top winners with the story of a Masters patron’s fortuitous escape from near-tragedy in “Augusta’s trees were coming for her.”
The GWAA Writing Contest winners will be recognized at the 51st annual ISPS Handa GWAA Awards Dinner on Wednesday, April 9, at the Columbia County Performing Arts Center in Evans, Ga., on the eve of the 89th Masters Tournament. Other honorees will include players of the year Scottie Scheffler (men), Nelly Korda (women) and Ernie Els (senior). The PGA of America also will recognize Lewine Mair with the association’s Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award and Fred Vuich with the Lifetime Achievement in Photography Award.
GWAA members submitted a total of 287 entries in the seven categories: commentary (52), enterprise (19), long feature (40), long profile (27), news-game story (52), short feature (50), short profile (47).
The complete list of winners follows. (Note: honorable mentions were not awarded for News/Game Story and Long Feature categories):
NEWS/GAME STORY
1. Ryan Lavner, GolfChannel.com, “Bryson’s star is reborn,” June 17
2. Gary D’Amato, Wisconsin.golf, “Erin Hills visionary has another dream,” Dec. 2
3. Luke Kerr-Dineen, GolfDigest.com, “The state-of-the-art technology Bryson uses, explained,” May 29
SHORT FEATURE
1. Mike Stachura, GolfDigest.com, “Le Golf National is a success, but another Paris course is quiet,” Aug. 6
2. Michael Bamberger, Golf.com, “Waiting for Verne one last time,” April 15
3. Sam Weinman, GolfDigest.com, “Murray’s death pushes hard conversations,” May 30
HONORABLE MENTION: Mike McAllister, LIVGolf.com, “In cancer battle, Schwartzels have a friend in Phil”; Joel Beall, GolfDigest.com, “On playing through Maui’s deadly tragedy.”
SHORT PROFILE
1. Adam Schupak, Golfweek.com, “Harmon’s full-circle road to the Champions Tour,” June 27
T-2. Jerry Tarde, Golf Digest, “Why golfers climb mountains,” December
T-2. Alex Myers, GolfDigest.com, “How golf helped a war reporter recover,” July 2
HONORABLE MENTION: James Colgan, Golf.com, “How Rich Lerner became real-time author of Golf TV”; Josh Berhow, Golf.com, “How Ugandan long-shot made U.S. Amateur history.”
LONG PROFILE
1. Joel Beall, GolfDigest.com, “The Misunderstood life of Grayson Murray,” Nov. 26
2. Michael Bamberger, Golf.com, “His death on a golf course was inexplicable,” Dec. 28
3. Ryan Lavner, GolfChannel.com, “For Trazzy,” May 13
HONORABLE MENTION: Gabrielle Herzig, The Athletic, “Bryson’s caddie processes a tragedy”; Nick Piastowski, Golf.com, “Block gets honest about whirlwind year.”
ENTERPRISE
1. Joel Beall, GolfDigest.com, “Why is Tony Finau being sued?” Sept. 30
2. Luke Kerr-Dineen, GolfDigest.com, “I analyzed 1,353 shots from Scheffler’s historic streak,” May 14
3. Gary Van Sickle, Memorial Tournament Magazine, “Rollback rolls on,” June
HONORABLE MENTION: Nick Piastowski, Golf.com, “This desperate golfer was ready to quit”
LONG FEATURE
1. Alan Bastable, Golf.com, “Augusta’s trees were coming for her,” April 5
2. James Colgan, Golf.com, “Golf’s post-money generation is here, and they’re terrifying,” May 26
3. Beth Ann Nichols, Golfweek.com, “Transgender on Davidson’s win: ‘I don’t think it’s fair’,” Feb. 2
COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS
1. Michael Bamberger, Golf.com, “Grayson Murray’s life touched many. So, too, has his death,” May 28
T-2. James Colgan, Golf.com, “The real sin of $750 Ryder Cup tickets isn’t the price,” Oct. 17
T-2. Keely Levins, GolfDigest.com, “Cringeworthy viral video showcases problem for women golfers,” Feb 27
HONORABLE MENTION: Tom Coyne, The Golfers Journal, “Requiem for a score:” Gary Van Sickle, SI.com, “Even at the Masters, time marches on”
ABOUT THE GWAA The Golf Writers Association of America, founded in 1946, is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit members organization, and the only American organization dedicated to the promotion and continued improvement of golf journalism. The GWAA includes members across all disciplines and career levels and is dedicated to helping members advance careers, build connections and celebrate our ever-changing industry.
For more information, contact GWAA secretary Steve Harmon at secretary@gwaa.com or 407-920-1194.