PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA | The USGA will present its highest honor, the Bob Jones Award, to Mike Keiser during U.S. Open week at Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh this June, the governing body announced during its annual meeting at Pinehurst Resort. Presented annually since 1955, the award recognizes those who personify the character, sportsmanship and respect for the game of its champion namesake.
“What inspires us about Mike is his love for what is pure and good about the game, his investment in golf that’s open to the public, his drive to promote recreational golf and the joy he feels when he plays – and those strong connections have never wavered,” said Mike Whan, CEO of the USGA. “We’re grateful for the example he’s set, which pushes the entire industry to think bigger.”
Keiser is the developer of Bandon Dunes on the Oregon coast. His company, Dream Golf, now includes Sand Valley in Wisconsin and numerous other course projects in development including Rodeo Dunes in Colorado. READ MORE
The USGA also made several announcements regarding future competitions at its annual meeting. The highlight was the news that Pine Valley Golf Club near Clementon, New Jersey, has been selected to host its third Walker Cup in 2044.
Pine Valley has previously hosted the 1936 and 1985 Walker Cups, and it is slated to host the 2034 Curtis Cup.
Meghan Stasi was reappointed to captain the 2026 U.S. Curtis Cup team. Stasi and her squad will seek to avenge the 2024 U.S. loss to Great Britain and Ireland at Sunningdale Golf Club in England. Stasi will once again vie against GB&I captain Catriona Matthew, who led her team to its first win in eight years at Sunningdale. The 2026 Curtis Cup will be played at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles.
USGA past president Stuart Francis and former executive committee member Kendra Graham were named the respective captains of the men’s and women’s teams representing the United States in the World Amateur Team Championships. These competitions will be played in back-to-back weeks in October at Tanah Merah Country Club in Singapore.
CEO Mike Whan provided assembled guests a “State of the Game & USGA” talk Saturday afternoon at Pinehurst Resort. His presentation, unscripted and supported only by a PowerPoint deck, was typical Whan: witty, self-deprecating, insightful, and informative.
He characterized golf as enjoying unprecedented momentum, citing participation data, and he suggested that the game has changed more for the better in the last five years than in the previous 50.
Likewise, he declared the USGA to be in great health, investing in numerous areas toward the betterment of the game.
In a moment of candor, Whan characterized governance as hard. “It takes courage,” he said.
No doubt he was referring to the equipment regulation part of his job. And in that regard, he delivered a full-throated defense of the regulators’ decision to roll back the golf ball beginning in 2028. Backed by a slide that showed that distance off the tee had increased by 40 yards over the past 40 years, Whan painted a dark picture of what the game at the elite level might look like if nothing was done to rein in distance.
He also spoke to the need to compromise on some distance-related issues, citing his own change of heart during the process. At one time, he said, he favored bifurcation of rules regarding the golf ball but changed his position to support the “one ball for all” position that is at the heart of the forthcoming rollback.
The USGA recognized David Jacobsen of Portland, Oregon, as the 2025 recipient of the Joe Dey Award in recognition of his exemplary service to the game and incredible impact in welcoming thousands to the sport through junior golf.
Named after Joe Dey, USGA executive director from 1934-69, the award honors the game’s most exceptional volunteers. Beyond his service to the Oregon Golf Association, Jacobsen has volunteered at the national level with the USGA for more than four decades.
“This honor came as a surprise and I am extremely grateful to the USGA for this incredible recognition,” said Jacobsen, the older brother of seven-time PGA Tour winner and longtime TV analyst Peter Jacobsen. “The wonderful game of golf is filled with thousands of volunteers at the local, state, regional and national level. To be among those recognized for my service – knowing Mr. Dey’s distinguished place in the game and the impact of previous recipients – is humbling.”
Jacobsen’s selfless commitment to giving back to the game can best be seen through the numerous youth initiatives he helped to establish in partnership with the OGA. They include the formation of the Jacobsen Youth Initiative and Erling Jacobsen Tour, as well as the launch of Oregon’s Youth on Course program, which helps offset costs of golf for young players as they learn the game. Jacobsen also co-created the OGA Tournament Assistance Group now comprising more than 200 individuals who embody his spirit of service to others. READ MORE
“The Prairie Raynor,” co-written by John Moran and former USGA executive Rand Jerris, was selected as the recipient of the USGA’s Herbert Warren Wind Award, recognizing the book as an outstanding work of golf literature. Through the authors’ storytelling, historic photos and original sketches, the book serves as the authoritative story on the course Seth Raynor built at Chicago Golf Club and his role in American golf course architecture.
“The Prairie Raynor” details Chicago Golf Club’s historic transformation – from its status as one of the USGA’s five founding clubs and host of eight national championships, its existential crisis in the wake of World War I, and its subsequent renaissance under Raynor’s masterful eye to its ultimate legacy as one of the nation’s most celebrated designs. READ MORE
While Fred Perpall serves out the final year of his three-year term as president of the USGA, Kevin Hammer has been appointed as president-elect – a position created by the USGA in 2019 to provide committee leadership succession and continuity.
Also elected to his second three-year term on the USGA Executive Committee, Hammer will continue to chair the Championship Committee while serving on the Governance, Nominating, Compensation and Leadership Development, and International Team Selection committees in 2025.
Hammer was a first-team AJGA All-American and played collegiate golf at the University of Florida. He served 10 years on the Florida State Golf Association Executive Committee, two of them as its president.
Jim Nugent