John Reginald “Reg” Murphy, a former editor and publisher at some of the nation’s most distinguished newspapers who served as USGA president, died recently in St. Simons Island, Georgia. He was 90.
Murphy was the editorial page editor of The Atlanta Constitution when he made headlines on Feb. 20, 1974, by being kidnapped and held for two days. The abductor, William A.H. Williams, 33, of Lilburn, Georgia, took Murphy, who was well known for his anti-Vietnam War stance, at gunpoint and demanded a $700,000 ransom. The money was paid by the Atlanta newspaper, and Murphy was released. Hours later, Williams was arrested, ultimately convicted and served nine years of a 40-year sentence.
Murphy later became the editor and publisher of the San Francisco Examiner and then publisher/CEO of the Baltimore Sun. Last year, his alma mater, Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, named its journalism school after Murphy.
Murphy’s tenure as the USGA’s 54th president, in 1994-95, coincided with the association’s centennial and featured the start of a 20-year broadcast-rights deal with NBC in a break from ABC. In 2016, his wife, Diana Murphy, became the USGA’s 64th president, making the Murphys the only husband-wife duo to have served in the association’s top volunteer position. READ MORE
It’s a classic and unfortunate case of unintended consequences, and Global Golf Post saw it coming.
As part of a settlement in the $2.78 billion House v. NCAA federal lawsuit, which paves the way for direct compensation to NCAA Division I athletes via a new revenue-sharing model, revised roster limits will be set across all sports. According to a report by Brentley Romine on GolfChannel.com, those limits – nine players in men’s golf – have forced some coaches to renege on promised roster spots for recruits.
In the November 11 issue of GGP, those agonizing decisions were predicted in the five-story cover package “Amateurs cash in,” notably in the sidebar by Everett Munez headlined “Money drives changes in men’s college game.”
In interviews with Golf Channel’s Romine, one coach called his quandary “heartbreaking,” and another said it was the “worst week of my coaching career.” READ MORE
TAP-INS
The back nine at Asheville (North Carolina) Municipal Golf Course, ravaged by floodwaters from the remnants of Hurricane Helene on September 27, has reopened for play. Repairs to the course will cost an estimated $7 million, and no timeline has been established, according to city official Chris Corl, whose department oversees operations at the course, in an interview with the Asheville Citizen Times’ Sarah Honosky. At least 232 in six Southeast states, including 117 in North Carolina, were killed in the storm. Asheville Municipal, a 1927 Donald Ross design which was wrapping up a multimillion-dollar capital-improvement project before the storm washed away those efforts, was the first public golf course in North Carolina and heralded as the first course in the Southeast to racially integrate. READ MORE
Golf course diplomacy could be a key feature of the next presidential administration. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol “got out his golf clubs for the first time in eight years and resumed his golf practice” in anticipation of a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, NBC News reported. South Korea, which sends 16 percent of its exports to the U.S., faces uncertainty with Trump’s stated goal of imposing double-digit tariffs on imports. READ MORE
Seth Waugh, who recently retired as CEO of the PGA of America, will serve as the honorary chairman of the Nation’s Capital Project at the National Links Trust. The campaign will focus on rehabilitating three municipal courses in Washington, D.C.: Rock Creek Park Golf, Langston Golf Course and East Potomac Golf Links. The National Links Trust is a nonprofit that advocates for affordable and accessible municipal golf in the U.S. READ MORE
Blades Brown and Gianna Clemente were named the American Junior Golf Association’s respective boys’ and girls’ players of the year. Brown, of Nashville, Tennessee, and Clemente, of Estero, Florida, topped the AJGA’s 2024 all-America teams, which recognized 48 boys and 48 girls ages 13-19. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon
