Jim Colbert in 2005
Allan Campbell, PGA
Although Jim Colbert won eight times on the PGA Tour between the late 1960s and early ’80s, he made a greater name for himself with his later PGA Tour Champions success. Meanwhile, Lou Graham made a mark as a fierce U.S. Open competitor in the ’70s, winning the 1975 championship and posting two other top-three finishes.
Lou Graham after winning the 1975 U.S. Open
USGA Museum & Library
Colbert, recognizable for his ever-present bucket hat, died May 10 at age 85, while Graham passed away last Monday at 88.
After turning 50 in 1991, Colbert won 20 PGA Tour Champions titles, including one senior major, the 1993 Ford Senior Players Championship. A New Jersey native, he attended Kansas State University on a football scholarship but turned to golf after an injury extinguished his gridiron dreams. In addition to his playing success, Colbert spent time as an ESPN broadcaster and golf course owner and designer.
A Nashville, Tennessee, native who played golf at Memphis State University, Graham captured the 1975 U.S. Open at Medinah, rallying from 11 strokes back after 36 holes before defeating John Mahaffey by two strokes in an 18-hole playoff. He won five other PGA Tour titles, including three in an 11-week span in 1979, and was a member of three U.S. Ryder Cup teams (1973, ’75, ’77). READ MORE
U.S. Department of the Interior secretary Doug Burgum shared a rendering of the planned Fazio Design renovation of East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C., via social media last Thursday.
“Like iconic public courses of Bethpage Black [and] Torrey Pines, East Potomac will offer locals … championship-quality golf at affordable, highly discounted rates,” Burgum wrote in his post.
The rendering portrayed an 18-hole layout with four sets of tees ranging from 5,740 yards to 7,660 yards, along with a practice range and nine-hole par-3 course. The release followed the announcement six days earlier of a Trump administration deal to renovate and restore East Potomac and two other public courses in the nation’s capital – Langston Golf Course and Rock Creek Park Golf – in partnership with the National Links Trust and other stakeholders.
The administration’s actions at East Potomac, which prompted the D.C. Preservation League and two local residents to file a lawsuit seeking to block its plans, continue to face stiff opposition. “The [local] community that uses this place every day was never consulted,” the advocacy group Save East Po posted on X. “Not once. That alone should disqualify any design from moving forward on public land.” READ MORE
Tap-Ins
Jackson Koivun, an Auburn University junior and the world’s No. 1 ranked amateur, was named one of three finalists for the 2026 Ben Hogan Award honoring college golf’s top player, along with Oklahoma State’s Preston Stout and Virginia’s Ben James. READ MORE
The world’s top five female amateurs – Kiara Romero, Paula Martin Sampedro, Andrea Revuelta, Farah O’Keefe and María José Marín – are among 10 finalists for the 2026 Annika Award, honoring the player of the year in women’s college golf. READ MORE
CBS announcer Jim Nantz was named the recipient of the 2026 American Society of Golf Course Architects’ Donald Ross Award, which recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to the game of golf and the profession of golf course architecture. Nantz will receive the award during the ASGCA annual meeting in October. READ MORE
The USGA will offer more than $1.1 million in financial assistance to promising junior golfers in 2026 through U.S. National Development Program grants, it announced last Tuesday. The grants will support 124 athletes representing 32 states and ranging in age from 13 to 18. READ MORE
Compiled by Mike Cullity
