George O’Grady Receives Christer Lindberg Bowl Award
George O’Grady, chief executive of the European Tour was presented with the PGAs of Europe’s Christer Lindberg Bowl, at the association’s Annual Awards Dinner at the Tivoli Marina Hotel, Vilamoura on Portugal’s sun-kissed Algarve coast.
Staged as the glittering finale to the PGAs of Europe’s annual week of highlights, including the 22nd Annual Congress and the International Team Championship (ITC) supported by Glenmuir, Associaçäo Turismo do Algarve, Ryder Cup European Development Trust and Rolex, the awards ceremonies were carried out in a gathering of players, delegates and industry representatives from up to 31 countries and across four continents.
Officials from the length and breadth of Europe and from the PGAs of America, Canada, Australia and South Africa were there to see France receive the ITC trophy, and prize money, and six other important awards presented.
In four decades of remarkable expansion the European Tour has had just three executive directors. The first one was the grandfather of all coaches and administrators John Jacobs, a Past President of the PGAs of Europe. The second was Ken Schofield, another Past President of the PGAs of Europe and currently a serving director.
He joined The European Tour in 1974 as a Tournament Administrator and subsequently Tournament Director. He was Chief Referee at The Ryder Cup at Royal Lytham and St Annes in 1977 and Staging Director for The Ryder Cup in 1981, 1985 and 1989.
In 1984 he launched the development of the Tour’s commercial arm with the formation of European Tour Enterprises, of which he was appointed Managing Director. In 1986, he was responsible for founding the Tour’s Benevolent Trust which distributes funds for worthy causes.
Together with Ken Schofield, he launched the European Seniors Tour with the first staging of the Senior British Open, and developed the Tour’s non-network television policy in 1987 in a joint venture with Trans World International. This policy became formalised with the creation in 1991 of European Tour Productions, the Tour’s television arm of which he is Joint Managing Director.
The presentation was performed by Ken Schofield who talked warmly and admiringly about his successors many outstanding attributes.
Other awards presented were:
JOHN JACOBS COACH OF THE YEAR: Michael Bannon, coach to Rory McIlroy.
FIVE STAR PROFESSIONAL: Michael Sorling, chief executive, the PGA of Sweden.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Severiano Ballesteros. (Posthumously to his brother Vicente)
GOLF DEVELOPMENT AWARD: The Open 2011 Legacy Development Project initiated by the English Golf Union.
RECOGNITION AWARD: Dennis Shaw, (Media) for 20 years of promoting and publicising PGA activities.
