CHARLESTON, S.C. – The National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) is pleased to announce eight-time major champion, World Golf Hall of Fame Inductee, and founder of Watson Links Tom Watson as the recipient of its 2025 Award of Merit, the organization’s most prestigious award, which recognizes long-term and significant contributions to the game of golf.
Watson will accept the award and then sit down with NGCOA CEO Jay Karen for a conversation and audience Q&A during the NGCOA’s Golf Business Conference 2025 Closing Luncheon.
Watson’s record includes eight major championships, 39 total wins on the PGA Tour and five PGA Tour money titles – but it is his personal characteristics that endear him to fans and fellow golfers alike. He has raised vast amounts of funding for medical research and children’s hospitals and inspired his peers to do the same.
Throughout his career Watson has been committed to giving back to the sport, particularly focusing on the next generation of golfers, most recently through Watson Links, his youth golf mentoring initiative. He has also provided ongoing support to First Tee and Youth on Course, and designed and created a junior golf course in Kansas City. Watson’s work on and off the course demonstrates the powerful vehicle golf can be for personal development and community engagement.
“Fifty years ago this year, Tom bursted on the scene with his win at the Western Open, and he’s been impacting the game on a global scale ever since,” said Jay Karen, NGCOA CEO. “The nation’s golf course owners and operators wish to recognize and thank Tom for his contributions to our sport and business. Fandom for great stars like Tom translates into masses playing the game. And playing the game is what fuels our great industry.”
“Giving back to the game that I love is my passion,” Watson said. “Young people deserve access to the golf community and the many life-long benefits golf offers. That’s what Watson Links is all about: driving on-course opportunities and relationships through mentoring. I believe that if we can help develop the next generation of golfers, it will benefit the industry as whole as well as each young person who becomes a lifelong player.
“I appreciate the owners and operators of our nation’s golf courses who support these types of initiatives and I look forward to seeing them at NGCOA’s Golf Business Conference.”
The Closing Luncheon and Q&A on Jan. 22 is included in a Golf Business Conference 2025 full conference pass; learn more and register for GBC25 at golfbusinessconference.com.
