by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
The journalist who covers more golf tournaments than anyone else lives in Jacksonville but it’s doubtful that you’ve read one of his stories.
Doug Ferguson of The Associated Press is more than the nation’s most prominent golf writer: he carries the profession’s most respected elective position as the president of the Golf Writers Association of America.
That’s responsibility on top of his big work responsibilities.
“I get to about 26 events a year,” said Ferguson, a stocky man in his 40s. “I’m on the go a lot.”
Even though he’s technically part of the local AP office in the Times-Union building on Riverside Avenue, he rarely has to cover anything local other than The Players Championship.
“I see his desk all the time,” said bureau chief Ron Word, “but I rarely see him.”
The Associated Press is the international wire service owned by the newspapers which subscribe to its services. Virtually every daily newspaper subscribes — since the demise of United Press International, there are no major competitors — and it’s hard to imagine a newspaper edition without a far-off dateline followed by the wire service designation: BAGHDAD (AP) —
Because few newspapers cover PGA Tour events outside their home area, Ferguson’s reports appear almost everywhere. An irony is that few of his subjects, the Tour players, get to read his daily reports because hometown papers send their own staff members.
The players know him, of course, as he’s the primary link to the fans. He’s on a first-name basis with all, and anyone with a need to publicize their golf product will seek him out.
During The Players, he’s tapping out stories continually but you won’t read them. The Florida Times-Union has a half-dozen writers at The Players and there’s no need for Ferguson’s work. But when the Tour is elsewhere and you see the dateline PEBBLE BEACH (AP) — , it’s probably his work.
Ferguson moved to Jacksonville in 1996 and became the wire service’s golf writer when his predecessor took a magazine job. He’s in town half the time and is an excellent player, claiming a five handicap which would put him in the top 5 percent. His usual haunt is Hyde Park, the public course on the west side.
“He’s a very good player,” said golf writer Garry Smits of The Florida Times-Union. “He’s a stickler for the rules, too. No fooling around when you’re playing with him.”
Being the golf writers’ leader is a prestigious position.
The GWAA started in 1946 and its past presidents include such luminaries as O.B. Keeler, whose fame is more from being Bobby Jones’ biographer than as a writer
for the Atlanta Journal; Grantland Rice, whose “Four Horsemen” lead paragraph is part of Notre Dame lore; and Bob Drum, the Pittsburgh writer who chronicled Arnold Palmer’s emergence.
There are about a thousand members of which 465 hold “Regular” status, meaning they are actively writing about the sport. There are several other categories including “Associate,” which are those in related fields such as public relations.
The Jacksonville area has numerous Regular members including Smits, Chuck Adams of the Beaches Leader, the writers at the Ponte Vedra-based PGATour.com, freelance writer Whitney McClelland of Ponte Vedra Beach and Fred Seely of Golf News. There are also many “Associate” members in this area, mostly from the PGA Tour office or the World Golf Village.
As with many organizations of this type, the nuts and bolts is in the hands of the executive secretary — in this case, a veteran writer named Melanie Hauser, who combines GWAA work with freelance writing.
“Doug sets the course, organizes committees and stays in touch with me,” said Hauser, who’s based in Houston and is in her 9th year. “I’m the consistency in the organization; presidents come and go, and I’m still there.”