Fred Couples will receive the Gold Tee Award, one of golf’s most prestigious honors, from the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association at its 63rd National Awards Dinner on June 23 in Tarrytown, New York.
The Gold Tee is the MGWA’s highest honor, given to an individual whose career achievements exemplify the best spirit and traditions of the sport of golf.
“We are thrilled to honor an all-time fan favorite,” MGWA President Bruce Beck said. “Freddie’s a class act whose overall achievements rival anyone in his era.”
Previous winners of the Gold Tee Award include Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Nancy Lopez, Tom Watson, Annika Sorenstam and Phil Mickelson.
The 54-year-old Couples, 1992 Masters champion who is nicknamed “Boom Boom,” won 15 times on the PGA Tour, including the Players Championship twice, and has added nine victories on the Champions Tour, including the 2011 Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship and the 2012 Senior Open Championship at Turnberry.
Couples, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla., last year, also captained the United States to victory in the last three Presidents Cups and played on five U.S. Ryder Cup teams from 1989-97.
