Jim Nantz is to be awarded the American Society of Golf Course Architects’ Donald Ross Award for 2026 in recognition of his near 40-year career in sports broadcasting and the significant contribution he has made to the game of golf and the profession of golf course architecture.
Nantz, 67, will receive the award during the ASGCA Annual Meeting in Nashville in October.
A member of the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame and the youngest ever to be inducted into both the Pro Football and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Nantz is a four-time Emmy Award-winner and five time National Sportscaster of the Year.
He graduated in 1981 with a degree in radio/television from the University of Houston, where he was recruited as a member of the golf team. Nantz joined the CBS Sports golf team in 1986 and has anchored CBS’ golf coverage since 1994.
He spent 32 years as CBS’s lead play-by-play announcer for NCAA men’s college basketball and this fall he begins his 23rd season as the lead play-by-play voice for the NFL on CBS.
In 2025, he was named Honorary Chair of the First Tee.
“It is fitting that Jim Nantz is the first broadcaster to receive the Donald Ross Award,” said ASGCA President Mark Mungeam. “He has been and is the ‘voice of golf’ for multiple generations of fans. His love and respect for the game – and the courses it is played on – is evident in all of his broadcasts. Jim’s appreciation of golf history and his innate storytelling ability grow more impressive each year.”
“My admiration for the American Society of Golf Course Architects runs deep,” Nantz said. “I have long studied their work and the thoughtful process they use to shape their masterpiece landscapes. To be recognized by this extraordinary group is truly an honor.”