Former LPGA Tour professional Dottie Pepper has been named the recipient of the 42nd Old Tom Morris Award, presented by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.
Pepper, who now works as a TV golf commentator for CBS, will officially receive her award at the 2024 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in Phoenix, Arizona on January 31.
The Old Tom Morris Award is presented to an individual who, through a continuing lifetime commitment to the game of golf, has helped to mould the welfare of the game in a manner and style exemplified by Old Tom Morris. Old Tom Morris was a four-time Open Champion and the legendary greenkeeper at St Andrews in Scotland.
“Dottie Pepper has had a standout career as both a Major champion and a golf reporter,” GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans said. “But she also has a deep appreciation for what goes into making the game happen and the work that superintendents do, which is why Dottie Pepper is an ideal recipient of the Old Tom Morris Award.”
Pepper won 17 tournaments, including two Majors, during her 16 years on the LPGA Tour and represented the United States on six Solheim Cup teams before becoming a golf commentator in 2004. She has covered the game for NBC, Golf Channel, ESPN and CBS, and she made history in 2020 when she became the first walking reporter on the grounds of Augusta National during CBS’s coverage of the Masters.
Pepper is the seventh woman to win the Old Tom Morris Award, joining Patty Berg, Dinah Shore, Nancy Lopez, Judy Rankin, Annika Sorenstam and Renee Powell.
“When you put me in a group with Judy and Dinah and those others in the same sentence, it’s significant,” Pepper said. “This is the pinnacle for a garden geek and dirt nerd like me.”