Dan Rooney, the air force pilot who created Patriot Golf Day, will receive this year’s Donald Ross Award from the American Society of Golf Course Architects.
Since 2007, the money raised on Patriot Golf Day has helped to provide scholarships for nearly 5,500 military families. “Major Dan Rooney’s focus and dedication to helping the families of fallen heroes and wounded veterans through golf is inspirational,” said the ASGCA’s president, Rick Robbins.
Rooney, a PGA pro who served three combat tours in Iraq, is also the majority owner of the Patriot Golf Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a facility whose motto is “Great Golf for the Greater Good.”
Since it was established, in 1976, the Donald Ross Award has been given to such people as Herbert Warren Wind, Dinah Shore, Gene Sarazen, Jaime Ortiz-Patino, Tim Finchem and Ron Whitten.