A View From the Nineteenth

John M. Ross has been a familiar byline to golf readers for almost three decades. He was the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of Golf Magazine for some 20 years, and earned numerous awards for the magazine's editorial excellence. His crusade against slow play received a special citation from the National Golf Foundation. Ross has also been heavily involved in other aspects of the game. For eight years he was executive director of the International Golf Association, which conducts the 67-nation World Cup of Golf program. He directed tournaments in 17 countries and brought the big event to places like Indonesia, Hong Kong and Thailand for the first time. He also introduced the World Cup to television in 1984.

He was a director and chaired the committee that set the format for election to the first World Golf Hall of Fame at Pinehurst. And he also served on the Board of Advisors for the revised Hall, now located in Jacksonville, Florida. In work with the game's governing bodies, Ross was a member of the Communications Committee of the United States Golf Association for 18 years, and has served with a similar committee for the Metropolitan Golf Association for more than 20 years. He is currently doing a series of books for the USGA, editing the oral histories for leading players and officials of the game. On the pro side, he helped computerize the statistical program of the PGA Tour while he was its Director of Public Information.

Ross is a former governor and lifetime member of the Golf Writers Association of America, and is a past president of the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association. He is also a member of the Association of Golf Writers, the British and overseas wing, and is a charter member of the American Society of Magazine Editors.

A long-time writer on the national scene, his work has appeared over the years in Sports Illustrated, Readers Digest, Life Magazine, The American Weekly and Saturday Evening Post, among others. His honors include the Christopher Award for his story on Babe Zaharias' heroic battle against cancer, and the Lincoln Werden Award from the Golf Writers Association for outstanding contribution to golf journalism.

His book, The Encyclopedia of Golf, is a substantial reference volume. Ross plays his golf at The Patterson Club in Fairfield, Connecticut, where he is a member.

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