CBS Sports Commentator Jim Nantz to Receive ASGCA Donald Ross Award
Sports broadcasting legend has spent four decades chronicling historic moments and promoting the game
For four decades, hearing the voice of Jim Nantz has meant an important sporting event was taking place. Since joining CBS in 1985, Nantz has brought a level of professionalism matched only by his love of sports and the art of storytelling to viewers who share his passion. His calls from NFL games and Super Bowls, NCAA basketball games and Final Fours, and PGA Tour events, the Masters and the PGA Championship will be remembered for generations. His voice has served as the soundtrack to unforgettable moments from some of the country’s greatest golf courses, creating memories forever etched in the game’s history.
Unparalleled Contributions to Sports Broadcasting
His insights, storytelling, and unmistakable passion for golf have helped millions develop a deeper appreciation for great course design. Beyond the broadcast booth, Nantz has brought that passion to life through hands-on design projects ranging from his backyard golf holes to courses such as Tepetonka Club in Minnesota. Nantz currently serves as a golf course design consultant for Tepontka’s short course, which is being designed by OCM Golf.
Award Recognition
Nantz’s positive impact on the game make him a worthy recipient of the 2026 ASGCA Donald Ross Award. The organization’s highest honor recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to the game of golf and the profession of golf course architecture. Nantz will receive the award during the ASGCA Annual Meeting in October.
ASGCA President’s Remarks
“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.”
Career Achievements
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. In 2025, he was named Honorary Chair of the First Tee. 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.
“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.”
Dedicated to Alzheimer’s Research
In 2011, Nantz worked with Houston Methodist Hospital to create the Nantz National Alzheimer Center (NNAC), dedicated to funding innovative diagnostic discoveries for early and accurate detection of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementing illnesses. The center was named in honor of Jim’s late father, Jim Nantz Sr., who lived with Alzheimer’s disease for 13 years.
The Nantz family journey was the basis for the New York Times bestseller “Always By My Side,” whose foreword was written by 2018 Donald Ross Award Recipient President George H.W. Bush.
Past Donald Ross Award Recipients
Complete list of past recipients from the years 1976 to 2025 follows.
ASGCA Background
Founded in 1946 by Donald Ross, Robert Trent Jones and 12 other leading architects, the American Society of Golf Course Architects is a non-profit organization comprised of experienced golf course designers located throughout North America. Members have completed a rigorous application process that includes the peer review of representative golf courses. ASGCA members are able to counsel in all aspects of golf course design and remodeling and comprise many of the great talents throughout the golf industry.
For more information about ASGCA, including a current list of members, visit www.asgca.org or call (262) 786-5960
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