Golf Tourism Industry honours Greg Norman
23 November 2006
IAGTO, the global trade organisation for the golf tourism industry, selected Greg
Norman to receive this year’s IAGTO Honorary Award. The presentation was shown at
the climax of the 7th IAGTO Award Ceremony that took place in Estepona in Spain’s
Andalucia on 23rd November in front of an audience of 1200 golf tourism professionals
from 45 countries.
The Ceremony takes place each year on the last night of the International Golf Travel
Market, the global trade show for the golf tourism industry. This year the IAGTO
Awards were staged in the Palacio de Congresos de Estepona in Europe’s most popular
golf destination, Andalucia.
On presenting the Award in Greg Norman’s American base near Jupiter, Florida, Peter
Walton – IAGTO’s Chief Executive – explained that Greg Norman had been chosen to
receive IAGTO’s 7th Honorary Award not only for his remarkable record and performances
on course, but also for his work off the golf course in golf design and development
and for his massive commitment to the game of golf. Walton also remarked that Greg
Norman was one of the most charismatic golfers of recent times.
On accepting the award, Norman said “To everybody out there tonight I want to thank
you for your dedicated involvement in the game of golf. What I do on the golf course
is very easy – I love it with a passion – what I do off the golf course, whether
it be golf course design, development, clothing or even the wine to some degree
– also adds to what we are all doing here.
“To the thousands of you out there, to the tour operators that promote the game
of golf and entice people to go to different parts of the world, I thank you for
doing what you do – because without you we wouldn’t be spreading the word of how
great certain parts of the world are for golf and how great certain parts of the
world will become. We’ve seen the development of the game of golf change over the
past 20 years. Its moved into Russia, the Middle East, moved into, India, China,
Vietnam – all new places we never even thought about 20 years ago. And even now
there’s a golf course we’re designing in Jordan.
Norman added: “I admire everyone sitting there [at the IAGTO Awards Gala Dinner]
tonight and thank you very much for the award, it’s a great honour and it’s an honour
that I’ll cherish because it’s all about giving a little bit back to the game.”
Previous IAGTO Honorary Award Winners are Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros, Arnold
Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Robert Trent Jones Jr and Nick Faldo.
Greg Norman’s career statistics include:
- 90 career victories including 20 PGA tour titles and the British Open at Turnberry
and Royal St Georges.
- The world’s number one golfer for a staggering 331 weeks.
ENDS
23rd November 2006
Contacts
Carlton Carugati – General Manager
IAGTO, 1 Trafalgar House, Grenville Place, London NW7 3SA, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8906 3377
Fax: +44 (0) 20 8906 8181
Email: ccarugati@iagto.com
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