Ernie Els, a four-time Major champion, member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and founder of the Els for Autism Foundation, will be the recipient of the 2018 Old Tom Morris (OTM) Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA).


Ernie Els

Els also founded The Ernie Els Foundation in 1999 in his homeland of South Africa and then joined forces with the Fancourt Hotel and Golf Estate to establish The Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation to help identify under-privileged teens who show talent in golf and give them a chance to reach their full potential in sport and education.

GCSAA’s highest honour, the OTM Award has been presented annually since 1983 to an individual, who through a 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. Morris, a four-time Open Championship winner, was the long-time superintendent at St Andrews in Scotland until his death in 1908.

“I am honoured and humbled to be asked to receive the Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association,” said Els. “As I have grown in my involvement with the game of golf, from professional golfer to golf course designer, I have come to value more and more the role of golf course superintendents. They are as vital to this game as ever, and as vital to this game as anyone.”

Known as the Big Easy because of his stature and fluid golf swing, the 47-year-old Els has 70 professional career wins and is a former number one ranked player who spent 788 weeks ranked in the top-10 in the world, a record.

But Els’ significant on-course accomplishments took a secondary role in his life when he learned in 2009 that his son Ben was on the autism spectrum. This diagnosis drove the Els family to lead funding for a $30 million Centre of Excellence for Autistic children, which opened for 300 students in 2015 in Florida. The Centre offers professional and medical resources, therapy and education to help autistic children grow to lead full adult lives.

“Years from now people may remember me as a golfer and a Major champion. But I’d like to be remembered as somebody who took the issue of autism and did something with it,” said Els. “The rest of my life, I’ll be fighting this thing … I hope you’ll join me.”

Els has rallied his business partners and everyday golfers to the cause since 2010, introducing a Golf Challenge series where fund-raising is as important as a team’s final score. Els and his wife, Liezl, have also donated millions of their own money to the cause.

“By any measure, Ernie Els is one of the greats of the game, and it is the distinct privilege and honour of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America to recognise this industry giant for all he has accomplished on and off the golf course,” said Rhett Evans, GCSAA CEO. “He elevates the human spirit in all of us to be better people and a more compassionate society.”