Jack Nicklaus to Honor Dan Jenkins at Colonial Country Club
Golf Legend Jack Nicklaus is coming to Fort Worth Friday, October 25th to honor the late, beloved sportswriter Dan Jenkins at the third annual Dan Jenkins Medal For Excellence In Sportswriting dinner.
The event, to be held at the Colonial Country Club, where Jenkins was a longtime member, will feature a VIP reception with Nicklaus and a dinner conversation with Jenkins’ daughter, Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins.
“The Golden Bear” and Jenkins were friends for more than 50 years.
On Jenkins’ passing last year at age 90, Nicklaus said, “Golf lost a great friend in Dan Jenkins. Like most great friends, those who know just how to make you laugh, smile and entertain you, Dan was able to do that through his writing. He never sacrificed accuracy for a good story.”
The event is open to the public.
For individual tickets and tables to the reception and dinner, please go to jenkinsmedal.com/tickets or call 512-471-2431.
The dinner takes place the evening before the TCU- Texas Big 12 college football game in Fort Worth and is sponsored by the Center for Sports Communication & Media, part of the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin.
Jenkins’ archive of personal papers, books and manuscripts is housed at the Center.
Gary Smith of Sports Illustrated is the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post and Sarah Spain with ESPN will take home the Medals for Excellence in Sportswriting awards.
“Our goal and vision is to make the Jenkins Medal the Heisman Trophy of sportswriting in America,” says Dr. Michael Butterworth, Director of the Center for Sports Communication & Media. “Our students and aspiring sportswriters need to know what Dan Jenkins meant and still means to our world of sports journalism and how the winners of the Jenkins Medal are setting the standards in our craft today.”
The Jenkins Medal For Excellence in Sportswriting is a national awards competition decided by a jury of fellow sportswriters from around the country.
The awards are named in honor of Jenkins, the legendary Texas sportswriter, to celebrate the craft and culture of sportswriting he personified through his storied career.
Dan Jenkins was an award-winning sportswriter and best-selling novelist whose career spanned more than six decades. Three of his best-selling novels—Semi-Tough, Dead Solid Perfect, and Baja Oklahoma—have been made into movies.
