Pospisil to Receive Virgil Parker Special Recognition Award
OMAHA (December 1, 2022) - Stu Pospisil of Omaha will be awarded the Nebraska Golf Association's Virgil A. Parker Special Recognition Award at the organization’s annual awards banquet at The Field Club of Omaha on Friday. The award is given to an individual in recognition of their contributions to the game of golf in the state of Nebraska.
There have been many influential people in the history of Nebraska who have contributed greatly to the game of golf, creating opportunities and bringing recognition to the state. The Virgil A. Parker Special Recognition Award was created in 2000 for this purpose, in honor of the former NGA Executive Director.
Pospisil has covered golf for most of his 38 years with the Omaha World-Herald, where he's also been the lead sportswriter for high school coverage since 1990. He is a University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate who grew up in Omaha's Benson neighborhood.
Pospisil is the most active and knowledgeable media member in the state in reporting on golf. He began covering golf in 1985, writing about the likes of Susan Marchese, Val Skinner, Jim Sieckmann, Larry Sock and more. Pospisil has been a steward for the amateur game in Nebraska, and in particular, has been one of the few media members over the years to consistently shed a light on the women’s game, covering many women’s championships.
Outside of the Amateur ranks, Pospisil has been there for the biggest moments in Nebraska golf history, including the 1996 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Firethorn Golf Club in Lincoln, the 2013 and 2021 U.S. Senior Opens at Omaha Country Club, and the several stops of the Korn Ferry Tour in Omaha at Champions Run and now The Club at Indian Creek. He's even covered the Masters and PGA Championship. In addition, Pospisil was the director of the World Herald Publinks Championship for Omaha-area golfers from 1988 until its retirement in 2017. He’s been a contributor to Sports Illustrated, Golf Journal and Golf World. Pospisil has been honored by several organizations, including receiving the Herb Davis Award from the Nebraska Golf Hall of Fame in 2014 for his contributions to the game.
Pospisil has been the historian of golf in Nebraska for many years, and has an endless amount of stories to tell about the people and places of Nebraska golf. In 2021, he released his first solo-book, Nebraska Golf: Out of the Shadows, a historic look at golf in the state. He traces the history of golf in the United States back to a six-hole round in 1887 on a remote course in Nebraska. He writes about legends like Johnny Goodman, the last amateur to win the U.S. Open, but puts a major focus on what he says changed the scope of golf in the United States, not just Nebraska. That is the development of Sand Hills Golf Club in Mullen in 1995. In the book, he tells the story of the state’s courses, old and new, along with the people behind them who have made Nebraska a golf destination.
Pospisil has been telling the story of golf in Nebraska for many years, and has contributed greatly to the chronicling of the state's great players and tremendous golf courses. He will be honored at the Nebraska Golf Association's annual awards banquet on Friday at The Field Club of Omaha.
About the NGA
The Nebraska Golf Association, founded in 1966, is comprised of all members of public and private clubs and/or municipal or regional golf associations which utilize an approved handicap service recognized by the USGA and provided by the NGA. Our mission is to uphold and promote the game of golf and its values to all golfers in Nebraska. Among the duties of the Association include governance of member clubs and service as their handicapping and course rating authority, conduct of state golf championships, local USGA qualifying & other notable competitions, promotion of junior golf, presentation of worthwhile educational programs and support of allied golf organizations in Nebraska. The Nebraska Golf Association is an Allied Golf Association of the USGA and carries out core services including Handicap Administration and Oversight, Course Rating, Rules of Golf and Rules of Amateur Status, Tournaments and USGA Championship Qualifiers and USGA Initiatives and Community Programs.
