PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Larry Dorman is one of the most decorated golf writers in the business, but his latest award is different. It’s special. It’s about a dear friend.
The award Dorman received Tuesday at the Honda Classic gave a strong tug on the heart and brought him to tears. Dorman was named the second winner of the Tim Rosaforte Distinguished Writers’ Award. Rosaforte, who died on Jan. 11 at 66 from Alzheimer’s Disease, was one of Dorman’s best friends.
“This really is a personal thing,” said Dorman, who also became emotional when Honda Classic executive director Ken Kennerly called him recently with the news. “Tim and I were best friends for all of the years we were together.
“It’s a tremendous honor to me. I know Tim would be pleased. We would have a few laughs about it. It’s certainly very high on my list of honors that I have gotten.”
In 2017, the PGA of America awarded Dorman the Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism. A year later, Dorman earned the Memorial Golf Journalism Award from Jack Nicklaus’ tournament. And in 2019, he received the Lincoln Werden Golf Journalism Award from the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association.
As fitting as it was when Rosaforte won the inaugural award last year, it was apropos Dorman would be the one to follow his longtime buddy. They met in the early 1980s at the PGA Tour event at the Doral Resort & Spa and their friendship and careers criss-crossed like an interlocking grip.
“We are thrilled for the committee’s nomination of Larry as the 2022 Rosaforte Distinguished Writers’ Award recipient,” Kennerly said. “Not only were Larry and Rosie great friends throughout Tim’s illustrious career, but Larry is recognized as one of the great golf writers of all time. His contributions to the game are well documented and it is only proper that Larry follows Rosie as this year’s award recipient.”
With their dark, full beards, they looked more like musicians than golf writers, usually sitting next to each other in the press room. But they knew how to make music on their keyboards and they weren’t shy about getting to know the stars of the game.
“Tim would always introduce you to whoever he knew,” Dorman said. “Once you were hanging around with Rosie, everyone knew you were OK.”
Dorman, who lives with his wife Chris in California, vividly remembers the first time he met Rosaforte in the early 1980s. It was hard to forget.
“It was at the Doral tournament early in the week, when I see this big guy jogging in sweats on the course,” Dorman said. “He had ignored six signs that said “golfers only.” I’m thinking, ‘Who the heck is that jogging?’ I know jogging is a thing in South Florida, but not on a golf course.”
That guy turned out to be Rosaforte. They quickly struck up a friendship and became sort of the Butch Cassady and the Sundance Kid of golf journalists. It was rare when you didn’t see one without the other, in or out of the media room.
“It was an easy relationship,” Dorman said. “What I miss the most about Tim is the afternoons when there wasn’t any pressure and we would just be playing golf. Then he became the guy who wanted to know every single thing that I know about the golf swing. That’s the way Tim was – very curious about everything.”
Like Rosaforte, Dorman’s career soon took off. After covering golf for the Palm Beach Post from 1977-80 – a beat Rosaforte eventually followed him on from 1987-94 – Dorman moved on to cover the sport for the Miami Herald.
Dorman’s reputation was enhanced when he was named the golf writer for The National Sports Daily during its brief run in 1990-91. He returned to his native New York to begin the first of two stints as a golf writer for The New York Times (’93-97).
Dorman then took a sabbatical from The Times to write a book on Ely Callaway, the founder of Callaway Golf. After a couple of months of working together, Callaway reversed course and hired Dorman as Callaway’s vice president of public relations. Dorman spent 10 years with Callaway, living in California, before he returned to The Times to again cover golf in 2007.
Dorman and Rosaforte covered almost 100 major championships together and followed each other as president of the Golf Writers Association of America in the mid-1990s. When Dorman returned to the sport in ’07, Rosaforte’s career was taking off as he became golf’s first insider at Golf Channel.
“Tim wanted to master everything he did, just like he mastered TV, and I admire that quality” Dorman said. “Very few writers have been able to master TV, and he made the transition smoothly. And he was always the same guy once he went to TV, asking you how you were doing.”
Soon, the question was reversed when reports of Rosaforte’s health issues started trickling out in late 2019. Anyone who has had a loved one suffer with Alzheimer’s knows the heartache.
“It hit me pretty hard,” Dorman said. “It was very difficult to take because I know he had a lot more left. It was like losing a brother, and I did lose my brother, Frank, to ALS.”
Dorman reflected on the good memories Tuesday after Kennerly gave him the award in, fittingly, the Tim Rosaforte Media Room.
All awards mean a lot. Some mean even more.
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