Rosaforte, Kohler: two golf notables we lost in 2022

Tim Rosaforte, perhaps the most universally respected golf writer of the modern era, passed away Jan. 11, 2022, after a two year battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s. He was 66. “Rosie,” as he was known for the past 20 years, was originally from Mt. Kisco, New York (35 miles north of New York City), and played football at the University of Rhode Island. He started his journalism career at the Tampa Times,  later moving to the Palm Beach Post, and eventually Sports Illustrated, Golf Digest and Golf World. He settled in at the Golf Channel in 2007 where he grew into his role as golf’s consummate “insider,” offering notes, behind-the-scenes perspectives and interviews with the sport’s biggest names. Among his honors were the PGA of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award; he was also made an honorary member of the PGA of America.  In addition, he won the Memorial Tournament’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Honda Classic named the Rosaforte Media Center for him. Rosaforte authored four books, the best of which is “Raising the Bar,” about the stellar emergence of Tiger Woods.

Rosie’s high esteem is found in several comments from important golfing figures. John Hawkins (si.com) writes: “If everyone did their job as well as Tim Rosaforte did his, the world would be a better place. As a golf writer, he was the greatest teammate who ever lived – a peerless, indefatigable reporter with a $2 million rolodex and a 50-cent ego. As a man, Rosaforte was perfectly named. Gentle and vulnerable like a flower, tough and durable like a citadel.”

“I’ve never heard anyone say a bad word about Tim Rosaforte, said Golf Channel announcer Rich Lerner, who worked alongside Rosaforte for 20 years. “He was always there to encourage you, to help you and to congratulate you when you did a good job.”

And this from Jack Nicklaus: “Tim had such a wonderful ability to develop relationships and trust from so many, and because of that – plus his work ethic – if there was an important story to be told in golf, Tim was usually the first one to report it.”

Golf lost a major contributor to the game with the passing of Herb Kohler Jr. Sept. 3, 2022, at age 83. After briefly serving in the U.S. Army Reserve, Kohler attended Yale University, where he studied Industrial Administration. At 35 he became Chairman and CEO of the family manufacturing business, the Kohler Company in 1972, known worldwide for high-end kitchen and bath faucets, plumbing and fixtures. Through the years he amassed a portfolio of some 200 design and utility patents. Under his leadership annual revenues of the Kohler Co. grew from $100 million 40 years ago to over $7 billion today.

However, Mr. Kohler made his mark on the world of golf by developing the American Club resort in Kohler, Wisconsin, originally built in 1918 as an immigrant workers’ dormitory. The American Club Hotel attracted so many guests who yearned for a close-by golf course, so Kohler built Blackwolf Run in 1988, designed by Pete Dye, and soon another 18 holes on the same site. In 1998 he commissioned Dye to create Whistling Straits on the site of an old airfield and Army anti-artillery training facility on the shores of Lake Michigan. Whistling Straits opened on the same day that the 1998 U.S. Open was decided in a playoff at Blackwolf Run. The final part of his Wisconsin golf course Pete Dye quartet came in 2000 with the opening of the Irish Course. Whistling Straits has hosted the PGA Championship in 2004, 2010 and 20125, the U.S. Senior Open in 2007, and the Ryder Cup in 2021.

Kohler always loved classic golf venues, especially St. Andrews, and in 2004 he purchased the well-situated but rather dilapidated Old Course Hotel for refurbishing; and in 2009 bought the Grand Hotel behind the 18^th green, turning it into a St. Andrews University dormitory.