NORTON, Massachusetts – Mass Golf is excited to announce that longtime volunteer and voice of Mass Golf Mike Dowling has been selected as the 2018 Andrew J. Blau Volunteer of the Year Award recipient for his dedicated service to amateur golf initiatives that date back more than two decades. Dowling, a longtime sports reporter in Boston, which included 28 years at WCVB-TV Channel 5 before his retirement in 2014, becomes the seventh individual to be honored with the award.
As part of the festivities surrounding the 2018 Mass Golf Champions Dinner – scheduled for January 15, 2019 at Wellesley Country Club – Mike will be presented this award and will join the likes of Mass Golf’s respective Player of the Year recipients and various champions from the more than 30 Championships and Tournaments held during the 2018 season who will be on hand.
ONLINE: Andrew J. Blau Volunteer of the Year Award
Since 1997, Mike has generously volunteered his time and talents in several different capacities across the organization while also lending his expertise in both communications and marketing initiatives that have helped Mass Golf continuously provide high quality service to its 87,000 members and 360 member clubs located throughout the Bay State. Like the men and women before him who have received this award, as well as all those who give their time in various ways to Mass Golf, Dowling has been an integral part of the overall success of the Mass Golf organization.
On receiving this year’s honor, Dowling said, “There are so many dedicated volunteers who help make Mass Golf the best State golf association in the country. I am honored to represent them and join such a select group of previous winners of this award.”
Originally joining the organization as the master of ceremonies for the 1997 Salute to Champions Dinner at Wellesley, a post he has held for nearly 20 years despite juggling a full-time and demanding job as sports reporter during an extremely busy time for the professional sports teams he covered, Dowling has also served as the voice of two Massachusetts Golf Hall of Fame Induction ceremonies, helped organize and produce materials that were used to help golfers navigate the many Mass Golf platforms and served as an advisor to many of the communications initiatives that were implemented during the past several years.
Additionally, during Mike’s time with the organization, his behind the scene leadership could be seen in his committee level positions, serving on the former Massachusetts Golf Association Executive Committee from 2015-2017. He currently serves on the Member Services Committee and most recently, as one of six individuals on the Marketing Communications Committee – an integral position that helped oversee the historic merger between the former Massachusetts Golf Association and Women’s Golf Association of Massachusetts and the ensuing rebranding efforts that led to the creation of Mass Golf in January 2018.
During his tenure, Dowling also provided voiceover talent for the Massachusetts Golf History video which was used as part of the Massachusetts Golf Museum exhibit and has served as a consultant to the popular MassGolfer magazine that members receive as part of their benefit package for holding a GHIN Handicap Index with a Mass Golf member club.
Dowling, who resides in Wellesley with his wife Darsi, currently works as a media consultant in the Boston area and is a Red Sox blogger for Forbes.com. He is slated to return as the Master of Ceremonies for the 2018 Mass Golf Champions Dinner in January.
