Ballo's to Receive MGWA's Family of the Year Award

BALLO FAMILY TO RECEIVE MGWA FAMILY OF THE YEAR AWARD

Elmsford, N.Y. (March 13, 2020) — The Ballo family – Mike Sr., Page, Mike Jr. and Peter – will be honored by the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association as Family of the Year at the 69th National Awards Dinner on Monday, June 22, 2020, at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, N.Y. The MGWA’s Family of the Year Award honors a family for its contributions to the game and for representing the virtues and ideals of golf and family.
 
“We are delighted to recognize the many contributions to the game of golf made by the Ballo family,” says MGWA President Dave Donelson. “They have taught us and inspired us, grown the game and demonstrated how it can be played and enjoyed at every level.”
 
Golf has been at the center of the Ballo family’s lives for decades.  The family patriarch, Mike Sr., is a former professional golfer who competed in three U.S. Opens and three PGA Championships.  Mother Page was an All-ACC golfer at the University of North Carolina.   Both Ballo boys played golf at St. John’s University – Mike, all four years, and Peter for two seasons before transferring to Sacred Heart University.  Mike Jr., currently an Assistant Pro at Westchester Country Club, spent the past three years as a Golf Pro at Winged Foot Golf Club and captured the Met PGA New York State Open at Bethpage Black in July 2019.  His younger brother, Peter, an Assistant Pro at Silvermine Golf Club, won 2019’s Met PGA Championship at Sleepy Hollow.  In 2018, Mike Jr. defeated his brother by one stroke in the Met PGA Assistants Golf Championship at Bethpage. 
 
The MGWA has recognized the game’s greatest players, contributors, and organizations at its National Awards Dinner since 1952 – the longest-running and often the largest golf dinner in the U.S. each year. This annual event is attended by nearly 600 guests, representing golf’s leading organizations and corporate supporters, Met-area clubs and club leaders, as well as local and national golf media. The Dinner will be hosted by MGWA Vice President/PGA Professional and Sirius XM Radio Personality Brian Crowell.
 
The MGWA has raised well over two million dollars for Caddie Scholarship programs in the Metropolitan New York area; the MGA Foundation; and the Dave Marr Journalism Scholarship at Columbia University. MGWA contributions from the 2019 Dinner helped fund college scholarships for over 650 young men and women in the NY Metro area this academic year.
 
Tickets to the Dinner, as well as raffle tickets, may be purchased at www.metgolfwriters.org (you need not be present at the Dinner to win a raffle prize).  For additional information, please contact Robin Sauerhaft at (914) 347-4653 or rsauerhaft@mgagolf.org.