The annual Richard F. Connolly, Jr. Distinguished Service Award was established in 2000 in honor of Mr. Connolly, a Ouimet Scholarship Alumnus and former President who has proudly served the Ouimet Fund for over 40 years. Mr. Connolly has been the driving force in starting the Francis Ouimet Award for Lifelong Contributions to Golf Annual Banquets, and has personally been their principal sponsor every year. He has also established an endowed Ouimet Scholarship in his family’s name and was honored with the Ouimet Fund’s Spirit of Golf Award in 2008. Dick Connolly is the embodiment of everything a Ouimet volunteer can be.

Susan grew up in Westlake Village, California. Having played a variety of sports, she was a self-starter in golf and, on her own, learned to play at a small public executive course. Following one year of Division I golf at Brigham Young University, college brought her east to her family roots in Worcester, MA where she continued her studies and graduated from the College of the Holy Cross. At the same time, Sue enlisted in the United States Coast Guard Reserve, where she served for four years as a Port Security Specialist. She carries on that dedication today, leading a national campaign for the future National Coast Guard Museum in Connecticut, the first and only national service museum established in New England, where Ouimet honoree Arnold Palmer will serendipitously be recognized for his service.

In addition to being president and co-founder of a private family foundation and managing partner in Power Family Enterprises LP, she has dedicated countless time serving on several boards.  These have included the Ouimet Fund, Golf Fights Cancer, the Executive Committee for Mass Golf, Trustee of the College of the Holy Cross, and board member at Boston Children’s Hospital Trust. At Children’s, Sue helped drive the development of the Cardiac Neurodevelopment Program. Inspired by personal experience with her son Jack, the program was created to research and treat the major unmet needs of children living with congenital heart disease.

A founding member of Boston Golf Club, Sue helped launch the John D. Mineck Memorial Foundation in honor of her dear friend and mentor.  Mineck was the co-founder of Boston Golf Club which boasts one of the largest caddie programs in New England with 10 Ouimet Scholar recipients this year. Subsequently, she is most proud of the efforts to establish the John D. Mineck Endowed Scholarship at the Ouimet Fund which awards an additional Ouimet scholarship to caddies and outside operations staff from Boston Golf Club.

In 2022, Sue, and her husband, Mike, who are both Ouimet Lifetime Members, led a group of Boston Golf Club friends with an opportunity to make an even greater impact in John’s name.  The goal was to raise a collective $100,000 in new donations for the endowed scholarship.  Inspiring others with a lead donation, her efforts were rewarded with a total of $125,000- raised.  Competitive by nature this achieved Sue’s goal of bringing the Mineck endowed fund measured by principal amount into the top ten of the 183 Ouimet endowed scholarships.

“This is a such an honor to be recognized for the Richard Connolly award, especially as it relates to giving back to the game in honor of my mentor and dear friend John Mineck.  This recognition is really about Mr. Mineck, his legacy, and the impact he continues to have on this special community in golf.”

On the course, you will frequently find Sue competing both locally and nationally, including the Ouimet Invitational. In the last seven years, she’s played in over ten USGA Championships and has won seven Championship titles in New England and Mass Golf events. Her most cherished golf accomplishment however is a record-setting ten consecutive wins with her son, James, in the Mass Golf Mother Son Tournament.

Three-time Emmy Award winner and five-time National Sportscaster of the Year Jim Nantz will receive the 2021 Francis Ouimet Award for Lifetime Contributions to Golf! We are thrilled to welcome Mr. Nantz as our 2021 Honoree, recognizing his immense contributions to golf throughout his nearly forty-year career.  The wait to welcome our friends back to the Banquet and honor another of the game’s greats is over, and we look forward to a wonderful event at the Encore on October 14! Thank you to the sponsors who have already committed to this important event, as the Banquet is crucial to The Fund awarding a new record $2.75 million in need-based scholarships this fall.

Since joining the CBS Television Network in 1985, Mr. Nantz has served as the lead anchor of CBS’s golf coverage, including the PGA Tour, Masters, and the PGA Championship. He also currently serves as the lead play-by-play announcer for THE NFL ON CBS, including the Super Bowl and the lead play-by-play announcer for college basketball, including the NCAA Men’s Final Four. In 2007, Mr. Nantz became the first commentator in history to complete the rare broadcasting trifecta – calling the Super Bowl, NCAA Men’s Final Four and the Masters all in a span of 63 days. Mr. Nantz once again repeated this trifecta in 2010, 2013 and 2016.  In 2019 and 2021, Mr. Nantz completed an even rarer quintet, calling the AFC Championship, Super Bowl, Final Four, Masters and PGA Championship in a span of 120 days.

Mr. Nantz will be inducted into the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame in December 2021. He was honored in 2019 with the Arnie Award, presented to golfers who give back to the game and reflect the values and generosity of Arnold Palmer, who was the first Ouimet Award Honoree at the Annual Banquet in 1997. In December 2018, Mr. Nantz was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame and in August 2018, Mr. Nantz received the 2018 Ambassador of Golf Award presented by the PGA Tour.