{"id":766,"date":"2012-01-04T16:19:17","date_gmt":"2012-01-04T16:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teemoore.com\/?p=766"},"modified":"2012-02-05T15:09:11","modified_gmt":"2012-02-05T15:09:11","slug":"respected-golf-writer-embarks-on-new-career-phase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/golf\/personalities\/766\/respected-golf-writer-embarks-on-new-career-phase","title":{"rendered":"Respected golf writer embarks on new career phase"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Greg Johnson<\/p><\/div>\n

In a distinguished career that\u2019s still a work in progress, award-winning sports journalist and golf writer Greg Johnson filed his final stories this past week for The Grand Rapids Press<\/em>. As the case with many of his colleagues over the past few years, Johnson\u2019s position was eliminated as the 120-year-old newspaper drastically downsized its operations in the new digital age. Although the ending was both sobering and bittersweet, Johnson harbored no regrets and remained upbeat about his future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved my job and loved being a sportswriter,\u201d said Johnson in a phone interview from Tampa where he covered Michigan State\u2019s dramatic bowl win over Georgia. \u201cNow entering a different phase in my career, I\u2019ll be taking the time to investigate some of the interesting opportunities presented to me. But even if I do something completely different, I still want to write.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thank goodness for that last remark because Greg Johnson is a gifted writer with a large and loyal following of appreciative readers, especially golfers. For over 25 years, he\u2019s covered golf for The Press<\/em> and made sure champions of local events received their fair share of acclaim in the newspaper. \u201cHonestly, I had as much fun covering golfers such as Bob Sakocius and Tom Werkmeister at the West Michigan Amateur as I did going to the Buick Open and watching Tiger Woods,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cAt local events it was so easy to get around and besides they gave me a cart,\u201d he said laughing.<\/p>\n

Although assigned to everything \u201cfrom the Atlanta Olympics to a bocce ball tournament in downtown Grand Rapids,\u201d Johnson says golf always had a special appeal. \u201cI liked being around golf because of the people. There are good people in every sport but it\u2019s something about the game\u2014the decorum, the etiquette, the traditions\u2014that separates golfers from the rest,\u201d said Johnson.<\/p>\n

According to Johnson, the Masters Tournament is also something separate and extra special. \u201cCovering it is both a joy and a grind. It\u2019s an amazing and beautiful place but the demands and stress of getting the stories right at Augusta are difficult for outsiders to understand,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cI liked how Dan Jenkins described being at the Masters as an \u2018Alice in Wonderland-type experience.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Even when he was far from home at such storied and lush venues as Augusta National, Johnson never lost his perspective as a local newspaper reporter. He invariably found a Grand Rapids angle for one of his sidebars or notebooks during Masters week. Over the years, he mentioned Mark Wilson, a local PGA golf professional who served as a rules official at the Masters, as well as notes about a host of other West Michigan golfers who found themselves inside the hallowed grounds past Magnolia Lane. \u201cEarly on I understood that I was very lucky to be the readers\u2019 representative and so it was my job to see the tournament through their eyes. It wasn\u2019t difficult to find local angles at the Masters; you just had to be open to them,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cAnd often the best stories found me.\u201d<\/p>\n

On one occasion, a memorable story took root after Johnson learned a former Grand Rapids resident attending the Masters planned to honor his recently deceased best friend by tossing a symbolic memento into the famed pond at Augusta\u2019s 16th hole. I vividly recall how Johnson and the individual spoke for hours about his late friend and all the Masters had meant to him. Sharing the same rental home that year, I also know Johnson was up writing until the wee hours of the night, making sure the story reflected the poignant truth, the undying friendship and the muffled grief of the day. Like the best writing, it was crisp and lean, universal and touched the heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been fortunate to have learn so much from so many sportswriters,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cWhen I first started covering golf, Jack Saylor from the Detroit Free Press <\/em>told me not to worry about my own golf skills. He quipped, \u2018Heck, you don\u2019t have to be dead to write a good obituary. Just observe the events, ask the right questions and write it down as you know it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Greg Johnson listened well to his mentors and colleagues as he acutely observed sport\u2019s many arenas, asked the right questions, and then ably wrote it all down as he knew it.\u00a0 How fortunate are we, the readers, to have accompanied him on his journey.<\/p>\n

But heck, this is sounding like an obituary. In the here and now, Johnson\u2019s impressive career is merely taking a detour.<\/p>\n

Greg, see you around the bend.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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