Dana Garmany, the founder of Troon and one of the most influential executives in modern golf, received the National Golf Foundation’s 2025 Graffis Award for outstanding and long-time contributions to the game and business of golf.
Garmany was presented with the NGF’s highest honor at this year’s NGF Golf Business Symposium in the Denver area, where he was recognized in front of more than 120 of the golf industry’s leading executives at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center. The Graffis Award is named after the organization’s founders, Herb and Joe Graffis.
Dana Garmany (left) receives the NGF’s highest annual honor, The Graffis Award, from President and CEO Greg Nathan.
With more than 40 years of industry experience, Garmany has shaped the global golf landscape through groundbreaking leadership, visionary operational standards, and a people-first approach that transformed how facilities serve players. He founded Troon in 1990 and, through decades as Chairman and CEO, guided its ascent from a single-facility management company into the world’s preeminent operator of golf courses and private clubs. Today, Troon leads the industry at more than 900 locations worldwide and across 13 brands spanning golf, tennis, hospitality, food & beverage, and sports management.
Garmany was among the earliest advocates for treating daily-fee guests with the elevated service and attention typically reserved for private members — pioneering the “member for a day” philosophy first introduced at Troon North. The approach became a hallmark of Troon’s culture and a catalyst for significant growth, with a scalable management model emphasizing service and consistency. Troon today is not only the global leader in golf course management but also the largest employer of PGA professionals in the world, with Garmany long encouraging PGA members to expand into executive and operational roles beyond traditional positions.
Garmany’s leadership has been widely recognized. His honors include induction into the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame, the Southwest Section PGA Hall of Fame, the University of Alabama Hospitality Hall of Fame, the DeKalb County, Alabama, Sports Hall of Fame, and he was the recipient of the HSBC International Golf Forum Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2020, he was named the first-ever recipient of the PGA of America’s Executive of the Year Award. Garmany currently serves on Troon’s Board of Directors and remains active across industry and community initiatives.
Past NGF award recipients include high-profile golfers (Palmer, Nicklaus and Patty Berg); equipment company CEOs (Karsten Solheim, Ely Callaway); golf administrators (Judy Bell, Deane Beman); and golf educators and teachers (Peggy Kirk Bell, Bob Toski). In recent years, longtime First Tee CEO Joe Louis Barrow Jr. was honored in 2021, the 2022 award went to PGA Master Professional and Morton Golf CEO Ken Morton Sr., Golf Digest editor-in-chief Jerry Tarde was recognized in 2023, and former TaylorMade and adidas head Mark King received the 2024 Graffis Award.
