Jay Mottola (2018)

2018 marked the 45^th year the MGA gave out the Distinguished Service Award, and its presentation to Jay Mottola was fitting as for most of those forty-five years he served as the Executive Director of the MGA. It is no exaggeration to say that Mottola is the single individual most responsible for so much of what the MGA is and represents today.

“Is it good for golf?” was the mantra that Mottola carried through his years with the MGA, and his improvements and initiatives across all aspects of the game and the MGA certainly showed that everything he did was for the good of the game and those involved.

His exhaustive work ethic and uncanny foresight about the growth potential in all areas of the MGA showed through some of his biggest achievements including – Re-vamping the handicapping system and beginnings of computerized handicapping, the creation of the GHIN service and Slope system, and industry-leading club insurance programs. Mottola also re-established the MGA Public Links Championship and the Ike Championship years ago, and many of his initiatives came together with the establishment of the MGA Foundation.

Mottola started at the MGA in the late 1970s as a member of the field team. He became executive director in 1982 and served in that position until 2016. Still active at Golf Central, Mottola now serves as a senior advisor for the MGA and the MGA Foundation. He and his wife, Patty, have four daughters.