Things are looking up for Golferswest.com.
The 16-month-old website based out of Seattle was recognized Saturday night as the second-best new site in the Northwest region in 2012 during the annual Society of Professional Journalists awards dinner at the Renaissance Hotel in Seattle.
“Not bad when you consider the top site is collaboration of different sites – and paid employees,” co-founder Bob Sherwin said after receiving an award certificate. “We should be in the non-profit category – if there was one.”
Sherwin, who had more than 30 years of newspaper experience at the San Francisco Examiner and Seattle Times, was the force behind the website, which debuted in February 2012. He joined literary forces with Kirby Arnold, formerly of the Everett Herald, and 40-year newspaper/Internet scribe Jim Street to give golfers, and golfing fans, an in-depth look at golf courses from as far east as Colorado, as far south as New Mexico, as far west as the Hawaiian Islands and as far north as British Columbia, Canada.
During its first year of existence, Golfwerswest.com wrote several series, including a trip to Scotland by Sherwin and his son, Bobby; the Kauai Grand Slam by Sherwin and Street, and changes made to Chambers Bay as it prepares for the U.S. Open in 2015. All three GW writers contributed to the series, which received accolades from Chambers Bay and USGA Executive Director Mike Davis.
“It has been a labor of love,” Sherwin, a member at the Aldarra Golf Club, said of the site.
The contest is held annually by Region 10 of SPJ to honor exceptional journalism in Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.
More than 2,100 entries from more than 250 media organizations were submitted, reviewed and rated by out-of-state judges.
The EO Media Group Staff (“Discover our coast”) was selected as the best new website in 2012. Check out the competition then come back and tell us which one you like the most.