John Huggan, centre in blue, has been an editor and writer for Golf Digest and its publications since 1986. Ross Kinnaird

Long-time Golf Digest contributor John Huggan has been named the 2023 recipient of the Memorial Golf Journalism Award, presented by the Memorial Tournament, the PGA Tour event hosted annually by Jack Nicklaus in suburban Columbus, Ohio.

The award, first presented in 1982, is reserved for journalists in print and electronic media who have served their profession with conspicuous honour and have made a major contribution and impact on golf journalism.

Huggan, 62, was selected via a vote of the Memorial Tournament’s Journalism Committee. Past Golf Digest recipients include Tim Rosaforte, Jerry Tarde, Bob Verdi, Ken Bowden, Nick Seitz and Dan Jenkins.

“This is special award for me, if only because of its connection to Jack Nicklaus,” Huggan said. “Where I come from, no one is admired more for the way he played golf — win or lose.”

A native of Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, Huggan was a fine junior golfer who played on several national youth teams. Among his achievements were wins in the 1977 Scottish Boys Stroke-Play Championship and the 1978 Scottish Boys. He advanced to the quarter-finals of the (British) Amateur in 1985.

He began his writing career in 1986 as instruction editor for Golf World UK, a sister publication to Golf Digest, and two years later, after a temporary assignment with Golf Digest, he moved to the US in 1988 and served as its instruction editor for eight years before returning to Scotland to become golf writer for the Glasgow Herald. However, he has remained a writer-at-large for Golf Digest as well as for golfdigest.com. Current writing credits also include Golf Australia magazine, where he has been a columnist since 2005.

Huggan is the 59th recipient of the Memorial’s journalism award. He will be honoured on Wednesday, May 31, at Muirfield Village Golf Club during the tournament’s annual Honouree Ceremony, sharing the stage with three-time major champion Larry Nelson, the tournament’s honouree.