PGA Irish RegionPaul KellyDermot Gilleece, Irish PGA

PGA Lifetime Achievement and Service to Golf award for Dermot Gilleece

PGA Irish RegionPaul KellyDermot Gilleece, Irish PGA
PGA Lifetime Achievement and Service to Golf award for Dermot Gilleece
Dermot Gilleece pauses for thought during The Open at Carnoustie last year

Dermot Gilleece pauses for thought during The Open at Carnoustie last year

The PGA in Ireland will honour renowned golf journalist, Dermot Gilleece at this year's Irish Professional Championship

He will receive the inaugural 'PGA in Ireland Service To Golf / Lifetime Achievement Award' on the eve of the 109th staging of the event at Bunclody Golf and Fishing Club next week.

Dermot (left) with Pádraig Harrington at his rented home at Oakland Hills the day after his 2008 PGA Championship win. Also pictured (L-R) are colleagues Brian Keogh, Philip Reid, Mark Jones and Karl MacGinty.

Dermot (left) with Pádraig Harrington at his rented home at Oakland Hills the day after his 2008 PGA Championship win. Also pictured (L-R) are colleagues Brian Keogh, Philip Reid, Mark Jones and Karl MacGinty.

Now a columnist with the Sunday Independent, Dermot recently covered his 40th Open Championship in a row at Royal Portrush.

In a career that has spanned numerous Majors and Ryder Cups, he has been greenside to record some of the most remarkable moments in golfing history.

From the glory years of O'Connor, Carr and Bradshaw to the more recent Irish successes of Harrington, McIlroy and Lowry, he has seen it all and retains an encyclopedic knowledge of names, dates, facts and figures, even as he approaches his 80th birthday.

The award will be presented to Dermot during a celebratory dinner after the Irish PGA Pro-Am on August 19, followed by a Q&A session with Dermot featuring contributions from other notable names from the world of golf.