Ben Crane Honored with GWAA's Charlie Bartlett Award

(HOUSTON) – Ben Crane, whose charity work has touched thousands through the years, has been named the recipient of the Golf Writers Association of America Charlie Bartlett award, given to playing professionals for their unselfish contributions to the betterment of society.

"I am extremely honored to be the recipient of such an amazing award and its an honor for our family to be associated with such a great award and list of recipients,’’ Crane said.

“I am blessed to play professional golf for a living and I have been very fortunate to compete on the PGA Tour for close to two decades now, and the greatest privilege I have with being on the PGA Tour is giving back and I will never be able to give back to the level that I have been given."

Through the Ben and Heather Crane Foundation and in partnership with Discovery Land Company, Crane has used the ‘Day With The Pros’ golf tournament to raise more than more than $3 million that has been distributed to a variety of charities.

Among the projects supported by the Cranes are Love 146, which works toward the abolition of child sex slavery and exploitation; H.O.P.E. Farm, an afterschool program for boys without fathers; the College Golf Fellowship, in which the Cranes host several dozen college golfers at their home for a long weekend of golf and Bible study; Young Life; Charity: Water, which provides clean water to needy areas; and, the St. Bernard project, which has helped rebuild areas damaged and destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Additionally, they have traveled to Haiti to support “My Life Speaks” and they support “The Next Door.” The Cranes have also traveled to Cambodia and an orphanage in El Salvador.

Past winners of the award, named for the former Chicago Tribune writer and first secretary of the GWAA, include Peter Jacobsen, Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel, Ernie Els, Greg Norman, Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Patty Sheehan, Betsy King and Lorena Ochoa.

Crane will be honored at the 46th ISPS HANDA GWAA Annual Awards Dinner presented by the LPGA, PGA of America, PGA TOUR and USGA Wednesday April 4 in Augusta, Ga.

 The event will also honor the GWAA’s 2017 Players of the Year – Justin Thomas, Lexi Thompson and Bernhard Langer – 2018 William D. Richardson Award winner Billy Payne, Ben Hogan Award winner Stacy Lewis, ASAP Sports/Jim Murray Award winner Ernie Els and the winner of the GWAA’s 2018 Writing Contest.