Mark Carnevale, a longtime fixture on the PGA Tour and in media broadcasting, died unexpectedly on July 22, 2024 at age 64. Referred to by his colleagues as “Carny,” he was born in Annapolis, Maryland, and played college golf for James Madison University. He turned professional in 1983, but it wasn’t until 1992 that his won his first PGA Tour event, the Chattanooga Classic, a win that also won him PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. He later won the Nike Inland Empire Open, on a second tier tour, but Chattanooga was his only PGA Tour win. In 2005 Carnevale began his true career in golf broadcasting, where he excelled as an on-course reporter for SiriusXM Radio. He also regularly covered tournaments for “PGA Tour LIVE” on ESPN+. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan posted a statement following Carnevale’s passing: “Mark knew the game and did a terrific job of conveying insights from his unique point of view – and with engaging sense of humor – to fans from countless of Tour events through the years.”
Susie Maxwell Berning, who died on October, 2, 2024 at 83, was a trailblazer in women’s professional golf, having won 11 LPGA tournaments, including three majors. She was born in Pasadena, California, in 1941, and moved with her family to Oklahoma City at age 13. She stumbled into golf (as GlobalGolfPost.com recites it) when her colt broke free on a bridle path, and Maxwell chased it across nearby Lincoln Park Golf Course, where the animal damaged some greens. She made amends with the head pro by teaching his children to ride, and then was invited to the course to see Patty Berg conduct a clinic. At age 15 she was bitten by the golf bug. Golf came as easy to her as riding that colt. She was the first female to receive a golf scholarship to Oklahoma City University, where she competed on the men’s team. She turned pro in 1964, the year she was named LPGA Rookie of the Year. She proceeded to win 11 times over the span of 12 years, including three U.S. Open titles in 1968, 1972 and 1973, along with the Western Open in 1965 which was considered a major in those days. She retired from competitive golf in 1996 to become a part-time instructor.“Golf has been great to me,” she said in her WGHOF remarks, “throughout my golf career I was able to raise a family (two daughters), which was icing on the cake. That’s one reason I didn’t play as many years or as many events.”
Englishman Peter Oosterhuis was a successful professional golfer and broadcaster who died on May 2, 2024, one day shy of his 76th birthday. He was fondly known in the golfing community as “Oosty.” Oosterhuis turned professional in November 1968, winning seven times on the European Tour and three times on the South African Tour. He won the Harry Vardon/European Order of Merit four times (1971-74). His only PGA Tour win was the 1981 Canadian Open in which he defeated Andy North, Bruce Lietzke and Jack Nicklaus by one shot. It is possible that Oosty underperformed in stroke-play tour events, but the evidence of how strong his game proved to be was in the six Ryder Cups he played from 1971 through 1981, representing Great Britain, Ireland/Europe. In 1994 Oosty was hired to cover the PGA Tour by Britain’s Sky Sports and covered the Open Championship for the BBC in 1996 and 1997. In 1998, he joined the CBS Sports announcer team, with stalwarts Jim Nantz, Ken Venturi, Peter Kostis and Gary McCord. His broadcast analyst career wrapped up in 2015 when he announced that he had early stages of Alzheimer’s.