James Rosaforte III, 66, of Jupiter, joined the Lord on Jan. 11, 2022 after a brief battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.
“He was golf’s best friend and a big supporter of our organization and our students,” said Chapter Executive Director Carl Mistretta. “He was a dear friend to me and served as our Honorary Vice Chairman. We will miss him greatly.”
Tim, as his mom called him, attended Brewster High School and became the second person in his family to attend college, at the University of Bridgeport and the University of Rhode Island, where he also played on the football teams.
Tim graduated from URI in 1977 with a Bachelors of Science in Journalism. HE moved to Tampa where he worked as a sportswriter for the Tampa Times and Clearwater Sun, before moving to Fort Lauderdale in 1981 to work for the Sun-Sentinel. Tim married his wife, Genevieve Stewart, in Fort Lauderdale in 1983. They moved to Palm Beach County after their first daughter Genna was born in 1987, which is when he started writing for the Palm Beach Post. Their second daughter, Molly, was born in 1991.
Tim started writing for Sports Illustrated in 1994, then Golf World/Golf Digest in 1996 as his family moved to Jupiter. Tim also started working as a TV announcer for Sunshine Network in the 1990s. He appeared on PGA Tour Sunday on USA Network from 2003-2007 before he became a regular on Golf Channel, where he served as the sport’s first true “insider.”
Tim covered almost 150 majors and 17 Ryder Cups, wrote four books, won dozens of writing awards, served as president of the American Golf Writer’s Association, and received the PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. Tim retired in late 2019, not long after he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s.
Among his many honors: The PGA of America made him their 12th honorary member and the first journalist; he received the 2021 Memorial Golf Journalism Award from Jack and Barbara Nicklaus; his hometown Honda Classic named the Media Room after him and created the Tim Rosaforte Distinguished Writers’ Award; and the University of Rhode Island endowed a scholarship in Tim’s name in the neuroscience department.
Tim is survived by his wife Genevieve, daughters Genna (Nick) Bezek and Molly (Mason) Colling; grandchildren Graham, Finn and Saylor James; brothers Andy (Kim) Rosafort and Michael (Kathi) Rosafort, sister Shirlyn (Scott) Malley and his many nieces and nephews.
The family will hold a celebration of life Thursday, Feb. 17, (2pm) at Christ Fellowship Church in Palm Beach Gardens on 5343 Northlake Boulevard. The service will be live-streamed at funerals.online.church. In lieu of flowers, the family asks donations be made to Nantz National Alzheimer Center | Houston Methodist, and the Tim Rosaforte Scholarship, University of Rhode Island Foundation and Alumni Engagement, P.O. Box 1700, Kingston, R.I., 02881.