Tim Rosaforte, the brilliant scribe from South Florida, who later worked for several national television networks, has died.

When I first became the golf writer for The Hartford Courant in the early 1970s, one of the first major national writers whom I got to know was Rosaforte.

He was as acknowledgeable and personable as they came. And I was fortunate to become good friends with him.

Tim had been battling Alzheimer’s Disease for several years. He passed away on Tuesday in Jupiter, Fla., at the age of 66, from complications of the insidious disease.

Rosaforte was a senior writer at Golf Digest and its sister publication Golf World for more than 20 years, and also worked at Sports Illustrated, Golf Channel and NBC before being forced to retire in 2019 because of Alzheimer’s.

Tim grew up in Mount Kisco, N.Y., and attended the University of Bridgeport for two years before transferring to the University of Rhode Island, where he played football and earned a degree in journalism in 1977. He began his career at the Tampa Times in 1977, earned more than 40 writing awards, including first place in all four non-daily categories of the Golf Writers Association of America writing contest.

Rosaforte covered 125 major championships and 17 Ryder Cups. He received the PGA of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism, and the Memorial Tournament’s golf journalism award from host Jack Nicklaus.

The PGA also awarded him a lifetime membership – the first journalist to receive the honor. He was honored last year when the Honda Classic, which he covered for three decades near his home, named its media center after him. The tournament also announced the Tim Rosaforte Distinguished Writers’ Award to be presented annually, and he was the first recipient.

Rosaforte was survived by his wife, Genevieve, daughters Molly and Genna and three grandchildren.

RIP, Tim – one of the classiest and kindest people that I’ve ever met while covering sports for 52 years.