Renowned local golf writer Marino Parascenzo dies at 95
By Mike Dudurich, Contributing Writer • August 27, 2025
Marino Parascenzo was many things to many people.
He was a loving husband, father, and grandfather.
He was one of the best to ever sit down in front of a typewriter (and eventually a laptop) and spin tales about the game he very much loved: golf.
And he was just a great guy to be around. An enthusiastic sense of humor, caring and always ready to help young sportswriters should they pose questions to him.
As Bob Ford, the retired long-time head golf professional at Oakmont Country Club, put it, “He was the G.O.A.T. in his world.”
Parascenzo, who lived for many years in Ellwood City, passed away Sunday night at the age of 95 after a lingering illness.
He covered a variety of sports for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette before taking over the golf beat in 1975. It was during his 30-plus years on the beat that he rose to national and international prominence as an elite golf writer.
Parascenzo received 20 national awards over the 30-plus years on the golf beat. He also was recognized for his coverage of local golf, something he strongly believed in. Parascenzo was a regular at West Penn Golf Association events, as well as Tri-State PGA tournaments.
Not surprisingly, he was inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Fame in 2016, and he also received the Tri-State PGA’s Distinguished Service Award in 1997.
“One of a kind,” long-time former head of the Tri-State PGA Dennis Darak said. “I often referred to him as golfing’s gentleman. He was one of the greatest supporters of our organization.”
Darak said Parascenzo played a key role with the PGA of America that few people knew about.
“He was instrumental when the PGA was struggling with its image and made some suggestions that proved very important,” Darak said. “He was a great guy and a great friend.”
Augusta National Golf Club, the site of one of his favorite tournaments each year, presented Parascenzo with the 2015 Masters Major Achievement Award during the 2015 Masters.
For years and years, Parascenzo was a fixture at the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship.
He was fortunate his employer realized the status Parascenzo had in the game and allowed him to cover golf championships in a dozen countries.
But Marino Parascenzo was so much more than a guy who covered golf as a beat.
He was also an author, including a major article on Arnold Palmer in the West Penn Golf Association’s “A Century of Golf in Western Pennsylvania.”
Parascenzo’s articles appeared in publications such as Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, Sports Illustrated and the USGA’s Golf Journal.
He also wrote a wonderful history of Oakmont Country Club called Oakmont, 100 Years, an expansive look at one of the great golf courses in the world. The book was written in conjunction with the club’s centennial in 2003.
“He wrote a very good book about the club, and it was appreciated by everybody who read it,” said Ford. “Marino was a great friend to all of us for so many years. He was just a fun guy to be around and everybody knew him, that’s for sure. He was a guy’s guy, fun to be with. And he had a profound sense of humor.”
Parascenzo lived with his wife, Leona, and daughter, Marina, in Ellwood City, not all that far from Olde Stonewall Golf Club. And it didn’t take him to strike up a friendship with Jesse Horner, the pro in the early years of the facility.
“It’s sad,” Horner said. “May he rest in peace. He was truly special. I used to tell him, ‘Only in America could a guy who sucks so much at golf be such a great guy.’”
One of the highlights of Parascenzo’s career came in 2008 when he was the recipient of the 2008 PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism. He became the 19th individual to be selected for that award.
Another high point came in 1986 when he was named the 28th president of the Golf Writers Association of America. Only one other journalist from Western Pennsylvania held that role, that being Bob Drum of the now defunct Pittsburgh Press in 1959-60.
“The WPGA is saddened to learn of the passing of Marino Parascenzo,” said Terry Teasdale, executive director of the WPGA. “Marino, a Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Famer, had a profound impact on the game of golf in our region and beyond. We extend our deepest condolences during this time.
”Parascenzo always looked back on his time in newspapers as a wonderful time. He started at the Ellwood City Ledger and New Castle News before moving to the Post-Gazette.
“There was never a day I didn’t enjoy my job,” he once said. “Every day was exciting and interesting. There was never a dull moment, and each story had a life of its own.”
Parascenzo had a bit of nostalgia for newspapers. He remembered his days as a “newspaper man” with great fondness.
“There was never a day that I didn’t enjoy my job,” Parascenzo said. “Every day was exciting and interesting. There was never a dull moment, and each story had a life of its own.”
Visitation will be held Thursday, August 28 from 4-7 p.m. and Friday, August 29 at 10 a.m. until the blessing service at 11 a.m. at the Samuel Teolis Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc. in Ellwood City.
Entombment with full military honors will follow at Holy Redeemer Cemetery.
About the WPGA
Founded in 1899, the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association is the steward of amateur golf in the region. Started by five Member Clubs, the association now has nearly 200 Member Clubs and nearly 37,000 members. The WPGA conducts 14 individual competitions and 10 team events, and administers the WPGA Scholarship Fund and Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Fame.