Bob Bubka, longtime voice of golf, dies at 83
For a quarter century, Bubka was the golf correspondent for TalkSport in the United Kingdom, which is recognized as the world's biggest sports radio station, during a career that spanned six decades.
"His velvety, iconic voice carried with it the passion and love that Bob had for the game and the people he covered along the way," Elbin wrote in a tribute to his friend and podcast partner on Facebook. "He was, indeed, the Voice of Golf."
Bubka, who grew up in Sag Harbor, N.Y., started working in radio in 1964, covering high school football locally at WLGN in Long Island, and provided sports commentary to the station for more than 50 years. He began covering golf in the 1980s, working for Westwood One and the PGA Tour Radio Network, including his "Outside the Ropes" show. Among his many claims to fame, he was the first member of the media to interview Jack Nicklaus after he won the 1986 Masters. Bubka and Nicklaus maintained a longstanding relationship and when Nicklaus was made an honorary citizen of St. Andrews, Scotland, during the 2022 British Open, Nicklaus invited him to be his guest at the ceremony. Bubka also penned a book on the history of the Ryder Cup, and counted the biennial competition among his favorite events. He would've been particularly proud of the 2025 Ryder Cup being played at Bethpage Black in late September, not far from where he grew up.
In 2000, Bubka landed a job with Talk Sport, bringing his booming New York tones to the UK sports radio station. Bubka traveled the world, covering more than 130 major golf championships. In his later years, he lived outside of Houston with partner Janis Self, the executive producer of his podcast.
Bubka's Talk Sport producer Sean O'Brien recalled once asking Bubka why he kept working long hours during major championships, providing updates around the clock long past the typical age of retirement when he easily could have "sailed off into the sunset and basked in the glory of an extraordinary broadcasting career."
'You could spend every day on the beach,' O'Brien told him.
'But Sean, this is my beach,' Bubka responded.
"Bob gave golf its most recognizable voice, and in return, golf gave him a sense of purpose — and he dedicated his life to covering it well," O'Brien said.
For the last 25 years, Rupert Bell was Bubka's partner in crime. 'Radio is about voices," Bell said. "There is no doubt when you heard Bob Bubka speak, it just grabbed you."
In recent years, he and Elbin teamed up to do a popular podcast, "Musings on Sports," which morphed into "Musings on Golf." Through their vast network of relationships in the game, they welcomed a who's who of guests from Jim Nantz to, most recently, Lee Trevino over the course of more than 150 shows. "What a thrill it was for me to partner with the guy who always called me, 'my man,'" Elbin said.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Golf announcer Bob Bubka dies at 83
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