GCSAA to sponsor Special Olympics tourney

The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America has signed on as a supporting sponsor for the 2005 Special Olympics Golf National Invitational Tournament, Sept. 16 through 19 at the Ames (Iowa) Golf & Country Club.

In addition to a financial contribution, GCSAA and members of the Iowa Golf Course Superintendents Association, an affiliated chapter of the GCSAA, will conduct an educational walking clinic at Ames Golf & Country Club. The walking clinic is designed to showcase the many aspects of a golf course, the environmental compatibility of golf courses, and to educate players about the preparation and conditioning of the playing surface. It will cover: the history of the course and game of golf; greens construction and management/hole cutting demonstration; hazards/bunkers; golf course irrigation; fairways, rough and natural areas; tee construction/management; course set up; and golf and the environment.

“This event and the Special Olympics golf program are typical of the efforts the golf industry have supported and must continue to support to foster access and inclusion in the game,” says GCSAA president Tim O’Neill, CGCS. “GCSAA is pleased to support the Special Olympics Golf National Invitational Tournament and looks forward to helping make it a memorable event for all participants.”

Nearly 200 Special Olympics golfers and, in team play, their non-Special Olympics partners from 29 states will compete in one of five levels of competition at the sixth annual tournament. Coldwater Golf Links will host competitors for the individual skills competition and nine-hole alternate shot team play while the Ames Golf & County Club will host 18-hole alternate shot team play and nine-hole and 18-hole individual stroke play. Olympic-style opening ceremonies will be Sept. 16 with three competitive rounds played Sept. 17 through 19. Awards will be presented immediately following the final round. Nearly 400 Special Olympics golfers, partner players, volunteers, coaches, staff and family members will participate in the tournament. For more information, visit www.specialolympicsgolf.org.