PGA Professionals, GCSAA superintendents, club presidents, directors and managers came together with association officials and executives to discuss their best practices to grow the game of golf at Princess Anne Country Club in Virginia Beach, Va., last month.
CMAA c.e.o. James B. Singerling served as moderator of the event. Other industry eaders who took part in panel discussion were NGCOA c.e.o. Michael Hughes, MAPGA Executive Director Dick Johns, PGA of America Senior Manager of Player Development Ron Stepanek, VGCSA President Eric Spurlock and Executive Director David Norman, VSGA President Steve Smith and Executive Director Jamie Conkling, CMAA Senior VP Ron Rosenbaum and USGA Green Section Senior Agronomist Darin Bevard.
The panelists review a number of recent efforts and best practices, including:
• National Golf Day, held in Washington, D.C., on April 16, 2008. All segments of the industry came together in the first combined effort to illustrate the business of golf to legislative decision-makers. The organizations represented were the USGA, PGA, GCSAA, CMAA, PGA Tour, LPGA, First Tee and Golf 20/20.
• The PGA’s Play Golf America program, which includes promotions like Take Your Daughter to the Course week, Patriot Golf Day, Family Golf month, PGA Free Lesson month and many others.
They also highlighted a number of golf’s key messages, including the need to promote golf as not just a game, but as an industry that offers jobs, purchases goods and services and maintains green spaces.
