Randy Allen, director of golf course operations for Burroughs and Chapin in Myrtle Beach, S.C., has been appointed to the Carolinas Golf Association executive committee. Allen, CGCS, is the first superintendent to serve on the CGA’s governing body. With close to 900 courses, the Carolinas is one of the most golf-centric regions in the country generating more than $5-billion economic benefit each year.
“We have always valued the agronomic side of the game as people know, through our creation of a foundation in 1977 to support turfgrass efforts and our full-time agronomist’s position,” CGA executive director, Jack Nance, says. “And we’ve known Randy for a long time and look forward to embracing his expertise and perspective. He’s proven throughout his career that he is a leader.”
Allen began his career in golf course maintenance in 1973 and hosted five Senior Tour Championships while at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach. He is a Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association past-president and won the association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2006. He says his relationship and respect for the CGA goes back to his days at Camden Country Club in Camden, S.C., where then green committee chairman, Joe McCarley, was a longtime CGA executive committee member.
“I love the game and it’s exciting to join the CGA executive committee which gives me a new level of involvement,” Allen says. “It’s a group I have always felt close to and it’s a great opportunity to contribute to the game and benefit the golf course superintendent profession too. I’m humbled. It’s an honor and I will do all I can to try and make a positive difference.”
Carolinas GCSA executive director, Chuck Borman, says Allen’s appointment is further recognition of the increased appreciation of the golf course superintendent’s role in the overall health of the game. “It seems like there are new firsts for superintendents every day now and Randy is the ideal man to represent his profession and the game at such a level,” Borman says. “Everyone in the Carolinas GCSA is proud of him and they should take some pride for themselves too because Randy’s appointment says the superintendent perspective is critical as golf looks ahead in the Carolinas.”
