PGA Tour Donations Help Support Three Key GCSAA Programs Major gift pledges will assist funding for BMPs, First Green and Allan MacCurrach Jr. Award
The PGA TOUR has announced two major donations to the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) through the GCSAA Foundation to help fund GCSAA’s Facility Best Management Practices Initiative, First Green STEM-education program, and the Allan MacCurrach Jr. Award. The PGA TOUR will contribute $250,000 over five years to help implement BMPs on the golf facility level and to support the First Green. From 2016-2021, the PGA TOUR provided similar funding to GCSAA to provide grants to GCSAA Chapters to help establish BMP guidelines, which feature agronomic practices that support environmental stewardship, in all 50 states. In January, GCSAA announced that goal had been reached. 48
“The PGA TOUR’s generosity was key in our reaching our ambitious goal of BMPs in all 50 states,” GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans said. “We thank them not only for their financial support as we move on to the next BMP step, but also for their backing of programs that help grow the game of golf and the superintendent profession like First Green and the MacCurrach Award.” Now that the state BMPs have been established, the initiative moves on to the next phase with creation of facility BMP manuals. Using the GCSAA Planning Guide, individual golf facilities can use their state guides to create a BMP manual for their course. Facility BMP manuals not only direct and document agronomic and environmental practices, but they provide an easy, detailed reference for golfers, lawmakers and community members Golf Central • Volume 22, Issue 5
