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A helping hand
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Late March is traditionally calm-before-the-storm time in the golf course management industry, tucked uneventfully between the furor of the annual GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show and the nervous anticipation of a new golf season.
This March, however, that quiet period wasn’t so quiet. The announcement of a landmark agreement between GCSAA and the LPGA that will provide a full-time GCSAA agronomist to the women’s professional golf tour made sure of that.
The news about the tour agronomist, who will be a GCSAA employee but will work closely with LPGA officials on issues relating to course conditions and setup at the LPGA’s host facilities, had plenty of superintendents polishing their résumés. In the end, more than 60 submitted applications for the position, and early this month, the final round of interviews will take place, with an announcement of a hiring soon to follow.
As big as this news was to GCSAA and superintendents across the country, it was just as big within the walls of the LPGA and among the tour’s players. So GCM asked Elizabeth “Libba” Galloway, the deputy commissioner of the LPGA, for her perspective on the agreement. To read the full Q&A with Galloway, visit GCM’s blog.
Q: What does this agreement mean for the LPGA and its players?
A: One of our key focuses is on improving the stages on which we play. And we think that by having a full-time agronomist, we’ll be able to do that. That brings more visibility to the LPGA and also enhances our competitions. By having an agronomist, we think that we’re going to achieve more consistent course conditions and things that affect course set-up, like fairway widths, height of the cut for roughs and fairways, greens speeds and things like that.
I would also say that it helps us to have an agronomist in terms of serving as a liaison between the LPGA and the management team at the host facility. Our tournament officials are extremely knowledgeable about the rules of golf and know quite a bit about course set-up, but they are not trained agronomists the way superintendents are. We think it will be helpful to have a full-time person on staff who speaks the same language that the host superintendents and their staffs speak.
Q: What has been the reaction of your players to this announcement?
A: The players are absolutely delighted about these developments. Having a full-time agronomist on staff is something that our players have, quite frankly, been talking about for several years. They are obviously looking to achieve the same things that we are looking for, so when we made the announcement at the player meetings in March, it was extremely well received.
Q: How has the working relationship between GCSAA and the LPGA developed over the years, and how does the LPGA view GCSAA, golf course superintendents and their role in the game of golf?
A: Since I’ve been at the LPGA, we’ve had a good relationship with GCSAA. One thing that helped make this come to pass was when Steve Mona was kind enough to join our commissioner’s advisory council last year. With him being a part of that, the relationship just grew that much stronger.
From GCSAA’s point of view, this is a good thing, a beneficial thing where the stars just aligned to where the things that the LPGA wanted to accomplish lined up with what GCSAA wanted to accomplish.
July is the first-ever “Bring Your Kids to the Golf Range” month, a program endorsed by the Golf Range Association of America and Golf Digest publications as part of Play Golf America’s Family Golf Month. The grow-the-game initiative is open to the first 200 golf ranges or golf courses with ranges that register. Participants who bring a child or grandchild to the range will receive two buckets of range balls for $20, plus a free subscription to Golf Digest, Golf for Women or GolfWorld. Prize packages including golf equipment will also be awarded in addition to the grand prize of a family golf package to Wild Dunes in Charleston, S.C. For more information, visit www.golfrange.org/initiatives.html, or to register your facility, visit www.playgolfamerica.com/index.cfm?action=byka. July also is Play Golf America’s Family Golf Month, and July 9-15 is Take Your Daughter to the Course Week. Participating golf courses will offer a free clinic and complimentary green fees to young ladies accompanied by a paying adult. Last year, 1,242 facilities hosted the program, and 74,490 golfers participated. Visit www.playgolfamerica.com for more information. |
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