This year’s efforts will continue

What a year. The presidential election, the economy, a U.S. Ryder Cup win and Penn State signing Joe Paterno to a three-year extension are the major stories of the past 12 months!

At GCSAA, Mark Woodward as our new CEO, the first National Golf Day, the results of surveys on land and water use and the naming of Col. John Morley to receive the Old Tom Morris Award were some of our top stories.

I’ve enjoyed serving as your president. From Ireland to Honolulu I’ve seen tremendous respect and admiration for what you do. The leaders of the golf world agree that superintendents are key to a facility’s economic success.

The best news, however, is that golf is working together like never before. Part of this is the economy, but for several years GCSAA has been building relationships with allied golf associations. This working behind the scenes resulted in the Golf Industry Show.

This effort helped grow our relationships throughout the rest of the golf world. If GCSAA had not created these relationships and had not brought together allied associations to form the GIS, golf would not be working together as well as it is.

And the effort continues. As I write this, GCSAA’s board of directors is traveling to Myrtle Beach, S.C., for our winter meeting, where we will convene with the officers and CEO of the PGA of America. We’ll also meet this year with the director of the NGCOA and USGA’s executive committee. It’s our hope that these meetings will become regular events, along with meetings with directors of all allied associations. These meetings allow golf’s volunteer leaders to get to know each other and learn more about what we all want — for the game of golf to thrive and be successful.

We’re also working to build relationships with the members we’re elected to serve. In the last four years the board has met with 60 chapter leaders as we move our meetings around the country. We’re also monitoring three field staff programs to determine the best model to serve you at the local level.

Also in Myrtle Beach we’ll hold our first-ever chapter town hall meeting with members of the Carolinas chapter. We are expecting about 100 members and have invited them to ask questions and make comments. We’d like to hold more town hall meetings so we can meet and hear directly from you.

Thank you for allowing me to serve you for the past 12 months. I’m excited about where you and GCSAA are positioned in the game of golf, and I believe our future is bright.

God has blessed me with a terrific wife and family and an employer in Signature Golf Group that has supported me tremendously throughout this year. But it is my faith in God and His son Jesus that has provided me with the ability and desire to serve others. I have written before that we are put here to serve others and I want to take one final opportunity to encourage you to get involved and to serve. Thank you.