Eighteen holes at Georgia’s Sea Island Resort and more than 1,200 other rounds are available in the 2018 Rounds 4 Research auction. Photo courtesy of Sea Island Resort
The Rounds 4 Research online auction will kick off Monday, April 30, with more than 1,200 rounds of golf (each round includes two or four players) at courses in 41 states plus Canada, the Cayman Islands, Costa Rica and Switzerland. The auction will run through Sunday, May 6.
Rounds 4 Research is a venture of the Environmental Institute for Golf (EIFG), the philanthropic organization of GCSAA. It is presented in partnership with The Toro Co., with media promotion provided by Golf Channel, Golf Advisor and GolfNow. Funds generated from the auction go toward the research-related activities of GCSAA and its affiliated chapters. Since its launch in 2012, Rounds 4 Research has distributed more than $600,000 for turfgrass research, education and advocacy programs. The 2017 auction raised more than $200,000.
Some of the high-profile facilities that have donated rounds for the 2018 auction include Sea Island Resort in Sea Island, Ga., Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Fla., and TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. — all hosts of PGA Tour events.
“We are grateful to the facilities and golf management companies that have contributed to this year’s Rounds 4 Research auction,” says Rhett Evans, CEO of GCSAA. “Rounds 4 Research offers golfers a chance to play a round at a notable golf course or a local favorite, while funding research that supports the future of the great game of golf.”
Several golf management companies have also joined the effort to support turfgrass research, among them Marriott Golf, the PGA Tour TPC Network, Billy Casper Golf, ClubCorp, Troon Golf, and Founders Group International in the Myrtle Beach, S.C., area.
You can preview all the offerings in the 2018 auction now, and can donate a round throughout the event.