The GCM staff is covering National Golf Day advocacy and community service activities in Washington, D.C. as they unfold. Check back
often for the latest updates. For more stories on National Golf Day, click here.
Friday, May 2
• National Golf Day attendees gave back today at two service projects at Washington, D.C. golf courses. Participants at East Potomac Golf Links aerified trees and approaches on the National Links Trust-operated Red Course, and fixed cart paths in addition to picking up trash. At Old Soldiers' Home Golf Course, volunteers did extensive work, including planting trees, topdressing, aerification and cleaning out a maintenance shed.
Daniel Durrough, GCSAA Class A superintendent at Kiva Dunes Golf Club in Gulf Shores, Ala., said the experience helped build connections, both with his fellow superintendents and back home.
"I was thrilled to see so many people show up. Some of us like this part of the event even better than going to the hill. It helps us connect. If you're digging a hole with someone, you're probably not going to dig it quietly," Durrough said.
Old Soldier's Home Golf Course is part of the Armed Forces Retirement Home, a federally funded retirement community for veterans. In addition to the campus in DC, there's also an Armed Forces Retirement home in Gulfport, Miss., not far from Durrough's home in Alabama. "It feels like a direct tie, which is nice," Durrough said.
Thursday, May 1
• National Golf Day attendees headed to Capitol Hill today to meet with their members of congress about issues facing the golf industry. The group of golf industry advocates represented 40 different states, and attended over 260 meetings. In addition to GCSAA members, National Golf Day had attendees from the PGA, the American Society of Golf Course Architects, industry partners and more.
"As much as this is hard work, it's a formative experience," Kristen Liebsch, executive director of the Philadelphia Association of GCS, said.
This was the third National Golf Day for Liebsch, a two-year GCSAA member, and she said she was encouraged by today's legislator meetings.
"Our meeting with Sen. Dave McCormick's (R-Pa.) staffer went exceptionally well," Liebsch said. "She was so engaging and willing to answer questions. She came prepared with questions of her own, and detailed the process of what happens after we have a meeting."
Chava McKeel, GCSAA's director of government affairs has a few years of attendance on Liebsch — this was her 17th time coming to Washington for the event — but she says it's as exciting as it's ever been.
"It never gets old. The event keeps growing, and the excitement and enthusiasm for it keeps growing," McKeel says. "It's great that so many people are as excited about this event as GCSAA is."
• During a dinner on Thursday night, GCSAA recognized the efforts of the winners of the Grassroots Ambassador Leadership Awards. Three recipients received recognition: Bryce Gibson, CGCS, superintendent at Interlachen Country Club in Winter Park, Fla., Clinton Tingen, CGCS, superintendent at Sandhill Crane Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and Wayne Lagasse, CGCS, superintendent at Stonington Country Club in Stonington, Ct. (pictured above) "There are so many pressing issues not just right now, but that affect how we work moving forward," Lagasse said. "Some of the most important tools for me have been reaching out to other clubs to see what they're doing, and communicating with members to see what their needs are."
Wednesday, April 30
• National Golf Day events got underway this afternoon with a keynote discussion between Jake Sherman, co-founder of Punchbowl News, and Jay Perron, a partner at Prism Group lobbying firm, which works with AGIC and GCSAA on legislative issues. This year's National Golf Day is the biggest yet, with 250 attendees preparing to meet with lawmakers to discuss bipartisan legislation related to the tax code, health savings account funds applied toward golf and more. Check out GCM's primer on this year's National Golf Day for more information.
• Before entering the turf industry and becoming an advocate for golf as a grassroots ambassador, Chad Allen, GCSAA Class A superintendent at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Ind., worked as a substance abuse counselor. "The successes are very small," he says. "Not that that was something that was important to me, I just got burned out."
Now Allen, the 2025 recipient of GCSAA's Emerging Leader Award, uses the skills he picked up in his previous profession in his current one. Allen recently led a webinar for GCSAA on recognizing and constructively addressing substance abuse in team members. "I've always said the turf industry is a field of miscreants and vagabonds. It's the world of second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth chances," Allen says. "We're always welcoming and always looking for people who are willing to do some hard work and willing to connect and be better."
These days Allen also fosters connections with legislators as a GCSAA grassroots ambassador. For those who want to get involved, he says, the opportunities are plentiful. "If someone's considering being an ambassador, I'd say do it. There's people out there who truly care about the industry," Allen says. "Reach out to your regional GCSAA rep, or reach out to a grassroots ambassador in your area, find out what it's about, see what they're doing and how they're able to connect."
Photo courtesy of the American Golf Course Industry Coalition
• "I wasn't a golfer when I moved to Southern Pines," Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) told the group of National Golf Day attendees at Wednesday night's opening reception. Today, Hudson is the co-chair of the Congressional Golf Caucus, the group working to promote the PAR act, which would remove golf from a list of businesses not eligible for disaster relief funding according to section 144 of the U.S. tax code.
So what changed? Hudson's then-eight-year-old son took an interest in the game. Their first time playing together, the son beat the father 101 to 102. An embarassed Hudson started taking lessons, and the rest was history.
Hudson has become an avid golfer and an advocate for the industry — he has to be, since his district includes Southern Pines and Pinehurst. "Most of my colleagues in congress don't know golf's economic impact. The job of the golf caucus is to help tell your story," he told attendees.
Another benefit of working with other members of congress on golf legislation? Bipartisanship in an otherwise deeply divided political climate. "Jimmy (Panetta, D-Calif., co-sponsor of the PAR act) is a Democrat. I'm a Republican. Golf brings us together."