NGF TOP 100 BUSINESSES IN GOLF
GCSAA
Category
Corporate Headquarters
Lawrence, Kansas
Website
Key Employees
Rhett Evans, Chief Executive Officer
Cameron Oury, Chief Financial Officer
Greg Stacey, Senior Manager, Market Research
Eileen Bangalan, Senior Director, Business Strategy
Emily Bradford, Senior Manager, Executive Operations
Shelia Finney, Senior Director, Member Programs
Profile
The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America is the professional association for almost 18,000 member men and women who manage and maintain the sport’s most valuable resource – the golf courses. The GCSAA provides education, information and advocacy to its members in more than 78 countries.
The mission of the GCSAA is to serve its members, advance their profession and enhance the enjoyment, growth and vitality of the game.
The GCSAA’s philanthropic arm is the Environmental Institute for Golf, which seeks to foster sustainability through research, awareness, education, programs and scholarships for the benefit of golf course management professionals, golf facilities and the game.
The association continues to notably invest in the future of the golf industry by supporting turfgrass research projects throughout chapters across the country.
NGF Takeaways
Since taking over as the GCSAA’s chief executive officer in 2011, Rhett Evans has focused on expanding the association’s reach and influence to become the global leader in golf course management. The GCSAA has also elevated the superintendents’ collective voice through advocacy efforts at both the national and grassroots levels.
Under Evans’ leadership, the discussion of sustainability has progressed from theory to action at golf facilities. Additionally, GCSAA is developing centralized best management practices, tools and templates to enhance environmental progress while improving the financial health of golf courses around the country. The GCSAA’s stated goal is to have best management practices (BMP) established in all 50 states by 2020.
GCSAA members are often called upon as conservation, environmental, stewardship and water management experts in their communities on subjects or issues unrelated to golf.
Herb Graffis, a founder of the NGF and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, was a pioneer in the creation of the GCSAA and was the most vocal and influential advocate for changing the old “greenskeeper” nomenclature to “superintendent,” helping to elevate the profession and the super’s standing at the golf course.
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