Local Knowledge

GET READY FOR YOUR UPCOMING SEASON [USGA TM]

Season preparation is a critical part of tournament operations at a golf club. Whether you are preparing for your first season using USGA TM or transitioning from a prior season to a new season, there are important steps and practices that will help you run your season more smoothly, and also help you transition to future seasons.

The customer support team at USGA TM powered by Golf Genius has created a step-by-step guide to get your season started on the right track. Among the topics covered include creating new users and removing old users, updating course details to reflect changes such as Course Rating, Slope and yardage, adding new players to the master roster and deleting old ones and creating and organizing events and leagues for your full season.

To review the full “Steps to Prepare for Your Season” guide, click here.

VOA CLASSIC PARTNERSHIP OFFERS LPGA EXEMPTION FOR TEXAS JUNIORS

The Legends Junior Tour, in collaboration with the Northern Texas PGA Junior Tour, is again partnering with the Volunteers of America Classic – the only LPGA Tour event in the state of Texas – to offer young female golfers the opportunity to earn an exemption into the 2021 VOA Classic to be held July 1-4 at Golf Clubs at The Tribute in The Colony.

Through a series of tournaments conducted by the Legends Junior Tour, the Northern Texas PGA Junior Tour and the Southern Texas PGA Junior Tour, girls throughout the state of Texas will have the chance to earn a spot in the 144-player starting field for the VOA Classic Girls Championship from June 21-23 at Golf Clubs at The Tribute. The winner of the 54-hole individual stroke play championship will receive an exemption into this year’s VOA Classic and the opportunity to compete alongside the world’s best when the LPGA stars come to Texas the first week of July.

For the team at the VOA Classic, the opportunity to help inspire the next generation of LPGA Tour players and expand its community outreach was something that fit right into the tournament’s mission.

“A focus of the Volunteers of America Classic is to grow the game and inspire the next generation of golfers in Texas,” said Tournament Director, Emily Podzielinski. “This partnership allows us to achieve our goals and create champions right here in our backyard.”

To read the full VOA Partnership story, click here. To learn more about the VOA Classic, click here.

DRIVE, CHIP AND PUTT REGISTRATION OPEN

The incredible sights and sounds from Augusta National this past weekend are great reminders that now is the time to encourage all those promising junior golfers at your course to sign up for the 2021-2022 Drive, Chip and Putt qualifying season.

Drive, Chip and Putt is a fun and free youth golf development initiative for juniors of all skill and ability levels, aimed at sparking a lifelong interest in the game. The initiative welcomes boys and girls, ages 7-15, to participate in local qualifying events in all 50 states throughout the months of May, June, July and August. Entrants will play in girls’ and boys’ divisions in four age categories, with scoring centered around golf’s three fundamental skills – driving, chipping and putting.

Top performers at the local level will advance through subregional and regional qualifiers in July/August and September/October, respectively. From these qualifiers, 80 finalists – 40 boys and 40 girls – will earn an invitation to compete in the National Finals at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday, April 3, on the eve of the 2022 Masters Tournament.

For more information about 2021-2022 Drive, Chip and Putt registration and qualifying, click here.

LEADERSHIP REPORT: HOW TO IMPROVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT [CMAA]

From providing N95 respirators and meals for health care workers to raising funds to help storm victims during a record-setting hurricane season, clubs’ community engagement efforts reached new heights in 2020.

Clubs coming to the aid of those in need is not new, though. Supporting local communities and causes via volunteerism is a historical underpinning of the entire club industry. In 2018, CMAA member-managed clubs raised more than $170 million for charitable organizations.

Club management professionals continue to look for ways to inspire even deeper, more meaningful change. This growth invariably involves stepping outside comfort zones and seeking outside help to uncover blind spots.

“Too often private clubs, like many membership-based organizations, look to their own members for community engagement opportunities,” said Matt Charles, DPA, APR, a public relations and strategy consultant and a lecturer at Purdue University’s Brian Lamb School of Communication. “The best community engagement comes when one works with a diverse set of stakeholders in an inclusive manner.”

To read more about how clubs can work to improve community engagement, the latest entry in an ongoing series of CMAA articles on leveraging leadership expertise, click here.