GCSAA recognizes members who give back through Giving Tuesday

On December 3, GCSAA celebrated the second annual Giving Tuesday with stories of chapters and members who are giving back to their communities. 

The social media campaign featured tweets, Facebook postings and blogs that highlighted members' efforts throughout the country.  I personally conducted a Twitter campaign that focused solely on members in the Southwest Region who volunteered time during the past year to make their communities a better place to live.  

In the spirit of the holiday season, I wanted to take time to recognize a few of those individuals in greater detail:  

Steve Plummer, CGCS, general manager at Tustin Ranch Golf Club and Javier Avalos, Class A superintendent at Tustin Ranch.

• In Orange County, Calif., Steve Plummer, CGCS, general manager at Tustin Ranch Golf Club and Javier Avalos, Class A superintendent at Tustin Ranch raised funds and constructed a First Tee facility which includes a practice range and four hole short course.  The First Tee of Orange County now gives southern California youth another learning facility to not only improve their golf games, but learn life skills that will benefit them in the future.

• In northern California, Gary Carls, CGCS, golf course maintenance director for the city of Sunnyvale and Gary Ingram, CGCS, superintendent at Metropolitan Golf Links in Oakland have introduced inner-city youth to careers in golf course management, environmental sciences and the green industry through the Oakland Turf Education Initiative (OTEI).  OTEI board members and volunteers engage students through on-course study tours, remote site field trips, career-to-school fairs, after school programs, guest speaking engagements and an internship program.

• In Arizona, the Cactus & Pine GCSA donated $1,000 and volunteered their time at a golf fundraiser to assist families of the 19 firefighters that perished in the Yarnell Hill wildfire this past June.  Damien Smith, GCSAA Class A member and director of golf course maintenance at Gainey Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale donated the course for the event.  

• In Las Vegas and Henderson, Nev., the Southern Nevada GCSA donated $2,000 to Special Olympics Nevada to assist in the sponsorship of the organization's golf program that hosts over 50 athletes each year. Additionally, numerous superintendents with the SNGCSA donate their time to work with the athletes who are able to participate in the program free of charge.  

While it would be impossible to mention all of the charitable activities that GCSAA members in the Southwest are involved with, the above are shining examples of the superintendent profession going above and beyond to serve their communities and those in need. 

I thank you all for your contributions to the game and charitable activities in 2013 and I wish you the happiest of holidays.  See you in the New Year!