Paul Jett, CGCS superintendent host for two U.S. Open Championships at Pinehurst No. 2, will receive the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association’s highest honor – the Distinguished Service Award. Jett, 61, hosted the 1999 and 2005 U.S. Opens and led the Carolinas GCSA as president in 2009. He will be presented with the award at the association’s annual Conference and Trade Show in Myrtle Beach, SC in November.
Lesser known among his contributions was his pivotal role in pioneering Rounds 4 Research, the annual online auction to raise money for turfgrass research. Jett wasn’t just president when the Carolinas GCSA launched the auction, he was arguably the biggest reason it succeeded from year one.
“Paul spent literally countless hours on the phone that first year – and the second year too – communicating personally with superintendents to secure donations for the auction,” says Tim Kreger, Carolinas GCSA executive director, who conceived the auction. “You have to remember, it was a brand-new concept back then. The work he did, one phone call at a time, established the auction’s credibility and a momentum that we have been riding ever since.”
Indeed, Rounds 4 Research is now a national program that has raised more than $5 million. More than 1,200 rounds will be offered in this year’s auction which runs from April 20 to 26.
Now a territory manager with Triangle Turf and Ornamental, Jett was also a key player in the association becoming the first GCSAA affiliated chapter to own its own headquarters. Not only did he spearhead the search for the right property, he was on hand for moving day in 2008, helping unload 35,000lbs of furniture and equipment.
His year as president came during a challenging time for the golf industry and a global economy grappling with the fallout of the Great Recession. His leadership, in concert with the North Carolina Alliance for Golf, helped stave off state government efforts to impose a new tax on every round of golf. He also helped institute a new program with Clemson and North Carolina State universities to help golf courses measure the efficiency of their water use and instigate improvements.
Describing the nature of Carolinas GCSA board meetings that year, he said: “Honestly, it’s been like the boardroom of a Fortune 500 company. We’re not talking about how to grow membership numbers or selling booth space at our conference and trade show. It’s been much bigger, broader stuff. Water, taxes, research, economic impact. It’s a new realm.”
An accomplished golfer, Jett twice won the Carolinas GCSA championship and finished runner-up in GCSAA’s national championship four times. In 2019, he made it to the quarter finals of the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship. In 2010, he helped instigate the Virlina Cup, an annual challenge match between the best golfers from the Carolinas GCSA and Virginia GCSA
This week, he learned of his Distinguished Service Award from current Carolinas GCSA president, Brian Green, from Lonnie Poole Golf Course at NC State. It was a fitting rounding of the circle. In 1994, it was Jett, then at Duke University Golf Course, who gave Green his first job in the industry.
