Carolinas Superintendents Commit $286,000-plus to New Turf Research

Golf course superintendents in the Carolinas will give researchers close to $300,000 in grants for new projects to further enhance the game’s economic and environmental sustainability. The Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association announced the grants during a conference at Pinehurst Resort earlier this week.

Money to fund the grants was raised in the annual Rounds 4 Research online auction where golfers buy tee times donated by golf facilities. Since creating the auction in 2008, the Carolinas GCSA has now funded more than $850,000 in turfgrass research at Clemson and North Carolina State universities.

“We are extremely proud to announce this latest round of grants,” Carolinas GCSA Rounds 4 Research committee chair, Daryl Ewing, from Carolina Lakes Golf Club in Indian Land, SC says. “This money once again demonstrates that golf course superintendents want to be the best stewards we can possibly be, of the land we manage and of the resources we use in that work.”

Rounds 4 Research is now a national auction administered by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA). But it was devised and implemented by the Carolinas GCSA at a time when traditional funding for turfgrass research was shrinking.

“At the time, we had some of the smartest minds at two of the leading turfgrass research institutions in the country in Clemson and NC State. Today, I am proud to say that we still do thanks in part to Rounds 4 Research,” Carolinas GCSA executive director, Tim Kreger, says. “Ultimately, the research this money pays for helps ensure the continued health of the Carolinas golf economy which is worth more than $7 billion annually.”

One of the latest grant recipients, NC State’s Dr. Jim Kerns, describes Rounds 4 Research as a “Godsend.” “Literally, it is,” he says. “It’s one of the reasons the programs at NC State and at Clemson are so successful. Because it not only provides an additional source of funding but one that, importantly, supports research to its conclusion. The Carolinas GCSA is funding research at the level of, or above, the USGA (United States Golf Association) and GCSAA.”

Kreger praises the efforts of dozens of Carolinas GCSA board members over the years who have devoted countless volunteer hours to ensure the success of Rounds 4 Research every April.

“Year in and year out, they are on the phone, sending emails and knocking on doors to make sure we have rounds to sell,” he says. “Paul Jett set the bar for that in our very first year when he was president, making sure that every superintendent in North and South Carolina got at least an email from him urging them to secure a tee time donation.”

Last year, the Carolinas GCSA generated almost 350 items that went for as little as $40 for a foursome to as much as $10,000. “That only happens because superintendents at all those clubs and courses are making it happen,” Kreger says. 

In the latest round of grants, projects approved for funding of a total of $286,846 will focus on soil quality testing in putting greens and methods to mitigate the impact of the turf diseases dollar spot and mini ring. The largest grant of almost $130,000 will fund a two-year study related to the health of water bodies on golf courses.

This year’s Rounds 4 Research auction runs April 21-27.