The GCM staff is covering National Golf Day advocacy and community service activities in Washington, D.C. as they unfold. Check back
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Wednesday, April 30
• National Golf Day events got underway this afternoon with a keynote discussion between Jake Sherman, co-founder of Punchbowl News, and Jay Perron, a partner at Prism Group lobbying firm, which works with AGIC and GCSAA on legislative issues. This year's National Golf Day is the biggest yet, with 250 attendees preparing to meet with lawmakers to discuss bipartisan legislation related to the tax code, health savings account funds applied toward golf and more. Check out GCM's primer on this year's National Golf Day for more information.
• Before entering the turf industry and becoming an advocate for golf as a grassroots ambassador, Chad Allen, GCSAA Class A superintendent at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Ind., worked as a substance abuse counselor. "The successes are very small," he says. "Not that that was something that was important to me, I just got burned out."
Now Allen, the 2025 recipient of GCSAA's Emerging Leader Award, uses the skills he picked up in his previous profession in his current one. Allen recently led a webinar for GCSAA on recognizing and constructively addressing substance abuse in team members. "I've always said the turf industry is a field of miscreants and vagabonds. It's the world of second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth chances," Allen says. "We're always welcome and always looking for ppl who are willing to do some hard work and willing to connect and be better."
These days Allen also fosters connections with legislators as a GCSAA grassroots ambassador. For those who want to get involved, he says, the opportunities are plentiful. "If someone's considering being an ambassador, I'd say do it. There's people out there who truly care about the industry," Allen says. "Reach out to your regional GCSAA rep, or reach out to a grassroots ambassador in your area, find out what it's about, see what they're doing and how they're able to connect."
— Abby Olcese