Every GCSAA chapter wants to be heard when environmental policy is developed. Few have earned the credibility and influence that the Georgia Golf Course Superintendents Association (Georgia GCSA) has achieved over the past two decades.

Georgia's story is not simply about Best Management Practices (BMPs). It is about how a chapter, working in partnership with GCSAA, university researchers, allied golf organizations, legislators, regulators, and golf course superintendents, built lasting relationships that transformed golf from a regulated industry into a trusted environmental partner.

It is also a story that every GCSAA chapter can learn from.

Building Trust Before the Crisis

Nearly 20 years ago, Georgia experienced one of the most severe droughts in its history. As water supplies dwindled, golf courses became highly visible targets for water-use restrictions.

Rather than waiting for regulations to be imposed, the Georgia GCSA took charge.

Working alongside golf facilities, state agencies and allied golf organizations, the chapter united the industry around responsible water management and environmental stewardship to demonstrate that golf courses could be trusted partners in protecting Georgia's natural resources.

Best Management Practices became the foundation of that effort by documenting how golf courses conserved water, protected water quality, managed wildlife habitat and operated under science-based management principles. More importantly, they gave regulators confidence that golf facilities were committed to environmental stewardship.

That proactive approach earned golf a meaningful seat at the table during development of Georgia's drought management policies. Golf became part of the conversation, helping secure regulatory consideration while building trust.

A Commitment That Never Ended

The commitment to stewardship did not end when the crisis passed. Georgia's commitment continued long after drought conditions improved.

For more than two decades, the Georgia GCSA Boards of Directors remained committed to educating policymakers and strengthening relationships with regulators. Working alongside the chapter's longtime legislative advocacy team — Public Affairs and consultant Skip Edge — the association consistently communicated golf's environmental value, economic impact, and commitment to conservation.

As part of the Allied Golf Council, an alliance that also included the Georgia State Golf Association, Georgia PGA, and the Georgia Chapter of the Club Management Association of America, they presented a unified voice for golf that strengthened the industry's credibility in the state.

Those relationships were invaluable when history repeated itself.

Reviving a Successful Strategy

When drought conditions and water-resource restrictions returned 20 years later, golf was prepared.

Georgia GCSA Executive Director Tim Busek understood that they couldn’t just rely on past accomplishments. They had to demonstrate that the golf industry continued to embrace the highest standards of environmental stewardship.

Busek’s vision centered on a simple principle: documented stewardship creates credibility, and credibility creates influence.

To that point, he strengthened Georgia's ties to GCSAA's Best Management Practices initiative.

GCSAA had created a nationally recognized framework, implementation platform and scientific foundation that could help chapters strengthen relationships with regulators at every level of government.

The partnership combined the strengths of both organizations.

GCSAA provided the national BMP platform, implementation tools, technical resources, and scientific credibility while the Georgia GCSA contributed local leadership, trusted relationships, legislative engagement and an understanding of Georgia's unique regulatory environment.

Turning BMPs Into Action

Busek secured funding through the Georgia Golf Environmental Foundation to accelerate BMP adoption across the state.

That investment enabled the chapter to engage Gary Hawkins, Ph.D., associate professor at the University of Georgia and one of the state's leading experts in water resource management, to work directly with golf facilities.

Hawkins and his team work alongside facilities to customize BMPs using GCSAA's BMP template. Each plan reflects the unique design, infrastructure, environmental conditions, and operational practices of the individual golf course and guides daily decisions while documenting measurable environmental stewardship.

Environmental stewardship does not stop at state lines.

Busek worked closely with Tim Hiers, director of Golf Course Operations at White Oak Conservation, and in collaboration with the Florida GCSA, the effort expanded into a regional conversation with regulators and elected officials throughout Georgia and Florida. Bryan Unruh, Ph.D., professor of environmental horticulture and associate center director of the UF/IFAS West Florida Research and Education Center, provided research and expertise that continue to reinforce the scientific foundation behind golf course BMPs.

Together, these leaders have demonstrated that superintendents are managers of watersheds, wildlife habitat, stormwater systems, forests, and natural landscapes that contribute to the responsible stewardship of public resources.

That message carries far greater weight because it is supported by documented BMP implementation rather than opinion alone.

While the credibility earned during the droughts of the early 2000s created the original foundation, Busek’s leadership and the collaboration between the Georgia GCSA and GCSAA's National BMP Program positioned golf courses to once again receive meaningful regulatory consideration.

By expanding BMP adoption, investing in scientific expertise, documenting environmental stewardship, and strengthening relationships with policymakers before new restrictions were proposed, Georgia regained—and in many respects strengthened—the trust and flexibility it had earned more than two decades earlier.

A Blueprint for Every Chapter

Perhaps the greatest lesson from Georgia is that successful advocacy is never built during a crisis.

It is built over decades through leadership, science, collaboration and trust.

For GCSAA chapters across the country, this is more than a Georgia success story, it’s a roadmap.

Every state faces different environmental challenges, political landscapes and regulatory priorities. Yet every chapter has the opportunity to combine local leadership with GCSAA's national BMP resources, partner with universities and allied organizations, build lasting relationships with local, state and federal decision-makers, and document environmental stewardship through BMP implementation.

Georgia has demonstrated that BMPs are far more than environmental manuals, they are strategic advocacy tools.

When local chapters collaborate with GCSAA, invest in implementation, engage credible scientific partners and cultivate relationships long before regulations are written, they earn something that cannot be legislated or purchased.

They earn trust.

And trust is what secures golf's seat at the table when the next environmental challenge inevitably arrives.