GCSAA director Steve Hammon recently hosted a Grassroots Ambassador meeting with Representative Jack Bergman’s district director, Melanie Collinsworth, at Traverse City Golf and Country Club where Steve serves as golf course superintendent. Hammon, a 36-year GCSAA Class A member and GCSAA Board member, is part of the GCSAA Advocacy Team in Michigan’s first congressional district which Bergman represents. Michigan’s first congressional district, the largest district east of the Mississippi River in terms of square miles, is spread across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower Peninsula. The district is home to many of the 859 golf courses found in the state.

Steve welcomed Melanie to Traverse City Golf and Country Club on a postcard-perfect autumn day in Northern Michigan. The golf course was in perfect condition as Steve toured Melanie around the course discussing the various turfgrass best management practices (BMPs) employed on the course and the economic and environmental benefits golf courses provide across the state. Setting up these one-on-one or small group meetings allows GCSAA members to create lasting relationships with members of Congress and their staff.

The goal of the Grassroots Ambassador program is to match a member of GCSAA with each member of Congress, and to build strong relationships between them. The program has established a network of committed volunteers as the “go-to” people for lawmakers and their staff on golf course management issues. The Grassroots Ambassador program was established a decade ago and now has over 525 participants nationwide.

Just like Steve’s tour earlier this month, similar tours have taken place across the country which have focused on how superintendents implement environmental BMPs on the golf course. The tours also allow GCSAA members to highlight the environmental, economic and recreational benefits that golf courses provide.

It’s meetings like this that have more and more lawmakers supporting GCSAA’s Priority Issues Agenda. Steve’s tour was a perfect example as Representative Bergman is co-sponsor of bill H.R. 3124 which aims to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to remove private or commercial golf courses and country clubs from the list of uses for which certain proceeds cannot be used. Representative Bergman is also a co-sponsor of H.R. 7574 which is geared to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to base the numerical limitations for H-2B nonimmigrants on economic need and for other purposes.