New Campaign to ‘Thank a Golf Course Superintendent’

Kansas, United States: Legendary greenkeeper and four-time Open champion Tom Morris will join top players and celebrities in a 2017 advertising campaign to promote the work of golf course superintendents.

David Joy of Scotland plays the role of Morris, who is considered the father of modern greenkeeping and cared for the historic St Andrews course for more than 40 years, until his death in 1908.

The tagline – ‘If you love golf like I do, then thank a golf course superintendent’ – will continue to be used in these television and radio commercials, as well as 2017 print and online advertising by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA).

“It is rewarding to know that superintendents are held in high esteem,” said Rhett Evans, the GCSAA’s Chief Executive Officer. “When influential people say: ‘If you love golf like I do, thank a golf course superintendent’, it makes our members around the world feel appreciated and proud of the role they play in providing excellent playing conditions for this great game.”

Thirty-second commercials will air on the Golf Channel from March through September. In addition, radio, print and online advertising will run in numerous markets across the United States, including at the local and regional levels where national advertising will be co-branded to support nearly 100 chapter associations.

The new commercial shows Morris at his home course of St Andrews, encouraging golfers to ‘doff your cap and thank a golf course superintendent’. The spot will run in tandem with an additional commercial featuring some of the best professional golfers, like Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Michelle Wie and Jack Nicklaus, also urging golfers to thank a superintendent.

“Golf course superintendents are widely recognised for skillfully managing the biggest asset of any golf facility – the golf course. But when the top players in the game support the work we do, and we can playfully pay homage to Morris’s contributions, it makes me boastfully proud to be a golf course superintendent for the past 30 years,” said Bill H. Maynard, GCSAA President and a certified golf course superintendent at The Country Club of St Albans in Missouri.