New States Sign-on to
Online Golf Auction
500-plus Courses Up for Bid

HARTWELL, Ga., (March 18, 2010) - Golfers have a rare chance to tee it up at some of the best known and most exclusive golf clubs in the game thanks to an innovative online auction running April 7 to April 21. Foursomes at more than 500 courses from the Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia and Texas will go up for bid as the golf industry rallies to raise money for turfgrass research.

The home of the PGA Tour Championship, East Lake Golf Club in GA, as well as Sedgefield Country Club in NC and Harbour Town Golf Links in SC are among regular PGA Tour stops donating tee-times. Other exclusive private courses, ranked by Golf Digest magazine among the 100 best in the country, include Sage Valley, Long Cove, Yeaman’s Hall, The Homestead’s
Cascades Course and Eagle Point.

The auction menu also includes spectacular and storied resort venues such as Pinehurst No. 2, which hosts a third U.S. Open Championship in 2014; and the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resort, which hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup and will host the 2012 PGA Championship. The auction, running under the web banner Rounds4Research.com, has the backing of 2009 U.S. Open champion, Lucas Glover. “I urge all golfers who want to get a great deal on a great course to sign up for the Rounds4Research auction right now.” Glover says. “You’ll be doing your game and the golf industry a real service.”

Proceeds benefit research critical to the continued health of the golf industry and the billions of dollars in economic benefit it generates in each of the participating states. The auction generated $55,000 in new funding for turfgrass research at Clemson and North Carolina State universities last year with mostly Carolinas courses participating. Proceeds raised on courses in the
new states this year will go to research in those regions.

“Obviously with three new partner states, this year’s auction will be bigger and better in every sense,” says Paul Jett, certified golf course superintendent at Pinehurst No. 2 and Rounds4Rsearch chair. Jett is also a past–president of the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association, which runs the auction. “Golfers will find bargains and they will find the keys to a lot of doors that would not otherwise be open to them.”

Industry observers hail Rounds4Research.com for engaging so many aspects of the industry to help generate funding for turfgrass research. As the economy contracted, so did state budgets, which historically provided the lion’s share of resources for turfgrass research.

Rounds4Research.com involves superintendents who coordinate the auction, course owners and members who donate tee-times and, of course, golfers who buy them. The project also has the backing of the respective state golf associations, PGA Sections and club managers associations. “We are thrilled that our colleagues from the golf course superintendent organizations in Geor-
gia, Texas and Virginia have seen fit to combine resources this year,” Jett says. “It’s just one more example of how golf is an industry that actively works together for solutions. We’re not just wringing our hands and waiting for others to come up with answers.” In the new partner states, Rounds4Research.com is being piloted by the Georgia Golf Course
Superintendents Association, the Lone Star Golf Course Superintendents Association and the Virginia Golf Course Superintendents Association.

With three weeks still to go before the auction launch, more than 500 lots were on offer. Prospective bidders can go to www.Rounds4Research.com to view an updated list of available courses and to register for a reminder email in advance of the auction.