November 2013
| Business World Magazine | 195
els adopted by many states, and the GSGA
has been critical in driving awareness and
appreciation of those practices.
At the same time, the GSGA helps
drive awareness and appreciation of the
unique legacy and incredible legends of
golf in Georgia through its managing of
the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame. Since
2010 through an arrangement with the
Georgia Department of Economic Devel-
opment, GSGA has managed the ongo-
ing activities associated with the Georgia
Golf Hall of Fame which includes hosting
the banquet to honor inductees and main-
taining the memorabilia and displays that
will one day be housed at GSGA Head-
quarters. A number of Georgia Hall of
Fame inductees have also been inducted
into the World Golf Hall of Fame - and
here’s a fun fact - all four major inter-
national golf competitions (Ryder Cup,
Solheim Cup, Walker Cup, Curtis Cup)
have had captains who are members of
the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame. Executive
Director Kirouac led the victorious Curtis
Cup team in 2004.
Kirouac says that volunteers of the
GSGA add to golf’s glamour in Geor-
gia, with hundreds routinely dedicating
time to volunteer at tournaments played
throughout the year or offering insight
and expertise through service on boards
of other golf-related organizations (in-
cluding more than 30 committee mem-
bers affiliated with the United States Golf
Association). “It would be impossible for
us to conduct so many tournaments and
provide the range of services we offer
without the support of our volunteers,”
says Kirouac.
ADVANCING EDUCATION
While the GSGA supports golf education
through a variety of training programs,
workshops, and member communica-
tions, it has gone beyond just providing
insight on the industry with education-
al assistance to individuals through the
awarding of scholarships. The GSGA
Foundation (the GSGA’s charitable affili-
ate) uses contributions from individuals,
corporations, and the Association to pro-
vide scholarships. Unlike some programs
which solely base awards on player per-
formance, Kirouac says any employee
of a member club is eligible to receive a
