Toro continues support of The Institute

The Toro Foundation has donated $50,000 to The Environmental Institute for Golf, the philanthropic organization of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA), to continue its support of the association's Golf Course Environmental Profile project.

This most recent donation will help The Institute fund the third phase of the multi-year project being undertaken by GCSAA that will evaluate environmental performance on golf courses. This phase will collect data from golf course superintendents on the amount of nutrients applied to golf courses.

Surveys will be distributed beginning March 19, with the cutoff date for the receipt of information April 27. Toro also funded phases one and two of the project.

“We have been pleased by the response rate of the first two phases,” GCSAA Director of Research Clark Throssell, Ph.D., said. “Thanks in large part to these generous donations from The Toro Foundation, the information obtained by these surveys will help GCSAA to better serve golf course superintendents in managing their facilities.”

Toro presented the check to GCSAA CEO Steve Mona, CAE, and Bill Kubly, chairman of The Institute's board of trustees.

The Golf Course Environmental Profile project is designed to collect information that will allow superintendents and other facility personnel to become better managers, help them operate more efficiently and lead to GCSAA developing more valuable programs and services. Such information will include details about playing surfaces, natural resources, environmental stewardship efforts and maintenance practices on the golf course. Throssell indicated the data are still being analyzed from the first two phases and the first comprehensive report of the first two phases will appear in a peer-reviewed scientific journal this year.

“We believe in the importance of advancing the co-existence of golf with the environment,” said Michael J. Hoffman, chairman and CEO of The Toro Co.. “GCSAA's Golf Course Environmental Profile is a project that falls directly in line with that focus. We are pleased to partner with the Institute in this valuable effort."