Michigan Legislators Learn About Golf’s Special Impact on Our State and the golf day 2023 group rts

By Greg Johnson

State Rep. John Roth has a grassroots understanding of the golf industry and its impact in Michigan.

“It is very special to me because I worked on golf courses for several years – at Crystal Mountain Resort for a while and then Traverse City Golf and Country Club for 21 years,” said Roth, R-Interlochen, a former grounds spray technician turned legislator. “The golf industry to me is very, very special.”

Roth enjoyed a homecoming of sorts, meeting up with former co-workers and friends from the industry as the state’s  allied associations presented the annual Michigan Golf Day at the Capitol event in early June.

For 15 years course owners, operators and superintendents have gathered each spring to voice a cooperative message. Golf stakeholders convened with legislators and staff members for lunch on the lawn of the state Capitol, and also visited the offices of each legislator. To mark the day, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer proclaimed that “June is Michigan Golf Month,” via a proclamation delivered and read into record by Sen. Mallory McMorrow.

The overall message imparted included industry facts like $4.2 billion in annual economic impact in Michigan, over 60,000 people employed by golf courses in the state, $1.4 billion in wages paid and over 150,000 acres of managed green space and wetlands that provide wildlife habitats.

Roth said he is fully aware that the golf industry is mostly small businesses that have a large impact on communities.

“Their businesses are big parts of a lot of communities and they are seasonal, and they never know what the weather is going to do and that can make it a good or bad year,” he said. “I understand that and some of the other legislators know that. A lot of them play golf. Do they understand the business impact golf makes in communities? I’m not so sure. That makes this day very important. The industry is sharing its message in a very effective way.”