The USGA Grants Program, a philanthropic mainstay in Colorado Springs for the last dozen years, will leave the state in June 2010 and be administered out of USGA headquarters in Far Hills, N.J.
USGA executive director David Fay sent out notification of the changes last week, saying the USGA office in Colorado Springs will close and that the Colorado Springs-based USGA Fellows program will end, both next June.
The moves are being made to reduce costs and to streamline communication and interaction with the USGA’s staff at Golf House in New Jersey. Starting in June, USGA employees working in Far Hills, with the help of regional directors and one or two P.J. Boatright interns based in New Jersey, will administer the Grants Program.
“It’s basically a cost-cutting move,” said Coloradan Christie Austin, a member of the USGA Executive Committee and the chair of the USGA Grants Committee. “With the economy being what it is, this will be more efficient for us. “¦ It’s sad to see the office leave Colorado, but the times are what they are.”
The Grants and Fellowship office currently is based on the Penrose House campus of the El Pomar Foundation, located near the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.
Steve Czarnecki, assistant director of the Grants and Fellowship office, said nine USGA Fellows and a small staff of full- and part-timers currently work out of the Colorado Springs office, along with former USGA president Judy Bell, who was a visionary for the Fellows program. Since details of the changeover haven’t yet been finalized, it isn’t clear if Czarnecki and fellow staffers will be moving to New Jersey.
Czarnecki has been based in the Grants and Fellowship office since being one of the original Fellows himself, from 1997 to “˜99. He now helps oversee management of the Grants and Fellowship department.
“I don’t know what the ramifications might be,” Czarnecki said. “We’ve enjoyed being here. Colorado Springs and Colorado have been wonderful hosts, and we love our proximity to the CGA. It’s unfortunate to see that won’t be the case anymore.”
USGA Fellows, who typically serve two- or three-year stints, act as liaisons between grant applicants and the USGA, and provide administrative support for the Grant Program. They review and vet grant applications, present summaries to the USGA Grants Committee, and monitor programs after the USGA approves funds. New 2009 Fellows have a starting annual salary of $29,000 with a starting bonus of $1,500, according to the USGA website. Since 1997, the USGA has hired 68 Fellows.
The USGA Grants Program has given out more than $65 million to programs and facilities across the U.S. over the last dozen years, including $5.2 million in 2008. USGA grants are directed toward programs that use golf to positively impact the lives of children, minorities and people with disabilities.
“I’ve always admired the Grants Program for what it does,” said Ed Mate, executive director of the CGA, which along with the CWGA received a $175,000 USGA grant for the Kids Course at CommonGround. “And I know the Fellows program is very competitive and has been a great steppingstone for a lot of the people involved. It was awfully nice to have the Fellows here (in the state). It was another bridge to the USGA that was nice to have in Colorado. But I totally understand. It’s a sign of the times.”
Austin said there have been periodic discussions over the years — even pre-dating her joining the Executive Committee in 2007 — about moving the USGA Grants office to Far Hills for reasons of economics, efficiency and communications. She called the Fellows program “a great success. We”˜ll miss that for sure.” But she added she wouldn’t be surprised if USGA officials considered bringing the Fellows back sometime in the future.
