Where Should Charity and Goodwill Begin? Salaries Paid Golf Course Association Executives are Stunning!

Golf course owners are requested continually to “donate” their courses so that State Golf Associations and Sections of the PGA of America can conduct amateur and professional events for the “good of the game.”

Presented below are the salaries made by the Executive Directors of the various allied associations supporting the golf industry:

Note that the salaries listed are the reportable compensation from the organization and do not include compensation from related entities or other compensation.   For example, when considering the supplemental compensation, the head of the PGA Tour received compensation of $13,906,082 in 2021.

Considering that the golf course owners assume tremendous operational responsibilities, accept the responsibility of debt, are engaged in a full-time position with numerous overtime hours spent, and are subject to the vagaries of the weather as to the profits they might make, I ponder if the risk-free salaries paid the Executive Directors of various Associations are fair.  The only risk these well-paid executives assume is that of continued employment.

Without golf courses, the need for these Associations becomes mute.