Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2010 - 8

What is MGA
membership
(memberlinks)
?
It's your invitation to play some of the
fi nest golf courses around, through
participation in MGA Associate Members'
$AYS OR THE -'! 3ENIOR 4OUR s )TS YOUR
USGA Handicap Index, now updated twice every
MONTH YEARROUND s )TS YOUR SUBSCRIPTION TO
Minnesota Golfer magazine, delivered to your
HOME s )TS YOUR SUPPORT OF PROGRAMS AND
services that make the game better.
Friend Us, Send a
Tweet, See Videos
Now you can join the MGA
on Facebook or follow us on
Twitter and at YouTube.com.
The MGA posts championship
news and other
important happenings on its
" Fans of Minnesota Golf " Facebook
page, uses Twitter to send out headlines
and live scoring updates as they happen, and
posts video highlights of its major amateur
championships on YouTube. You're invited
to join us and keep your fi nger on the pulse of
local and national golf news.
>>>>
Fast Facts
Summer is a critical time for the tourism
business in the upper Midwest. In Minnesota,
golf plays a signifi cant role ($361 million
and 12,524 jobs), yet with just $8.9 million
budgeted for tourism for the fi scal year
ending June 30, the state trails its neighbors.
Michigan has $15 million budgeted, South
Dakota has $11.8 million and Wisconsin $11
million. Montana committed $1.5 million (out
of $5.5 million in consumer marketing) to
target three markets (including Minneapolis),
while Michigan is planning $9.5 million in
national consumer marketing. The Badger
State's promotional budget (including marketing
communications) is $8.7 million, equal to
Minnesota's total tourism budget for FY 2011.
6
MINNESOTAGOLFER Summer 2010
Bill Casey with fellow tournament volunteers Mike Damman
and Dave Senner.
( Featured Member
Senior Tour Site Captain Bill Casey
Bill Casey's golf spikes are
solidly planted in terra fi rma
in more ways than one. Casey,
63, has cut greens, played 67
holes of golf in a single day
(as a teen, toting his own
clubs) and,
after retiring
from a career in software
development, completed his
master's
degree in geography
at the University of Minnesota
and became director
of computer-assisted reporting
at The Washington Post.
A Rules of Golf workshop
led to volunteering with the
MGA at tournaments, which
Casey performed at an exceptional level
(he was honored with the MGA Volunteer
of the Year award in 2008).
That experience ultimately led to Casey's
( Bill Casey
Posted Rounds: 63
Handicap Index: 19.1
Home Club: University Golf Club
says Casey. " The bottom
line for all four [MGA site
captains] is making the senior
tour run better, [and]
serving the interests of golf
in the state. "
To conclude that Casey
enjoys tournament administration
is to acknowledge
one of his strengths.
He enjoys mastering the
small things that mean the
difference between good
and great. Whether it is
recounting the exact commute
N.J.,
his hometown,
from Inglewood,
to
newest golf gig, which he is now doing for
his second year: Site Captain for the MGA
Senior Tour's Southern Section.
" I really enjoy the process, getting to a
venue early, making sure everything runs
as smoothly as possible, [reacting to] the
unexpected, like weather or re-pairing,
keeping the pace of play up and developing
relationships with the senior players, "
the old Yankee Stadium in the Bronx (at
a time when, ironically, he was a staunch
Dodgers fan) or immersing himself in the
minutia of the Rules of Golf as the chair
of the golf committee for an urban Minneapolis
private club, Casey gets the details
exactly right.
It's not easy cutting greens, Casey says
of a part-time job he had one summer
grooming the bentgrass greens at an Eden
Prairie private club. " It's hard [and] it's
precise... , " which is all you need to know
about Bill Casey.
www.mngolf.org
http://www.YouTube.com http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2010
