After the storm, we came out very good with little to no damage. I will say we fortunately dodged a bullet in many aspects. The rain could have been worse and the wind never did get as bad as initially thought. However, some of my colleagues in South Carolina didn't do as well. In fact, some news outlets are saying this was the worst storm in 500 years in cities like Columbia! Our 4,200ft temperate rain forest is very efficient at handling large quantities of rainfall, fortunately.
As the NC government relations chairman of the CGCSA (Carolina's Golf Super Association) I've been asked to help look at this from another perspective. Farmers get government subsidies and disaster relief in the event of a natural disaster. Well Turfgrass Science also falls under the Department of Agriculture. So, should golf courses be eligible for similar funds? Rather than thinking of a well to do private Club like HCC, think of a small single owner public golf course struggling to make ends meet given the down sizing of golf over the past few years. Times are tough and this storm shuts the course down, turf may be lost because it is submerged in water for extended periods. Now, the greens need rebuilt and the owner has no cash flow. What is an owner to do?
Here is an excerpt from a conversation with GCSAA's (national golf superintendents association) government relations director. You can see, golf is typically excluded from such relief but something our association is working on in Washington and the State level.
As you know, golf has previously been excluded from disaster tax relief after major natural disasters. Golf has never been excluded from obtaining traditional disaster relief such as from FEMA. The only exclusion has manifested when the disaster was so great that Congress stepped in and felt like additional disaster relief was needed in the form of tax relief on top of traditional disaster relief.
When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf region, Congress passed disaster tax relief that excluded golf
courses and the exclusion was not nationwide but rather only impacted golf courses impacted by
Hurricane Katrina. The Midwest Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2008 also excluded disaster tax relief to golf courses but only in certain impacted states. I am not aware of any nationwide blanket exclusion of disaster relief or disaster tax relief for golf courses in the country. We work with Forbes Tate through We Are Golf to vigorously look for any instance of where this exclusion might pop up again with the next natural disaster that is around the corner. We want to make sure that if Congress starts to draft new disaster tax relief legislation that they don't exclude golf. I am going to reach out to Forbes Tate this morning to confirm there isn't anything on the radar I am missing.