Our Game, Our Crew

Some golf courses and their maintenance workers may not be covered under government assistance, which is why FAIRWAYiQ, Golfdom and the National Golf Foundation created Our Game, Our Crew. (Photo: Golfdom staff)

Golfdom and the National Golf Foundation have partnered with FAIRWAYiQ to launch Our Game, Our Crew, a COVID-19 relief fund for golf course maintenance workers who are out of work because of the pandemic.

Started by FAIRWAYiQ CEO Dave Vanslette, the COVID-19 relief Go- FundMe charity will accept donations to be distributed as rapid-response grants to golf course maintenance workers who have been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus.

“The first thing that came to mind is, how do we keep everybody employed? The government programs are out there, (but) some of the classifications of these golf clubs don’t necessarily fit into the programs pushed by the government … it’ll take a little while to fix them,” Vanslette says. “So, what can we do to get these people sort of a paycheck? Hopefully, (we) have an impact much quicker than the government.”

The charity asks anyone who loves golf to kick in and help out the people who mow our fairways, rake our bunkers and cut our cups. Many of these men and women are out of work, and many of them support not only themselves but also their families at home.

Superintendents can nominate individuals, and the charity will then allocate funds and send out gift cards.

“There are a lot of people out there who want to help but they don’t know how to help,” Vanslette says. “We personalize this to a very, very small segment of the population. It’s a big industry, but it’s a small industry … relative to the rest of the industry around the world.”