St Augustine, United States: WE ARE GOLF – a coalition of the game’s leading associations and industry partners – has confirmed that Presidents Cup Captains Nick Price (International) and Jay Haas (US) will attend National Golf Day on April 15.
Zimbabwean Price won three Major championships in his decorated career, including the US PGA Championship (1992, 1994) and The Open (1994).
He attained status as number one in the Official World Golf Ranking in the mid-1990s and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003.
Price was recently selected to return as The Presidents Cup 2015 International Team captain, when the event is held in Korea in October, the first time The Presidents Cup will be played in Asia.
“Continuing to grow the game of golf – currently a US$70 billion industry – is very rewarding to me,” says Price. “National Golf Day provides a forum to discuss the game’s impact with legislators, sharing the various economic, charitable and fitness benefits of the game.”
Haas, a renowned American professional golfer, currently plays on the Champions Tour. He is an alum of the Wake Forest University men’s golf team from the mid-1970s, widely known as ‘the greatest college team of all time’.
During his tenure on the PGA Tour, he captured nine victories and appeared in three Ryder Cups (1983, 1995, 2004). Haas has distinguished himself in PGA Tour history by making the cut 592 times, more than any other golfer.
After three stints as a captain’s assistant under Fred Couples in The Presidents Cup, the Tour selected Haas to serve as the 2015 US Team captain.
“It’s an honour to promote the growth of golf on the biggest stage in the nation’s capital,” said Haas. “As caretakers of the game, we have a unique opportunity to discuss and present our findings with the decision-makers of our country, largely dictating what the future has in store.”
Golf’s leaders will meet with Members of Congress, the Executive Branch and federal agencies to discuss golf’s nearly US$70 billion economy, US$4 billion annual charitable impact and many environmental and fitness benefits.
Throughout the day, participants will share stories about the game’s 15,000-plus diverse businesses, two million employees, tax revenue creation, tourism and ecological value.
National Golf Day in May 2014 was the most successful to date with over 120 scheduled Congressional meetings in one day. Globally, the #NGD14 Twitter campaign eclipsed 16 million impressions and reached 7.4 million accounts, including 787,000 users in a one-hour span.