Say Goodbye To Those Grants: USGA Nest Egg Down 30%

Michael Bamberger reports that all is well at Golf House where almost nobody has been layed off lately. As for the nest egg...

The USGA endowment, invested in a wide-range of stocks and bonds, has taken a significant hit in the past year, down roughly 30 percent and hovering at around the $200 million mark.

Hey, it could have been worse.

But now for your buried lede...

For the past decade or so, because of the robust returns on Wall Street, the USGA has become a major participant in golf philanthropy, giving away as much as $10 million some years to programs including The First Tee and Play Golf America. (Fay noted that the USGA gives more to The First Tee than the PGA Tour.) With the downturn in the market, Fay said the USGA's ability to support various organizations would be curtailed, maybe significantly. He could not say to what degree.

Comments

[JPB]

"For the past decade or so because of the robust returns on Wall Street...."

What robust returns?

News flash to Mike Bamberger: We've been in a bear market now for 10 years.

[Not a USGA staffer]

To make matters worse, it's been rumored that the Green Section has told researchers that it won't be awarding any grants in 2009.

[Ponte Green]

It's better the USGA does away with grants altogether, right? Their pursuit if investment returns, corporate sponsors, luxury tents and mammon in general has badly diverted them from their true path.