When Matt Schmidt took over as executive director of the New Hampshire Golf Association last fall, one of his first decisions was to move the headquarters.
Nothing against Wolfeboro, but having the association’s office located off the main drag in the quaint N.H. town wasn’t exactly where Schmidt felt the NHGA could best serve the close to 15,000 players in its handicap index and 100 golf facilities in the state. So Schmidt immediately felt Concord was the best place to relocate. And can you really blame the guy for thinking that way? It’s centrally located, there are plenty of other state organizations who call the capital home and Dos Amigos sells tacos for $2 every Tuesday. Sounds like a win-win-win to us.
Plus we have a feeling that he didn’t get all the moving out of his system after making his way to the Granite State from Indiana. But that’s just our guess.
The association’s offices had been located in Wolfeboro for many years, but to get the kind of exposure needed to grow the organization, Schmidt thought Concord would be the best chance for a hole-in-one.
“It’s a beautiful place to be, but there’s no reason for the state association’s offices to be there,” Schmidt said.
He wants the association to be looked at as the go-to establishment for anything golf in the state. Schmidt’s top goal is to have more people understand what the association does, and moving to the state capital would be the first step in his master plan.
“The association has and still is going through a bit of a transition,” Schmidt said. “Unfortunately not a lot of people know what the association is and what the association does. But really in the last five years the association has morphed and changed into us trying to become the face of golf in N.H.”
So upon finding a great location on South State Street, Schmidt was sold. It’s more than double the square footage, the street gets a lot of traffic and they even got a sweet new sign in front of the building with the association’s name on it and everything. Plaques recognizing state amateur and state open winners now live on a wall instead of the floor, and there’s even a framed N.H. license plate with the organization’s abbreviation (just like this article soon will be.) The association moved in right before Christmas. Talk about a great present.
“We’re now smack dab in the middle of the state,” Schmidt said. “It’s really worked out for us so far. I think it’s important for us to be here.”
But moving into the space was only part one. Now it’s time to make people aware of what the golf association does. It’s not just about holding tournaments during the summer months. Of course that’s a big part of it, and this month is especially important with the N.H. State Amateur starting July 14.
In all, between junior and championship style events, the association hosts almost 50 tournaments between May and October. No word if a mini golf tour is in the works, but we’ll let you know if anything comes across our desk.
“I want the association to be seen as a clearinghouse in the state,” Schmidt said. “Golf is really an economic driver in the state.”
The handicapping system brings in revenue, as do the tournaments, but the association also does a lot of stuff for its members and facilities free of charge. They will travel to courses for handicapping education and rule seminars. They help with course ratings and course consultation. Maybe they’ll help us build that mini golf course outlined on page 22?
“We want to reinvest back into our clubs and our membership,” Schmidt said. “We’re trying to support them as much as we can. Anything we can to help we’re trying to do.”
In N.H. you can find just about any type of course. From nine-hole family run operations to championship level establishments and even ones that rank among the top 50 most difficult in the country.
“We’ve got 100 golf courses in N.H., and that’s pretty good for a state this size,” Schmidt said.
And like the lyrics in Whitney Houston’s masterpiece “Greatest Love of All,” children are our future – at least when it comes to golf – and that’s why Schmidt wants to see the junior tour grow. He’s making it more accessible and affordable to golfers of all abilities and the same can be said about the championship tour.
“We’re really trying to get more kids involved,” Schmidt said.
The NHGA was established in 1905 and has been serving players and courses in the state for the almost 110 years. And as the newest executive director, Schmidt wants to make sure it lasts another century-plus.
For more on the association, as well as it’s tournament schedule, visit nhgolfassociation.org.
