The USGA will build a second HQ in Pinehurst, N.C., under a "multi-million incentive package approved by state and local leaders," according to a front-page piece by Laura Douglass of the Southern Pines PILOT. County leaders "unanimously approved a 10-year incentive grant for the project primarily in the form of tax breaks calculated as 90 percent of the total property taxes paid above and beyond the current property tax value -- provided the USGA meets job creation and capital investment goals." Funding "would be paid from new tax revenues collected as a result of the organization's investment." The deal also "commits USGA to sponsoring periodic championship events in Moore County and other golf courses around the state." These events "must include at least one men's major championship every five to seven years," one women's major championship "every 10 years, and at least 13 additional championship events." Plans call for the USGA to "shift its research and testing center for golf equipment" from its primary HQ in New Jersey. In addition, a "combined museum and visitor center will be housed in the new facilities in Pinehurst, along with offices for the USGA's Foundation and the organization's turfgrass agronomy and management section." The USGA has "committed to invest $5 million in private funds by Dec. 31, 2023, to construct at least two buildings totaling 30,000 square feet" (Southern Pines PILOT, 9/9). GOLF DIGEST's Mike Stachura noted the USGA's primary HQ "would remain in New Jersey, as would the USGA Golf Museum and the Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History" (GOLFDIGEST.com, 9/8).
