It's a big month for new presidents although not everyone taking over the mantle has had to barnstorm across the country and make ad buys to match the GDP of some small nations.

In further contrast with someone we know, Paul Jett, certified golf course superintendent at Pinehurst No. 2, is about to become the leader of an entity whose constituents are united, whose economic health is sound and who is not at war with anyone.

Thursday, Jett takes over as president of the 1,800-member Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association, which represents the professional interests of superintendents in North and South Carolina.

"Initially, when I agreed to join the board I remember thinking "Sure, I'll spend a couple of years serving,"" Jett says. "Well, I'm in my eighth year now and will be at 10 by the time I'm done being past-president. The more I've done the more I want to be involved. I'm already thinking I would like to find some way to stay involved even when I'm off the board."

That's some way to close out a decade that began with Jett undergoing surgery for a potentially serious illness. But he won that battle and soon after played superintendent host to a wildly successful U.S. Open Championship in 1999. He produced similar results hosting another U.S. Open in 2005, then followed up this year with the U.S. Amateur Championship.

With notches like those in his professional belt, you might wonder how presidency of the Carolinas GCSA stacks up. Pretty highly as it turns out.

"Obviously the U.S. Opens and the U.S. Amateur were big deals but being where I am as superintendent, they kind of came along as part of the job," Jett says. "Whereas being on the board of the Carolinas GCSA is a voluntary thing. I didn't have to do it but I've enjoyed every single minute of it. It's been a very rich and satisfying experience."

Barring major surprises say, like a hurricane or Martian invasion, Jett will be elected at the annual business meeting on the last day of the Carolinas GCSA's annual conference and trade show in Myrtle Beach, SC.

It says something of how the association and the golf course superintendent profession have grown during Jett's time on the board that his election will be followed by presentations on legislative issues in North and South Carolina and a panel discussion with superintendents and club general managers.

"The landscape of what this association does has changed in the last eight years," he says. "When I came on board, we were heavily focused on education and service to members. We still do that, certainly, but now we are a lot more than that. Now we're into areas that affect the health of the overall industry."

Jett cites several Carolinas GCSA initiatives to strengthen bonds and cooperation between other golf entities including PGA professionals, club managers, golf course owners and associations such as the Carolinas Golf Association and South Carolina Golf Association.

Carolinas GCSA members spearheaded the first North Carolina Golf Day in Raleigh last year where legislators and agency heads were introduced to the game's contribution as an economic, environmental and community citizen.

Similar efforts have been underway for several years with the South Carolina Golf Association during South Carolina Golf Week.

The Carolinas GCSA has also engaged lobbyists in both states, as Jett says, "To put an end to golf being such an easy target of misinformation."

"We realize we are not going to win every battle," he says. "But we do want to put accurate, proper information in front of the people who make decisions that affect the industry. And golf is an industry. The game generates more than $5-billion in economic benefit to the Carolinas each year."

Access to water, particularly during drought, had been a major issue for superintendents and golf in both states in recent years, Jett says.

"But we have stepped forward and let people know we want to be part of the solution, not the problem. And when we do stand up at public hearings and when we do sit down with decision-makers and present facts, just the facts, then at least we know decisions are then being made on sound information."

The results have been good for the game and the interests of golfers across the two states, not to mention the vast numbers of tourists who come to the Carolinas each year with their clubs and wallets in tow.

"The game is at the table now when issues arise and that's all we ask, just an opportunity to present our case," Jett says.

"As a result, I don't think there's any doubt that the superintendent's standing in the game has improved, with others in the industry, with golfers and with those people making the decisions. I think it is far above where we were, say, 10 or 15 years ago."

It was about that period when superintendents in Moore County and surrounds began to organize and formalize their own association, now known as the Sandhills Golf Course Superintendents Association.

Jett was a part of that effort and as such his Sandhills GCSA colleagues can take their own shot of pride from having one of their own at the helm of the largest regional body of golf course superintendents in the country.

Trent Bouts is a freelance writer and editor of Carolina's Green magazine for the Carolina's Golf Course Superintendents Association.