Code of Ethics

This code is established to promote and maintain the highest professional standards of service and conduct
among the membership of the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association. Steadfastly maintaining these principles will accrue to the membership a level of justly deserved recognition and respect from those who come into contact with any member. Through high regard for, and strong enforcement of, the code, membership in this association will be deemed a significant indicator of individual responsibility, character and professionalism. As a professional courtesy, a member should always contact a fellow superintendent before visiting that superintendent’s golf course.

As a member of the Carolinas GCSA, I accept and fully agree to abide by this code and pledge myself to:
• Recognize and discharge all of my responsibilities and duties in such a fashion as to be a credit to
this association and my profession.
• Practice and insist upon sound business and turf management principles in exercising the responsibilities
of my position.
• Utilize every practicable opportunity to expand my professional knowledge, thereby improving
myself and my profession.
• Maintain the highest standards of personal conduct to reflect positively upon and add to the
stature of the profession of golf course management and refrain from any act tending to promote
my own interest at the expense of the dignity and integrity of the profession of golf course management,
this association, or a fellow superintendent.
• Base endorsements, whether written, verbal, or through any other medium, strictly upon satisfactory
personal experiences with the product, item or service endorsed.
• Refrain from encouraging or accepting considerations of any value without the express understanding
of all parties that said consideration is available to all persons in similar circumstances,
and that no conduct or favorable consideration shall be forthcoming as a result of acceptance.
• Recognize and observe the highest standards of integrity in my relationships with fellow golf
course superintendents and others associated with this profession and industry.
• Assist my fellow superintendents in all ways consistent with my abilities.
• Abstain from making false or untrue statements concerning another superintendent or causing
public embarrassment to another superintendent.
• Lend my support to, and actively participate in, the efforts of my local chapter and national
association to improve public understanding and recognition of the profession of golf course
management.
• Promptly report all known or suspected violations of the code of ethics and voluntarily participate
as a witness and present information in all proceedings to determine the possibility of a violation
of this code of ethics.

Abstain from applying for or otherwise seeking employment in an unprofessional manner. For
the purpose of this section of the code, a member seeks employment in an unprofessional manner
if he or she does one or more of the following in connection with the prospective employment:
- provides false or misleading information to a prospective employer;
- makes slanderous or defamatory statements concerning a fellow superintendent;
- attempts to undermine or improperly influence the staff of a fellow superintendent;
- attempts to deceive, mislead or misinform a fellow superintendent’s employer, supervisor or
fellow employees;
- makes misleading, deceptive or false statements or claims about his or her professional
qualifications, experience or performance; or
- makes misleading, deceptive or false statements or claims about a member superintendent’s
professional qualifications, experience or performance.
• Refrain from accepting employment, as a consultant, in an unprofessional manner. For the
purposes of this section of the code, a consultant accepts employment in an unprofessional
manner if he or she does one or more of the following in connection with such consulting:
- provides false or misleading information to a prospective employer;
- makes slanderous or defamatory statements concerning a fellow superintendent;
- attempts to undermine or improperly influence the staff of a fellow superintendent;
- attempts to deceive, mislead or misinform a fellow superintendent’s employer, supervisor or
fellow employees;
- makes misleading, deceptive or false statements or claims about his or her professional
qualifications, experience or performance; or
- makes misleading, deceptive or false statements or claims about a fellow superintendent’s
professional qualifications, experience or performance.
• Abstain from conduct constituting a crime under federal, state or local law, the penalty for
which is, or may be, imprisonment, including but not limited to crimes of moral turpitude and
dishonesty. A member’s conviction of a crime will be considered conclusive evidence that the
member committed that crime for the purposes of this code.
• Abstain from knowingly making false statements or knowingly failing to disclose a material fact
requested in connection with application or renewal for Carolinas GCSA membership or for membership
in an affiliated chapter.
• Express professional opinions on technical subjects publicly only when that opinion is founded
upon adequate knowledge of the facts and competence in the subject matter.