This year’s International ‘Thank a Greenkeeper Day’, which was held on September 13, attracted support across a wide range of social media platforms as well as real-world interactions throughout the world.
In total, the combined #ThankAGreenkeeper and #ThanksASuper initiative made 10,401,354 impressions on social media, with the Greenkeeper hashtag, which is mainly used in the UK, producing over 70% of the total impressions. At various points in the day the combined hashtags trended 8th in the UK on Twitter.
Breaking it down further, there were 1,947 social media posts by 1,066 users, leading to 22,968 engagements and a reach of 3,422,408 for #ThankAGreenkeeper and its variations (eg #ThankAGreenkeeperDay).
Many club members, PGA Professionals and club managers took to social media to give praise their respective greenkeeping teams, as well as for the job that greenkeepers do around the world.
The day was supported by The British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association and several other international greenkeeping associations, such as the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association, the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association and the Federation of European Golf Greenkeepers Associations. As a collective, the groups represent more than 31,000 golf management professionals that operate in 78 countries of the world.
Karl Hansell, BIGGA’s Head of Marketing and Communications, said: “All in all, I think we can be proud of the success of the day and I would like to thank everyone for their incredible support of this initiative. A social media message may only seem like a small gesture, but we all need a pick-me-up every now and then, and for the greenkeepers of the UK and further afield, it certainly meant a lot.”
He added: “I’m delighted with what we were able to achieve purely through organic interactions, with no paid social media or advertising. I think it adds a little something extra to know that what we achieved was through genuine, heartfelt support and hard work.”
Next year’s ‘Thank a Greenkeeper Day’ is scheduled for Tuesday, September 12, 2023.