Golf: Long time USGA chief Fay to retire

New York: David Fay, who championed a strategy to bring the US Open to public golf courses, announced on Friday he was retiring after 21 years as executive director of the U.S. Golf Association (USGA).

“David’s passion for the game can be matched only by his passion for the people and the mission of the United States Golf Association,” USGA president Jim Hyler said in a statement.

Mike Butz, the USGA deputy executive director since 1995, will serve as interim executive director from January 1 2011, while the association looks for a new executive director.

Fay, 60, began his career with the USGA in 1978. He became assistant executive director in 1987 and was appointed as the sixth executive director of the USGA in 1989.

A long time advocate of making golf more accessible to the public, his most lasting legacy may be his campaign to bring the U.S. Open to Bethpage State Park on Long Island, N.Y. in 2002. The Black Course became the first public facility to host the national championship.


From 1999 through 2019, the U.S. Open will have been played 11 times on venues accessible to everybody, including Pinehurst No. 2, Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black, Torrey Pines, Chambers Bay and Erin Hills.