Those waiting for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America to decide whether to stay in Lawrence have a new date to circle on their calendars.

The association’s board of directors is to receive a recommendation June 1 on whether its headquarters should be moved from Lawrence, where the association has been based since 1972.

Steve Mona, chief executive, said the report could end talks about moving the headquarters from west Lawrence, where the association employs 120 people.

An 11-member resource group, made up of association members, is studying whether to move the association to a more “golf-centric” area in Florida or Arizona.

The resource group does not include any Lawrence residents, but does include Sandy Queen, a golf course superintendent for the city of Overland Park.

“The group has been asked to answer the question of whether we would be more effective as an organization if we were headquartered somewhere else,” Mona said.

A potential move has been considered since November 2002.

“If the answer is no, that location doesn’t matter, then you could deduce that we’ve done our research and that this is a moot issue,” Mona said.

If the group finds a move may be beneficial, Mona said research would resume on where to locate and the costs of such a move.

Previously, the association identified Orlando, Fla.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Phoenix as possible relocation sites. Research related to relocating in those areas has been put on hold while the association awaits the resource group’s report, Mona said.

Any move would have to be approved by two-thirds of the association’s 22,000 members. Mona said the earliest the association could vote would be February 2005.

Area economic development leaders have made it a priority to persuade the association to stay in Kansas. The headquarters’ 120 jobs pay an average annual salary of $43,000, well above both the state average of $31,060 and the Lawrence average of $26,631. The association also is one of the few national headquarters located in the community.

Lavern Squier, president and chief executive of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, said his organization continued to gather information to present to the association about why it should remain in the community.

“We’re going to do everything we can to support them,” Squier said. “If it gets to that point, I’m confident they’ll give us the opportunity to make our case, and we’ll make the most of it.”