The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America has put on “pause” a search that could move its headquarters and its 120 jobs from Lawrence to Florida.

Steve Mona, chief executive of the association, said the group’s board of directors decided at its annual meeting last weekend to postpone any votes on a possible move until at least February 2004.

“The process will still continue,” Mona said, “but essentially what we’ve said is we want to take a pause right now. We don’t feel any sense of urgency at all on the issue.”

At its meeting, held in Atlanta, the association’s board also agreed that any decision to move the headquarters would have to be put to a full vote of the association, which has approximately 22,000 members across the country. Previously, the association had sought to give its board of directors the authority to move the headquarters.

The decisions pleased members of the association who have been lobbying to keep the headquarters in Lawrence.

“Compared to how I felt a month ago, I’m very encouraged,” Dick Stuntz, an association member and vice president of golf facilities at Lawrence’s Alvamar Golf Club, said. “I think the chances are definitely greater that they’ll stay than they were a month ago.”

The association, which has been based in Lawrence since 1972, announced late last year that it would consider leaving Lawrence to be located in an area that is more of a golf destination. The association has been considering Phoenix, Orlando, Fla. and Jacksonville, Fla. as possible homes, but also is considering remaining in Lawrence.

The association, which is located at 1421 Research Park Drive, employs about 120 people, and pays an average salary of nearly $43,000 per year.

For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Journal-World.