Teri Yamada, a well-respected figure in the Canadian golf industry, has passed away at the age of 66 following a battle with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.
Yamada was a longtime leading voice in the fields of agronomy, turfgrass and environmental research in a career that spanned nearly 40 years. She spent the last 16 years as the owner of TY Environmental Strategic Ltd., a company that used science to minimize golf courses’ impact on the environment.
She served 18 years with Golf Canada (formerly the Royal Canadian Golf Association), working as a tournament agronomist for national open and amateur championships. She was national director of the association’s green section from 1990 to 1998. In 1993, she wrote the Environmental Guidelines for Canadian Golf Courses.
Yamada was later the association’s managing director for golf programs and services in support of Golf Canada member club programs and services while continuing with turfgrass and environmental research. She returned to Golf Canada as a volunteer in 2021.
Her other industry involvements included 14 years as executive director of the IPM Council of Canada, president of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary System of Canada