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Rules mean everything in our game
   KGA officials meet with rules, helping players in mind

   Those who play golf didn’t have to look very far recently to see just how important the rules of golf can be – both in terms of the integrity of the game and one PGA Tour player’s bank account. At the April 15-18 Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, Great Britain’s Brian Davis was forced to call a penalty on himself during a playoff with Tour veteran Jim Furyk.
   Adding two strokes to his score on the hole after his club hit a loose piece of grass on his backswing virtually sealed a second 2010 victory for Furyk and kept Davis out of the Tour’s

winner circle (and from cashing a $1,026,000 victor’s check).
   But it was the right thing to do.
   And it reminds us how thin a line there is in golf between what is right and what is wrong and, no matter how great or how little stakes, what side of the line we should all remain.
   The Kansas Golf Association had its annual rules seminar for committee people just a day before Davis faced his dilemma. The gathering at Alvamar Golf Club in Lawrence drew 23 officials from all over the Sunflower State to discuss KGA Championship policy, face a rules Q&A session with KGA Executive Director Kim Richey and swap old war stories. Attendees even headed out on the Alvamar practice facility for more of an “on-course” discussion on topics like “Taking relief from an obstruction or hazard,” “What is a ‘good’ drop?” and “Which two clubs constitute ‘two clubs length’?”
   “The KGA is blessed to have such a strong corps of volunteers who want to learn the rules of our game and how to apply them in a professional manner. Every year we take the time to renew and review, and to welcome a few new folks to our mission. Our spring gathering is always entertaining and a sure sign that the season is upon us!” Richey says. “Brian Davis certainly knows the rules of golf. Many players, amateurs and professionals alike, would not know that touching a loose impediment in a water hazard with your club during the backswing is a violation. What I hope is not unique to him is that any golfer who knows he violated a rule would ‘call the penalty on himself.’ That situation was a great lesson on rules and the necessary integrity of our game.”

Comfortable in their role
   One of the familiar faces at the KGA meeting was that of Wichita’s Terry Duncan. Duncan, 73 and a member at Flint Hills National in Andover, says he’s probably been officiating KGA events about 10 or 12 years now. Duncan says he just started volunteering, helping out at events until he became more comfortable with the rules and had more time to dedicate to it as he neared retirement age.
   Duncan is just one of several KGA officials that have grown to become more and more comfortable in their role, making certain the competitors in each KGA event know the officials are there to offer help while maintaining appropriate distance in that relationship.
   “It’s important for the players to know that we’re there to help and answer any questions that might arise in their course of play,” Duncan says. “It’s nice to have a ‘I know who that is

or I’ve seen him around a lot’ (relationship) but I would like to think to not get real close to any of the players just because of some the issues that can arise in that scenario.”
   Duncan says the average KGA competitor’s knowledge of the rues of golf is, well, probably average – “whatever that really means,” he says. “They know the rules things about the water or (other things) sometimes. But some of the more intricate rules that are difficult to follow, they need help.”
   Duncan agrees with the theory that a better knowledge of the rules can help a player.
   “Absolutely, absolutely,” he advises. “There are times they can help you get out of a sticky situation, to your advantage, as a matter of fact.”
   The KGA rules meeting was a good opportunity to brush up on the rules and hear other officials experiences, ones that may help him down the road, Duncan says.
   “Some of the things we talked about this morning, Kim talked about that one scenario which was particularly helpful,” Duncan says. “It’s always nice to know other people have some of the same issues and the discussions bring out circumstances that they’ve had experience with and share with everybody else.”
   As for his experience helping with KGA events, Duncan recommends it to anyone who has some time to dedicate to the game.
   “If you’re looking for something to do…and you’ve enjoyed the game of golf and have played a lot and you just don’t want to leave it this is an adjunct that allows you to still be involved with golf and meet new people all the time,” Duncan says. “…you can get involved in USGA things. It just gives you more opportunities to get involved with different types of tournaments at different locales.”

Competitor’s point of view
   Alvamar Inc. President and KGA Committeeman Dick Stuntz served as host at last month’s meeting. Stuntz, long the golf course superintendent at Alvamar, is an accomplished player in his own right and from the competitor’s point of view he’s seen the growth of the KGA tournament official/player relationship the last few years.
   “I think there is a noticeable difference the last year or two from, let’s just say five years ago and certainly 10 years ago,” says Stuntz, who plays in three or four KGA Championships each season. “…I think the KGA has really come a long way in recognizing the golfers are their customers and you heard that here at our event today. We treat them with respect and thank them for playing in our events. I can tell that and I’ve heard other players say the same thing. They think the officials, the volunteers, the KGA staff have all become more player-friendly.”
   Stuntz says that includes officials knowing their roles as being helpful to players and facilitating the event.
   “You can look over and see one of those guys and you don’t have to think, ‘Oh my gosh, is he eye-balling me? Is he going to swoop down and call a penalty?’” Stuntz relayed. “That isn’t what you think of. You think of somebody that is going to be friendly, that is going to be helpful and can solve problems.”
   Developing that positive relationship can come in handy when a rules situation arises.
   “It’s that trust, that they are there to help you – not to penalize you,” Stuntz explains. “Let’s say you get into a (rules) situation, I think today you’re way more apt to try and notify an official, get them down in there and get them involved in the process of determining whether you get relief, where you drop the ball and how you proceed from there because you have a high level of trust.”
   Stuntz says his experience with the rules at the various championships he’s played in tells him that about half the rules situations are related to the specific layout/topography of a given golf course and the other half is related to other factors.
   But one thing comes up often more often than not…
   “Drop procedures come up in event after event,” he says. “There are obstructions at almost every golf course with cart paths maybe No. 1, then maybe ground under repair circumstances, balls lost or are they in the hazard, those types of circumstances seem to be very repeating and things that we deal with all the time. But certainly there are the unique things that happen at each course from time to time.”