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AJGA
Tournament Directors Ace Rules Exam |
Twelve
staff members reach highest level of rules knowledge |
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By John
Egnot
Manager of Media Relations
Even more expertise and professionalism will be on display at AJGA events during
the 2005 season after 12 of the Association’s 14 tournament directors became
USGA rules certified March 10.
AJGA tournament directors annually attend the PGA/USGA Rules Workshop, and this
year was no exception. The workshop, held March 7-10 in Orlando, Fla., included
a review of the Rules of Golf with the opportunity to ask questions and seek
answers about one of the most thorough sets of rules in sports.
To conclude the weekend, attendees were given a written exam on the Rules of
Golf that included 100 multiple-choice questions, 50 of which were closed book
and 50 open book. Ninety-two questions had to be answered correctly for an individual
to become certified.
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| Tommy
Tangtiphaiboontana recorded the highest score of
any staff member in AJGA history with a 98. |
When
the results came in, the overall class average of the nearly
100 attendees came out to 80.3. The 14 AJGA tournament directors
in attendance completed the test with a 91 average.
“Having 12 out of 14 tournament directors become certified is huge for
the Association,” said Director of Education Andrew Greenfield. “Every
one of our 75 events this year will have someone who has reached the highest
level of rules knowledge on staff, as well as a Senior Rules Official.”
First-year Tournament Director Tommy Tangtiphaiboontana earned the highest rating
ever for an AJGA staff member, scoring a 98 on the exam. Allison Akin and Randi
Reed became the first female staff members in AJGA history to earn certification.
“Our main goal is to learn the rules to be better officials on the golf
course in order to better service our members,” Greenfield said.
Rules training for the AJGA tournament directors began long before March 7. Under
the leadership of Andrew Greenfield, AJGA “Rules School”, a comprehensive
training session on the Rules of Golf, began Jan. 5 and ended March 4.
For two months, AJGA tournament directors gathered in the board room daily from
7:30 – 9 a.m. to study and examine one or two of the 34 Rules of Golf.
At the beginning of each session, a quiz was administered to test the knowledge
gained. Additionally, a mock rules test similar to the one to be taken at the
Rules Workshop was a common practice tool designed to prepare the tournament
directors for the rigorous three and a half hour exam.
“The tournament directors took tests that mirrored the actual exam,” Greenfield
said. “By the time we got to the Rules Workshop, no one was surprised by
the timed exam.”
Other tournament directors to become rules certified include Jonah Beck, Brian
Gaydica, Walker Hill, Ryan Hybl, Ben Kimball, Gus Montano, Darren Nelson and
Derrick Farnham, who now serves as the regional director for the northeast, but
will run two events this summer. |
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