"#RulesSchool is Now in Session" is a series where you’ll get an opportunity to check out some of the things going on here at the AJGA as our Operations staff prepares for the PGA/USGA Workshop on the Rules of Golf and the USGA Rules Exam. In addition to a “behind the scenes” look at our preparations, you will also have the opportunity to reach out to us via social media to ask your own questions about the Rules of Golf.
As the last of our special guest blogs before the week of #RulesSchool is here, we have a post from Andrew Greenfield, the AJGA's Director of Rules and Competitions. In his guest blog, Andrew breaks down in-house #RulesSchool, and gives us all a sneak peak of exactly what goes on in the boardroom every morning. Enjoy!
It is crazy to think that I am in my ninth year of conducting the AJGA’s in-house rules school for the tournament operations staff. Every year the AJGA’s tournament directors get together immediately following the Polo Golf Junior Classic and spend six to eight weeks reading, discussing, analyzing, testing and studying the Rules of Golf. This is a very important time for the AJGA as these weeks are crucial in the staff’s preparation for the upcoming tournament season. While the short term goal might be to make a certain score on the Rules Exam, the true reason for the hours and hours of work on the Rules of Golf is to become better rules officials.
A typical day in-house rules school session is as follows:
8 – 8:30 a.m.: 10 question quiz on the rule(s) of the day. The quiz entails multiple choice and true/false questions along with the need to write out the definitions for the day. It is so important to learn all the definitions as they are the foundation of the Rules of Golf.
8:30 – 9:30 a.m.: Reading the Rule(s) of the day, discussing and highlighting key points within each Rule and relating the Rules to rules officiating techniques and tournament administration. I will quiz tournament directors on the decisions relating to the day’s Rule(s) to test their knowledge and listen to their thought process.
9:30 – 10 a.m.: Complete index exercises. These five-question exercises focus on training the staff on how to use the Decisions Book and how to find Rules and Decisions quickly. This is helpful for the exam and for on-course rules officiating.
After each in-house rules school session, the tournament directors will spend between 1-2 hours during the day studying the Rules of Golf and probably the same amount of time studying after work hours.
Once the PGA-USGA Rules of Golf Workshop is complete and the last question on the Rules exam is bubbled in on the scantron, the AJGA staff will get a day or two to relax, but the work is not over. The tournament directors will review the Rules of Golf daily in preparation for the tournament season and their roles as rules officials. Daily meetings will take place to discuss unique Rules situations and how to prepare the new intern class for the spring and summer tournaments. The AJGA prides itself in the service it provides on the course to its members by having as many qualified rules officials as possible.
Next Wednesday, the PGA/USGA Workshop on the Rules of Golf officially begins! With the end of our rules related guest blog posts, I wanted to give another quick thank you to Chris, Rob, Blair, and Andrew for giving us this inside look at in-house rules school. Even though we don't have any more guest blogs on the topic, we still have a lot of great rules content for you during next week's festivities. To start, if you follow along with the #RulesSchool hashtag on Twitter, you'll be able to catch up with a few of our tournament directors, and others involved, as they tweet and talk about the experience.
Until next week!
Alexis (@AJGAWitman)
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