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RDGA Sets New Course For
2006
Rochester New York April 17, 2006 – The Rochester
District Golf Association met at its annual meeting on April 11 at the Country
Club of Rochester to discuss the upcoming golf season. But the discourse was
anything but usual. RDGA President Jim Cook outlined many new initiatives that
the RDGA will undertake beginning in 2006, which will affect Rochester Golf, its
65 member clubs and the area’s many amateur tournaments for years to come.
RDGA On-Line
Like most successful businesses today, the website is one
of the main tools for disbursing information throughout its customer base. The
RDGA is continuing to upgrade its website with current information that affects
its clubs and some 17,000 members. This year all tournament participants will
be able to register and pay their tournament fees on-line thanks to a regional
grant from the USGA. These additional funds have allowed the hiring of a
computer programmer who has designed an in-house registration page and has
interfaced the RDGA site with Pay-Pal, so all participants can sign-up and pay
in minutes.
The USGA’s East Region Director, Ann Guiberson, spoke at
the meeting of the benefits of such grants in aiding local associations for
projects such as this. She praised the efforts of the RDGA to streamline its
registration procedures and mentioned how pleased the USGA was to be able to
help in this way. On a side note, Ann also mentioned to the delegates how the
USGA, this year, will begin emphasizing “pace-of-play” in some of its qualifying
tournaments around the country. The RDGA has recognized the importance of this
issue and instituted a system two years ago for all of its events. “Most
competitors at our tournaments and other events have praised the efforts of the
RDGA to try and eliminate slow play,” said RDGA President Jim Cook. “It is
something that we are going to stress for many years to come.”
New Permanent RDGA Headquarters
After many years of planning and budgeting the RDGA will,
in November of this year, have its own permanent facility. “This is a long time
in the making,” said RDGA President Jim Cook. “After all the hard work and
planning of many boards before us, finally, we have the funds and the
opportunity to have our own RDGA headquarters.” Former president Alan Pritchard
brought together all the loose ends back in 2003 and set the course for the
final purchase of the new facility which will be located at 2024 West Henrietta
Road in the Brighton Campus Park. “This is a far cry from the days when the
RDGA was literally run out of the trunk of the president’s car,” said Cook.
New Club Liaison Program
One of the pressing needs that surfaced during the winter
meetings was that member clubs could not get quick responses from the RDGA on
certain matters. To address this, the Board has developed a Liaison Program
whereby each board member has nine member clubs to which he is responsible. This
will increase the response time to the clubs about matters that may pertain only
to their club or general district matters that may affect all clubs. “This
flattens the management model so that each one of our 65 clubs can get quicker
answers to their questions. It also puts more responsibility on our board
members, which they have graciously consented to undertake,“ said President
Cook.
Futures Program Continues to Progress
When young aspiring golfers, who are not members of any
golf club, want to play in a tournament, what do they do? They turn to the
RDGA. For several years now the RDGA has sponsored many young golfers so they
can play in sanctioned tournaments and obtain a valid USGA handicap. This
expands the junior golf community beyond those many kids who belong to a club
and have had the chance to play organized golf. Last year one of the futures’
players made it to the finals of one of the RDGA’s junior events and was very
grateful for the opportunity to play. “This is a way of putting a face on our
quest to increase junior golf in our district,” said RDGA President Jim Cook.
“From many nationwide programs of the USGA right down to our regional program,
everyone sees the need to embellish junior golf programs for all participants.”
Additionally, the RDGA Junior Scholarship Program continues
to help many young golfers as they move on to college and beyond. Last year 10
worthy participants were given $1000 toward their college expenses after they
applied to the RDGA’s Scholarship Committee and were accepted. In 2006 ten more
scholarships will be given out and there are plans to try and expand the program
in the years to come. All college-bound junior golfers are encouraged to apply
at this year’s tournament locations or by contacting the RDGA Office by June 1,
2006. The deadline for applications is June 15.
RDGA, Rochester’s Definition of Golf
Most know that the RDGA runs many amateur golf tournaments
throughout the year but that is not the essence of what the RDGA really is all
about.
Since the RDGA established its charter in 1929 with 12
original member clubs in Monroe County, it had one mission—to protect the
integrity of the handicap system in the greater Rochester region for all of its
members. It seems like a small mission, but really it is bigger than any could
imagine now that there are 65 member clubs in a nine county area. Simply put,
every golfer is equalized by the handicap system. That means that Tiger Woods
could play John Kircher on rated course and each would have an equal chance to
win the match. Saying it is rather easy, getting there is anything but.
The RDGA is an Authorized Golf Association, that has
jurisdiction in the Rochester region and has been licensed by the United States
Golf Association to utilize the USGA Handicap System and/or the USGA
Course Rating System in its district, region or state through its member
golf clubs.
The first responsibility for the RDGA is to rate every
course. That means that a par four hole really is a par four, and so on. This
process needs to take place on a regular basis to assure fair play and
appropriate scoring on every golf course. Because there are new courses in the
area and new holes on the established courses, the rating responsibility is a
large undertaking that needs to be addressed each year. In 2006 about ten
courses will be re-rated in the Rochester area. Dick Frank (a former RDGA
president) and his wife Judy, will head up this very important function for 2006
That leads to the GHIN (Golf Handicap & Information
Network) system, which is the official mission of the RDGA. As was noted
before, the purpose of the handicap system is to make the game of golf more
enjoyable by enabling players of differing abilities to compete on an equitable
basis. Currently there are some 17,000 members of the RDGA’s GHIN system. They
are administered by the individual PGA club pro and the handicap chairman at
each of the member clubs. When a player posts a score from an officially rated
course (and does so 20 times) he/she gets an official GHIN handicap that can be
used to play in officially sanctioned tournaments. That means a golfer with an
official handicap can play in all the USGA events, even the biggest one of all
the US Open. When it comes to RDGA events, only those with official handicaps
can compete.
Historically, having a legitimate handicap was not a
problem, but recently maintaining its integrity has become more challenging.
“If we don’t have proper handicaps, then we don’t have fair competition,” said
Jim Cook, RDGA President. “It is our job to guarantee everything about the game
is fair so that our tournaments and their champions are above reproach.”
Protecting the rules of the game is also a key
responsibility for the RDGA. Just this year the USGA has allowed Distance
Measuring Devices to be used, but has required local associations to determine
how they will be implemented.
Following is the RDGA’s suggested wording for member clubs
who choose to adopt their local rule governing Distance Measuring Devices:
In this competition, a player may obtain distance
information by using a device that measures distance only. However, if, during
a stipulated round, a player uses a distance-measuring device that is designed
to gauge or measure other conditions that might affect his/her play (e.g.,
gradient, wind-speed, temperature, etc.) the player is in breach of Rule 14-3,
for which the penalty is disqualification, regardless of whether any such
additional functions are actually used. NOTE: The distance between any two
objects on a golf course is considered public information. The
Distance-Measuring Device, and/or any information obtained from it, may be
shared with other players.
It should be noted the the RDGA Board has decided not to
allow distance measuring devices for any of its 2006 tournaments, but that could
be changed in future years.
Finally, the RDGA marshals all of its 26 tournaments and
helps with others as well. The education of all of its rules officials is under
the auspices of the USGA, and each year a contingent of officials travels to
different locations to be schooled in the latest interpretations of the Official
Rules of Golf and to help with specific USGA tournaments. Jim Cook, the RDGA
president, will be traveling to San Francisco this summer to help officiate a
USGA junior event.
Locally, Wilson Fitch, a former RDGA President heads up the
Rules Education Committee and offers rules seminars and tournament
administration to all club officials and club members from the Rochester
District who want to attend.
Encl. 2006 RDGA Directory, to include Board of
Directors, Member Clubs,
Tournament Schedule and other information.
For Further Information Contact: Jim Cook, RDGA
President
585-292-5950
rdga@frontiernet.net
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