Tournaments

Rules Officials

How to Become a CGA Rules Official?

Carolinas Golf Association Rules Officials Program

Thank you for your interest in becoming a rules official for the Carolinas Golf Association. The CGA is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization consisting of 700 member clubs representing approximately 200,000 golfers in both North and South Carolina. The CGA’s primary objectives are to be the local liaison between the Carolinas and the USGA and to promote and protect amateur golf in the Carolinas. The CGA’s duties include tournaments and championships, course rating, handicapping, junior golf, women’s golf, agronomy and Carolinas Golf, the official publication of the CGA just to name a few. The CGA also oversees the Carolinas Golf Foundation (CGF) which funds turf grass research projects and assists various junior golf and women’s golf programs and organizations.

The CGA annually conducts over 350 tournaments, championships, and qualifiers. With the increased number of events comes the increased need for help.

The CGA hosts a one-day Rules Officials training day each February in conjunction with the CGA annual meeting. Topics covered at the training day include: Starting, Scoring, Officiating, Rules of Golf and Course Marking/Set-Up. NC. Also, the CGA conducts numerous 2-hour free introductory Rules of Golf seminars throughout the Carolinas in the early spring.

The CGA also conducts a "Senior Rules Official Program" that certifies rules officials to work non-CGA conducted events such as high school, college and professional tournaments. Information on this program is available HERE .

The USGA/PGA of America annually teaches 2-day and 4-day Rules of Golf Workshops aka: “Rules School. At the end of rules school they administer a 100 question exam which is used by many organizations as a basis for officiating. Note that the CGA does not require a score or attendance at a rules workshop. However for those who are serious about becoming an official, rules school is a must to attend at least once every four years.

What does the CGA provide Rules Officials? Starting in 2023, the CGA has created an incentive program where officails earn earn $25 per day after they have worked their 9 ^th CGA Tournament Day. All tournaments on the CGA Rules Officials calendar, plus USGA qualifiers in South Carolina count towards that total. Annually, the CGA provides a CGA golf shirt, CGA hat, a special gift at the rules training day. Officials are given the opportunity to purchase additional CGA logo merchandise that is not available to the public. The CGA provides lunch on the days that you work at an event. There is no additional compensation as this is a volunteer-based program. The CGA does not reimburse for any travel or education-related expenses (mileage, food, lodging, seminars, etc.). Also, there are no special golf privileges provided. The CGA is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization and under IRS rules you are allowed to deduct those expenses from your taxes.

One area where we have concern is that we ask our Rules officials to use radios (walkie-talkies) as much as possible to verify rulings, especially in the early stages of serving as a rules volunteer. As you can imagine, our ultimate goal is to be 100% correct on rulings. Even the most experienced Rules officials and CGA staff are sometimes unsure of a ruling. This is when the “Rules Committee” comes into play to decide rulings on tough situations. We list the members of the Rules Committee on the tournament's local rules sheet. So when you work with us, please call the CGA official-in-charge to verify any rulings before they are administered.

Listed below are the areas that we need volunteers to assist us with at tournaments, qualifiers and championships.

Rules Official: Must possess a good knowledge of the Rules of Golf. Main responsibility is to assist players around the golf course by playing within the USGA Rules of Golf. Most of our volunteer rules officials have attended a two-day or four-day USGA/PGA Rules of Golf Workshop. For those officials that are interested, they may assist the CGA with the marking and set-up of a golf course for a competition.

Starter: Responsible for starting players at their assigned starting time; makes sure that each player receives a scorecard, rules sheet, hole location sheet, and any special local rules for that day; answers any last minute rules questions before play begins. This is a very important duty.

Scorer: Receives and checks score cards for accuracy. Assists CGA official with posting scores and keeping score cards in proper order for re-pairing and cut activities.

Pace of Play Monitor: Monitors the position of groups on the golf course in relation to a set time and position with other groups on the golf course. Monitors inform a rules official if there are any groups that could be or is out of position.

Spotter: Assists in areas where there may be a blind tee shot or where players have trouble seeing the group in front of them. This assists tremendously with pace of play.

If becoming a CGA Rules Official interests you, please contact Chris Wolff at chris.wolff@carolinasgolf.org or complete the Rules Official Data Form to get started.

Carolinas Golf Association
140 Ridge Road, Southern Pines, NC 28387
910-673-1000 | admin@carolinasgolf.org
Monday-Friday: 8:30-5:00

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