USGA/PGA Rules of Golf Workshop

The USGA/PGA Rules of Golf Workshop in Lexington, Kentucky begins Sunday, February 21st at 8:00 a.m. Men and women from Kentucky and the region will be in attendance seeking to enhance their rules knowledge for the next 4 days. Many will also be striving for for a 92% to become eligible to work USGA Championships held throughout the country.

Check back often for updates.

Day 1 - Sunday

8:05 - great showing, many of our rules officials from Kentucky. Many folks from across the country as well! The instructors are David Staebler of the USGA and Bryan Jones of the PGA.

10:25 - first break, went through three fourths of the definitions, which most people involved in the rules will tell you are the most important aspect of the rules.

11:50 - break number two, covered Rules 1, 2, and 3. One of the most important rules to learn as a player is rule 3-3. This rule, "Doubt as to Procedure", allows you to finish a hole using two balls, if a player is doubtful of his rights or the correct procedure during the play of a hole.

12:30 - lunch break, jumped to rule 9. Time to catch some hoops action.

3:55 - after lunch we dove into rules 34, 4, 5, and 6. After eight rules we haven't even talked about the ball being in play yet. If you want to focus on one rule, read and understand rule six, especially 6-6!

5:00 - day 1 in the books. Ended the day with rules 33, 7, 8 - hopefully we'll finally get to talk about some rules involving the ball in play!

Day 2 - Tuesday

7:50 - Looks like almost everyone is back, I'm sure we lost a few to the first day though. According to the screen, looks like we're not messing around as rule 20 is next. This rule outlines when, where, and who can lift, drop, place, and replace the ball. Oh, and it also has playing from a wrong place! This rule is nothing short of confusing...

9:25 - break one, only an hour after we started rule 20, we finished rule 20. Any golfer can learn quite a bit by merely reading one section of this rule.

10:50 - second break of the day, flew through rules 10, 11, and 12. Covered the teeing ground and searching for and identifying ball (something I seem to do quite often!).

12:00 - lunch break, covered rule 13 for an hour. Another key rule in the book, this rule tells us the the ball is to be played as it lies, and tells us what actions we can and cannot take.

2:00 - break, covered rules 14 and 15 which tell us how to strike the ball and how and when we can substitute a ball.

2:55 - last break of the day, just went over rules 16 and 17. Those rules talk about the putting green and the flagstick. The flagstick rule is much more friendly than it used to be by allowing fellow competitors to move the flagstick if it is lying on the green. Up next, an interactive review of what we've done so far.

5:00 - the review was great, very interactive with charts and videos that got to the point of many rules and decisions. The workshop has been postponed due to brain overload until 8:00 tomorrow morning.

Day 3 - Tuesday

8:00 - full crowd, going over speaker evaluations and exam rules. Looks like we're gonna start with rules 18 and 19 this morning.

9:05 - first break, check out rules 18 and 19 if you ball has been moved other by a stroke. These rules are very helpful in telling us what we are to do in order to play the ball correctly after it has moved.

10:40 - covered rules 21, 22, and 23 last session. A few interesting facts in those rules, but the good rules are quickly approaching.

12:00 - lunch break, rules 24 and 25 are complete. Very important rules dealing with abnormal ground conditions and obstructions.

2:30 - break, rule 26, 27, and 28 were covered after lunch. All playeres should be fully aware of these three rules! Water Hazards, Ball Lost or Out of Bounds; Provisional Ball, and Ball Unplayable are essentials in playing a round of golf.

5:00 - finished with all 33 rules and all the definitions...time to study!

Day 4 - Wednesday

7:45 - nervous crowd, 100 question test awaits.

11:50 - test complete, if my calculations are correct I scored an 80...same as I got last year. Andy scored in the mid 50's on his first attempt - congrats! Better than my first score of 46 six years ago...

Aaron Kincade

The KGA-PGA, Inc. Junior Golf Program is Now Blogging!

Miss an event? Want to know more than who won, what they shot, and who they beat? The KYJuniorGolf blog is your spot for all the on course happenings in the world of KGA-PGA, Inc. junior golf.

Aaron Kincade and Andy Ziegler will be keeping you up to date with LIVE updates before, during, and after each event. From magnificent shots to rulings, the KYJuniorGolf blog will make you feel like you were there in person.

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