Q: You hear officials in other sports say that they know they’ve had a good day if nobody notices them. When you are officiating golf tournaments, do you have a similar outlook or do you like to be in the middle of a high-profile ruling?

Nager: Former USGA president Will Nicholson, who was the chairman of the Rules committee at the Masters for a number of years, used to always admonish the Rules officials to be ‘conspicuously inconspicuous.’ I think that’s wise guidance. And you can do that, because what makes golf different is that the players are their own officials in the first instance, and the whole premise of our Rules system is that the players apply the Rules to themselves. And you see many examples of the amazing integrity of the players with the Rules of Golf.

Wilson: I agree, and an analogy would be, if a wide receiver catches a ball and his toe was out of bounds, it’s not his responsibility to say that his foot is out of bounds. But it is up to the golfer to say that his ball is out of bounds. Absolutely, the other sports are meant to be officiated the way they are, and it’s up to the officials to make the calls and for the players to get away with as whatever they can get away with. But that’s not golf.

Loehr: To a golf Rules official, it’s all about preparation, and the more preparation you can do before an event, the less involvement you’re going to have to have during the event. If the course is properly marked, and if the competitors understand the local rules they’re playing under, then the event can run smoothly, and you’ll only have to get involved when there’s a situation that the player doesn’t know how to handle.

Q: How does the USGA Rules Committee learn about situations to talk about for potential Rule changes? Do they come from officials out in the field? Is there ever an inquiry from an average golfer that gets serious discussion?

Morrissett: The USGA Rules of Golf Committee has a number of consulting members, with the intent of having all parts of golf in our jurisdiction (U.S. and Mexico) represented. As far as how items come up for discussion, there are a number of ways. It could be something that happens at the U.S. Open or British Open, where we say, okay, this is the answer the Rule provides, and we know that, but is this a desirable action or result? If not, how could we change that? It certainly could be a question from something that happens at a club event. Maybe someone calls Golf House to find out the answer, and perhaps we decide that the current Rules and Decisions don’t provide sufficient guidance, or they do provide an answer but that answer is not desirable. It could be a simple e-mail.

Nager: And as these guys will tell you, the concerns of average golfers playing with their friends or in club events is passionately represented at USGA Rules of Golf Committee meetings by USGA Executive Committee members themselves, because that’s what we are. I’m not a professional golfer; I’m not a professional student of the Rules in the way that these guys are in terms of their jobs. That’s the role of the EC members: to make sure we get all the benefit of the input of all the professional expertise, but that the rules are for everybody, not just the elite golfers.

Loehr: There was a good situation in the Accenture Match Play [in February] with Ian Poulter and whether he was entitled to relief from a temporary immovable obstruction. It was something that really hadn’t been thought about in detail in a match play situation, and the rules officials got together and made a ruling, and now it’s something that might actually be looked at, because it’s something that actually did happen.

Morrissett: And that’s a good example, because it’s something the Rules do cover, but the Rules require a committee’s judgment.

Q: What are the best ways that the USGA and the R&A can get the average golfer to understand the importance of the Rules?

Nager: The people on the front lines of communication, who are getting the questions most often, are the PGA professionals, and they are the people who golfers look to for answers for questions. The USGA tries to help them and help people. But I think the PGA members can do the most to promote playing by the Rules.

Wilson: That’s an interesting point. Rules workshops are important, too. If every club ends up with someone who has attended one of these and spreads the word, that certainly can’t hurt. So the more people who come to educational sessions, the better.

Nager: Back to the USGA website, there’s an online university and online quizzes, so there are a lot of resources and a lot of things we’re trying to do. It’s great for me, because if I play with one of my friends and they ask me for a ruling, they don’t know whether I’m telling the truth or not! [laughter]. I’m fearsome in match play now!

Morrissett: Overall, golfers want to play by the rules. When they don’t, it’s because they don’t know the rules. It’s not that they know them and are intentionally disregarding them. A lot of it comes down to education, and the state and regional associations play a large role by how they conduct their competitions but also with the outreach that organizations like the MGA do with seminars, articles in the magazines and on the website, and so forth.

Thompson: Also, local associations are very good about having shortened Rules presentations. But I think it’s a challenge, because a lot of people who play golf don’t want to abide by these “serious” rules. They don’t really care about having to abide by the stroke and distance penalty when they hit it out of bounds. They just want to go out and have fun, and I don’t begrudge them that. Because it is a fun game. To me it’s even more fun when you can do it absolutely properly.

Davis: I’d say, trying to get network announcers to be a little more proficient with the Rules. What we’ve found over the years is that when something happens on TV with the Rules of Golf, it does everyone in golf a disservice if the television announcers somehow don’t get the Rule right. And we’ve said to them, look, we’ll provide you all the tutoring you need, and be mindful that if you don’t know what you’re talking about with the Rules, say it. Don’t try to make up something, because it’s happened too many times that people have heard something that’s dead wrong and they think it’s right.

   I think at our championships, particularly the Opens, we actually put a member of our staff with the television announce team, so that if something comes up, the producer can go directly to David Fay or myself or another Rules official and bring us on to explain. That has gone a long way to educating the average golfer and average viewer. But unfortunately, we don’t have a David Fay at every golf event that’s televised.